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Goosebumps Graphic Novels #1
The Haunted Mask: The Graphic Novel
Are you wearing the Mask—or is the Mask wearing you?
Carly Beth needs the perfect Halloween mask. One that will scare everyone she comes across—including her annoying little brother and the bullies from her school A visit to a strange costume sore provides just the right one. An ugly, green with fierce fangs, the mask makes Carly Beth feel powerful and scary. But when the mask won't come off, will the monster take over?
Carly Beth needs the perfect Halloween mask. One that will scare everyone she comes across—including her annoying little brother and the bullies from her school A visit to a strange costume sore provides just the right one. An ugly, green with fierce fangs, the mask makes Carly Beth feel powerful and scary. But when the mask won't come off, will the monster take over?
156 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
November 8, 2024
Absolutely flawless. The graphic novel stayed true to the original story and featured incredible illustrations. I’m not sure I would change anything even if I could. I take that back, I wish it were longer! Anyways, this was a fun way to enjoy an iconic goosebumps story. Fingers crossed we get more of these in the future!
YouTube Video Review: https://youtu.be/mO3CqfJl8Ho?si=Zfx3k...
YouTube Video Review: https://youtu.be/mO3CqfJl8Ho?si=Zfx3k...
October 26, 2025
Schoolgirl Carly Beth is easily scared and she hates it. That’s why she buys an extra-creepy mask for Halloween to be able to scare the class mates who make fun of her all the time. When she goes trick-or-treating with her best friend, she sets off to scare people and really starts to enjoy it. But then she’s horrified to realize that she can’t the take the mask off anymore …
This graphic novel is an adaptation of R.L. Stine’s horror fiction novel for children of the same name. It’s supposed to be suitable for “ages 8 through 12”. But in my humble opinion, the story is much too scary for eight-year-olds. I’m sure it would frighten the poor little ones to death for the rest of their lives!
Apart from that, it’s a well done comic book with a fascinating basic concept that raises several interesting questions about personality and identity.
This graphic novel is an adaptation of R.L. Stine’s horror fiction novel for children of the same name. It’s supposed to be suitable for “ages 8 through 12”. But in my humble opinion, the story is much too scary for eight-year-olds. I’m sure it would frighten the poor little ones to death for the rest of their lives!
Apart from that, it’s a well done comic book with a fascinating basic concept that raises several interesting questions about personality and identity.
September 5, 2024
A very solid adaptation of one of the greatest Goosebumps books of all time 👍
October 12, 2024
"Its hard to sneak up on someone when you’re running for your life."
The Haunted Mask was one of my favorite books as a child. Pfft! Who the hell am I kidding? It’s still one of my favorites, so it was an instant purchase as soon as I laid my eyes on this haunted beauty.
Reading this was like taking a trip back in time. Remembering that feeling of reading this story for the first time. It still holds my heart. The story was fantastic, the art was stellar, and the colors added to this made the entire book pop with spooky excitement.
A must have for Goosebumps freaks!
The Haunted Mask was one of my favorite books as a child. Pfft! Who the hell am I kidding? It’s still one of my favorites, so it was an instant purchase as soon as I laid my eyes on this haunted beauty.
Reading this was like taking a trip back in time. Remembering that feeling of reading this story for the first time. It still holds my heart. The story was fantastic, the art was stellar, and the colors added to this made the entire book pop with spooky excitement.
A must have for Goosebumps freaks!
December 16, 2024
I love, like, crazy scary books! This is the scariest one I read in my life! So I LOVE IT!
October 10, 2024
This is a fun, faithful adaptation of what is undoubtedly one of the most famous books in all of the goosebumps franchise. This does feel however between the writing and art that it's marketed towards a slightly younger demographic and in doing so loses some of the atmosphere the original builds up so well. That being said the art is still wonderful (I especially like how they incorporated the iconic goosebumps G into the haunted mask itself as its ears). There were also a few fun Easter eggs sprinkled throughout which were very well received. Overall this is perfect for a quick spooky read or hit of nostalgia and when you get to the end there are some cool extras, including an alternate ending and a hidden Curly The Skeleton somewhere in the story for you to go back and find
October 13, 2024
I was on the edge of my seat. It brought me back to when I was as a kid watching the show. What an awesome adaptation.
