One Night at Camp Bigfoot

Goosebumps House of Shivers #6

by R.L. Stine

Goosebumps now on Disney+!

Siblings Harper and Dylan are reluctantly spending their summer at Camp Bigfoot. Run by an eccentric guy everyone calls Uncle Squatch, Camp Bigfoot is a classic summer camp with wooden cabins, forest trails, lots of outdoor activities-and the occasional Bigfoot sighting.

Uncle Squatch loves wearing a Bigfoot costume and trying to scare unsuspecting campers. But when a Bigfoot is spotted under a full moon, panic fills the camp. Is this Uncle Squatch's usual prank, or a real Bigfoot? Harper and Dylan are scared to find out!

Genres: Middle Grade, Horror

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2026

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

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Reviews

[Austin Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange Goosebumps book that surprisingly manages to be somewhat unique and subverts expectations, coming from a life long fan that's read it all. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it yet, but it's certainly better than some of the other entries in this series (Goblin Monday and Say My Name!) - but by the end of the book it just leaves so many unanswered questions and feels almost pointless.
Maybe that was the intention with this one, though, to just be quirky and mysterious. So much happens in the final few chapters and then it just ends...

I don't know... 3 stars for now, I guess. I wouldn't say it was great but for a modern GB book this was a decent, worthy addition.

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

As per House of Shivers tradition, we must ask: what older Goosebumps tale is this ripping from? This one seems to be Werewolf’s First Night, though not quite what you’d expect. Camp Bigfoot was a decent surprise (and comeback) for the House of Shivers series alongside the GB camp story saga. I feel the story was super tight and well-paced, and the book was really fun. The build-up to Bigfoot himself was good and helped build his cryptid status, and his addition made way for a great climax. It’s not a spoiler bro; don’t act like you didn’t expect LargeFeet to show up. The true twist of the book was interesting and I enjoyed it, for it was weird yet welcome. But I do have some takeaways, namely the twist’s lack of payoff. For whatever reason, when the big reveal happens in the final quarter of the book, the main doesn’t really question it much when the dust settles. It feels kinda pointless without an explanatory moment, which could’ve been easily included but was jarringly missing. In other words, the end felt rushed thanks to the that not being present. Going hand in hand with that is also the underbaked lore of the camp itself. I was hoping for a juicy tidbit, but we didn’t get anything, and whilst you can interpret a basic outline of any backstory for the camp, it would’ve been better actually explained. Overall, 9/10. This book is a blast and a great return to camp stories in this franchise. Plus the creature inclusion—all I can say is: fucking finally. Second best HOS I feel.

[Tor Domay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this one a full five stars, because I know not enough people will appreciate the monster brawl that occurs at the end of it. Bigfoot is a monster that seems to carry with him a charm and sensational moments that never cease to be embedded in our memory. I was more than impressed with what Stine accomplished this time around.

[Damean Mathews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Goosebumps! Great twists, awesome modernization of the R.L. Stine writing style. Loved it.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since Goodreads sucks and we can’t do accurate ratings, this is a 4.6/5⭐️ rounded down to 4 stars.

I don’t really use this app anymore because these days I’m just going in blind to books, it’s better that way tbh. Nothing against the folks in the community who use this, but this app - particularly with brand new books - is becoming a problem.

With that being said — we have a new Goosebumps book to talk about. I’m sure many folks on here would be shocked Stine is still churning these out after 30+ years but here we are and I’m honestly shocked by the lack of reviews and ratings already for this book here - One Night At Camp Bigfoot.

I’ve over the years have become tapered with the kids horror genre as a whole because of two things: it doesn’t matter how much you repaint a wall, the original color is always going to be underneath, and the arbitrary dictation of quality is skewed in the genre, which generally is all over the place with takes and what makes a book good etc. that makes consensus gathering skewed. Which feeds to my inclusion of going in blind these days, it feels much rewarding that finding books such as One Night in Camp Bigfoot. Not only is it a well painted over wall type of story, but it’s also a book that I think fuels the fire of the point to reading it before assuming what it will be like.

At face value, the story is about two horror loving kids seeking out some summer fun after being roped in by their surprisingly involved-to-be-uninvolved parents trying to help them out of their normalcy in the bubble world in which they live. But wouldn’t you know the intended camp has been closed due to unforeseen circumstances, and they learn of a more distant camp that the kids discover is tailor made for them. Stuck between a rock and some free space, the parents decide to let their kids “trial run” this camp — led by an eccentric cryptid believer —for a few weeks. But our heroine learns very quickly there is a complex mystery afoot: what’s the deal with the campers and counselors mentioning werepeople, what’s the deal with this annual Bigfoot hunt that occurs each year at the camp, and most importantly — are these kids safe even being here?

As you’d expect with Goosebumps at this point of its life cycle, and in some regards to a surprise, there’s problems with the book, but the book delivers answers in ways I haven’t seen done since the original 62 — which is a blessing but a detriment to the book at the same time.

On one hand, the book is heavily borrowing elements from some classic original 62 books. The big three amalgamation being How To Kill A Monster, The Horror At Camp Jellyjam, and Welcome To Dead House. Why those three? Well if it isn’t obvious, the story is about kids stumbling into a camp under unplanned circumstances that just so happened to be what the kids wanted the whole time (like Jellyjam for instance). Mix in the element of Welcome to Dead House where the story’s point is: come into a new place where, stuff goes south, end up getting out shortly thereafter within a span of a few days. And lastly How To Kill A Monster’s borrowing mainly comes in the third act where kids scrape together things they think will defeat the titular monster in question. But I think the marriage of the ideas here works, as you get that slow build of Dead House mixed with the fantastical element of Jellyjam, and the ridiculously silly tone and vibe of Monster.

Storywise, it doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary a Goosebumps book hasn’t done before. Besides using the titular monster of course. It’s chalked full of red herring side characters, a comedic relief character that knows more than the protagonist but ups and disappears from the story to demand the reader’s attention to the MC who has to deal with their experiences alone, it’s even got in your face reveals of what will come so you know what comes down the pipeline to a degree. The lead character is cardboard in nature compared to top tier GB protagonists sure, but that’s most GB protagonists really — memorable for one character trait or thing they do in the story as opposed to being remembered as a fleshed out human (sometimes monster) being. This story opts for the cliche obsessive archetype Stine loves using, but at least it’s in the horror direction