October 26, 2025
This was a really great adaptation of this story!
February 3, 2026
This brings back the nostalgia as a kid for me
August 31, 2024
A spectacular adaptation that modernizes and tightens what is already an iconic story. Not one panel or page is wasted. Maddi Gonzalez did a fantastic job walking that balance of being slightly unsettling without truamatizing young readers. You can tell that this was a labor of love. This was a fun, quick read that I can see myself revisiting every year!
October 17, 2024
Maddi Gonzalez is a great cartoonist and this has always been one of my favorite Goosebumps stories. That's probably because the themes of identity and social pressure really hit with me, which Maddi pulls out even further into the light with her adaptation. She inserts panels and captures a facial emotion here and there that really nails home the touching qualities of this book. As an adult this isn't as emotionally complex as the comics I usually enjoy, but I hope lots of children are reading this and identifying with it's core message.
November 13, 2024
Wonderful adaptation of a classic Goosebumps book and one of my favorites in the series. It was such a fun graphic novel with amazing artwork.
October 30, 2024
This was a great graphic novel adaption of The Haunted Mask. I loved the artwork and how the illustrations helped tell the story as well as the overall color palette used. This was such a fun and quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you @graphixbooks for the gifted copy.
Thank you @graphixbooks for the gifted copy.
October 30, 2025
UPDATE: I reviewed this on the blog: https://spongey444.wordpress.com/2025...
After a long wait, the Haunted Mask graphic novel is in my digital hands so it’s time to talk about it. Now, I plan to review it on the blog as an excuse to give the Haunted Mask the full blown review it deserves so while the story will be the focus there, I will talk more about certain things there but we’ll see what I can say here. I may jump the gun in some regards as it’s not like there’s a ton to say.
Goosebumps Graphix had their time with doing 3 stories a book, then the IDW stuff happened and was rather cool but that came to an end and I have no idea if Scholastic doing this is why. Either way, with the Baby-Sitters Club and Animorphs Graphic novels still going strong, Scholastic may as well have brought Goosebumps Graphix back in style.
Thus we’re here with Haunted Mask, and more to come. We’ll see how much more. Maddi Gonzalez is the artist here and she already proved her cool factor online with her already following the Out of Context Goosebumps account when this was uncovered. She’s cool and pretty self aware about the nature of this series while having all that nostalgic love, so she was ideal off the bat for me lol.
Having covered some graphic novels based on books, I have a handle on what it’s like to see written words be translated like this and I was interested to see this handles that. And in short, it’s done very well. I quite liked this. The people that complain about changes don’t have to worry about anything, as this falls in the camp of most of this Scholastic Graphix of staying loyal.
While some like the Animorphs one can fall prey to feeling like an audiobook that doesn’t add enough, this feels like it adds enough of its own spin. It’s the same story and changes aren’t too plentiful, but it makes some tweaks for the sake of flow and uses artistic licenses when it can. My main praise is in the expressions, as Maddi uses basically any chance she gets to use said expressions to enhance how a character is feeling.
Early on it can try a bit too hard to have these goofy moments with that, they're funny usually but just a bit much and that calms down when things kick into gear. Carly Beth is the highlight here her expressions especially can be great, selling her fears, worries, emotions etc. This includes when she is in mask mode.
Designs are solid, Sabrina is another one that looks good, although I noticed Chuck keeps changing from red hair to brown hair on and off. But hey, no same face here at least. The original story is a blatantly emotional one and this understands that, and even adds in a few minor bits to enhance that, giving things a bit more humanity. Mostly in Sabrina who feels like a better friend here just with those touches lol. The changes we get just some switching around for flow as I said, it moves the worm scene up like the episode does but still puts some of the lunch scene at the start, splitting it up in a sort of weird way but it works.
It’s closer to the book than the episode was which means the more vague version of the backstory here and since that was a flaw with the book, it remains one here, sorry. Spoilers, they keep him saying if anyone else puts the mask on, it’s forever so…good luck if you do Haunted Mask 2, guess Noah is screwed.
For complaints, a few bits feel a smidge rushed so they don’t quite have the same impact. At times the written word was able to sell things better although there are also moments that do work just as well if not better so it can be a give and take.
I wasn’t sure about the mask’s look all the time, as before I read it it just didn’t look like a mask, it leans right into being a booga booga face which seemed a bit silly. In the book itself it has more “mask” moments and often looks cool/creepy. The art does try to get that scary/fun mix which the book I feel has with most of it being CB running around and scary people which is fun to her.
This captures that well. It can have creepy moments, with some extra shading making some moments effective. It can be a bit soft/goofy as well and at times I wish it could go a bit hard. Otherwise the art fits the story and is engaging/fun to read like the original book was.
The translation from the text works well, being able to show some scenes that were narrated in the book and it doesn’t feel like there’s too much dialogue or narration clogging the pages. There’s one small bit of missing information causing mild confusion but that’s it, and I only noted it cuz I’m a nerd that remembers everything and also was cross referencing the book.
While not perfect, this is a well done graphic novel that is a respectful take on the most iconic Goosebumps story. While I get a bit sick of it sometimes, this brought new life to it a fair bit of the time (most effectively in more subtle character driven moments although some big scenes like when she’s defeating the mask are strong too) and the passion does show.
It’s a good time and is well worth it. It may be a new story but it’s still basically what I like seeing. I��m hyped to see which one is next. Although, with all due respect to Maddi, I am hoping for other artists too to see a variety and some stories lend themselves to different styles, as this one worked well for it but may not quite fit others.
But yeah, full review perhaps next year to comment further on the story to re-visit and it certain things in here. I decided not to rate this as I wasn't quite sure, given I’d rate this as an adaptation and not the story itself since that’s from the book rather than made up for this. A very high 3 on the adaptation front, just had some little niggling things that can stack up at times.
Great/4 is my rating for the book so you can pretend that applies to this as those things don’t detract too hard on their own. I did this more to just say some words rather than rate it per say, so there ya go.
Whew, finally got that done. Next will likely be the first Halloween read and even if not, may as well tease it anyway. To the randomizer where our first one will see us returning to a franchise but in a different way.
We’re doing a Baby-Sitters Little Sister book, see ya then.
After a long wait, the Haunted Mask graphic novel is in my digital hands so it’s time to talk about it. Now, I plan to review it on the blog as an excuse to give the Haunted Mask the full blown review it deserves so while the story will be the focus there, I will talk more about certain things there but we’ll see what I can say here. I may jump the gun in some regards as it’s not like there’s a ton to say.
Goosebumps Graphix had their time with doing 3 stories a book, then the IDW stuff happened and was rather cool but that came to an end and I have no idea if Scholastic doing this is why. Either way, with the Baby-Sitters Club and Animorphs Graphic novels still going strong, Scholastic may as well have brought Goosebumps Graphix back in style.
Thus we’re here with Haunted Mask, and more to come. We’ll see how much more. Maddi Gonzalez is the artist here and she already proved her cool factor online with her already following the Out of Context Goosebumps account when this was uncovered. She’s cool and pretty self aware about the nature of this series while having all that nostalgic love, so she was ideal off the bat for me lol.
Having covered some graphic novels based on books, I have a handle on what it’s like to see written words be translated like this and I was interested to see this handles that. And in short, it’s done very well. I quite liked this. The people that complain about changes don’t have to worry about anything, as this falls in the camp of most of this Scholastic Graphix of staying loyal.
While some like the Animorphs one can fall prey to feeling like an audiobook that doesn’t add enough, this feels like it adds enough of its own spin. It’s the same story and changes aren’t too plentiful, but it makes some tweaks for the sake of flow and uses artistic licenses when it can. My main praise is in the expressions, as Maddi uses basically any chance she gets to use said expressions to enhance how a character is feeling.
Early on it can try a bit too hard to have these goofy moments with that, they're funny usually but just a bit much and that calms down when things kick into gear. Carly Beth is the highlight here her expressions especially can be great, selling her fears, worries, emotions etc. This includes when she is in mask mode.
Designs are solid, Sabrina is another one that looks good, although I noticed Chuck keeps changing from red hair to brown hair on and off. But hey, no same face here at least. The original story is a blatantly emotional one and this understands that, and even adds in a few minor bits to enhance that, giving things a bit more humanity. Mostly in Sabrina who feels like a better friend here just with those touches lol. The changes we get just some switching around for flow as I said, it moves the worm scene up like the episode does but still puts some of the lunch scene at the start, splitting it up in a sort of weird way but it works.
It’s closer to the book than the episode was which means the more vague version of the backstory here and since that was a flaw with the book, it remains one here, sorry. Spoilers, they keep him saying if anyone else puts the mask on, it’s forever so…good luck if you do Haunted Mask 2, guess Noah is screwed.
For complaints, a few bits feel a smidge rushed so they don’t quite have the same impact. At times the written word was able to sell things better although there are also moments that do work just as well if not better so it can be a give and take.
I wasn’t sure about the mask’s look all the time, as before I read it it just didn’t look like a mask, it leans right into being a booga booga face which seemed a bit silly. In the book itself it has more “mask” moments and often looks cool/creepy. The art does try to get that scary/fun mix which the book I feel has with most of it being CB running around and scary people which is fun to her.
This captures that well. It can have creepy moments, with some extra shading making some moments effective. It can be a bit soft/goofy as well and at times I wish it could go a bit hard. Otherwise the art fits the story and is engaging/fun to read like the original book was.
The translation from the text works well, being able to show some scenes that were narrated in the book and it doesn’t feel like there’s too much dialogue or narration clogging the pages. There’s one small bit of missing information causing mild confusion but that’s it, and I only noted it cuz I’m a nerd that remembers everything and also was cross referencing the book.
While not perfect, this is a well done graphic novel that is a respectful take on the most iconic Goosebumps story. While I get a bit sick of it sometimes, this brought new life to it a fair bit of the time (most effectively in more subtle character driven moments although some big scenes like when she’s defeating the mask are strong too) and the passion does show.
It’s a good time and is well worth it. It may be a new story but it’s still basically what I like seeing. I��m hyped to see which one is next. Although, with all due respect to Maddi, I am hoping for other artists too to see a variety and some stories lend themselves to different styles, as this one worked well for it but may not quite fit others.
But yeah, full review perhaps next year to comment further on the story to re-visit and it certain things in here. I decided not to rate this as I wasn't quite sure, given I’d rate this as an adaptation and not the story itself since that’s from the book rather than made up for this. A very high 3 on the adaptation front, just had some little niggling things that can stack up at times.
Great/4 is my rating for the book so you can pretend that applies to this as those things don’t detract too hard on their own. I did this more to just say some words rather than rate it per say, so there ya go.
Whew, finally got that done. Next will likely be the first Halloween read and even if not, may as well tease it anyway. To the randomizer where our first one will see us returning to a franchise but in a different way.
We’re doing a Baby-Sitters Little Sister book, see ya then.
September 21, 2025
I’ve never read Goosebumps, but when I saw the books were being adapted into graphic novels, I was very intrigued. The art style is absolute perfection; the neon colors bring me right back to the 90s which is when Goosebumps originally began.
In the Haunted Mask, Carly Beth, our main character, is easily scared, but she wants to turn the tables and scare everyone else on Halloween night. She visits a local shop to find an extra scary mask. She finds a room full of masks that the shop owner is reluctant to sell to her. After a lot of pleading, he finally agrees. Carly Beth will soon find out why the mask shouldn’t be worn…
My 10 year old was too scared by this story; I think my 12 year old will absolutely love it, and I gobbled it right up and cannot wait to read the second graphic novel. I could see re-reading this every year on Halloween night. The Haunted Mask is truly the most aesthetic, nostalgic, fun story for Halloween.
In the Haunted Mask, Carly Beth, our main character, is easily scared, but she wants to turn the tables and scare everyone else on Halloween night. She visits a local shop to find an extra scary mask. She finds a room full of masks that the shop owner is reluctant to sell to her. After a lot of pleading, he finally agrees. Carly Beth will soon find out why the mask shouldn’t be worn…
My 10 year old was too scared by this story; I think my 12 year old will absolutely love it, and I gobbled it right up and cannot wait to read the second graphic novel. I could see re-reading this every year on Halloween night. The Haunted Mask is truly the most aesthetic, nostalgic, fun story for Halloween.
October 7, 2024
It was a fun read for both my son and myself, just in time for Halloween! Light enough for a 8yo to like and not be scarred from terror, but scary enough that is a good spooky tale! The graphic novel design was really exceptional and we look forward to reading and collecting more from Maddie Gonzalez graphic novels and adaptations!
October 18, 2024
Incredible, from the art to the small changes of the original story I am utterly blown away by this adaptation and it has quickly solidified itself as my favorite adaptation! Love the character designs and environments and the expression work is 10/10!
November 8, 2024
Excellent graphic novel adaptation of one of my favorite book series to read as a kid. I appreciated some of the updates to the text to bring it to the 21st century (at one point, Carly video chats with her best friend, and at another, a character mentions apps), and the details in the illustrations are lovely. I especially loved R.L. Stine's brief appearance as a mask in the creepy store.
April 6, 2025
I think this is a really solid adaptation of the original Goosebumps novel with the same title. I didn't enjoy it quite as much...the cartoony nature of the artwork is perfect for kids...but not something I see myself returning to at any point. Would definitely recommend to middle grade kids.
October 1, 2024
Welcome to Spooky Season! My local library seemed to acquire this fast (they’re scooping up Halloween and Fall-themed children’s books VERY quickly), so I think that might have helped me acquire a copy before other people got a chance to put it on hold. I’ve been reading the Graphix/Scholastic Animorphs series since it started and I think Maddi Gonzalez has an even better adaptive take on Stine’s piece. Love the layers of homage to the original cover, the tv series, and the world of Stine without it becoming a constant competition for Easter egg identification. The contemporary setting was also managed very fluidly and the updates made this story strike the perfect balance between spooky and sad, which I think gets at the underpinning themes of the original novel. Can’t wait for more of these.
May 15, 2025
De illustraties zijn zooo goed
May 18, 2025
Es un cómic entretenido, tiene ligeras variantes con el capítulo y el libro, me gustó mucho la ilustración y que tenga referencias a la cultura pop del terror
June 19, 2025
Carly Beth and that evil mask are icons of Halloween. I loved this adaptation of R.L. Stine's classic. The artwork is bright and cartoonish. A perfect edition for Goosebumps fans.
March 11, 2026
My kid loved this! And read it a few times.
October 8, 2024
Great adaptation of one of the Goosebumps classics. I read half of it to my three year old tonight. She was engrossed with the story and I am hoping she doesn’t wake up with nightmares tonight.
March 30, 2025
5/5. loved it. goosebumps will forever hold a place in my heart in any format. no notes.
April 16, 2025
Great art Tons of Easter eggs some stuff from the og book was left out but overall good. 10/10 totally Recommend
October 19, 2025
Very fun and nostalgic! I really loved the vibrant illustrations.
November 12, 2025
Enjoyed from start to finish. I loved the art work! Bright colors with super cartoonish faces. Definitely a book I will recommend to my students in the future when they ask for a “scary” book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews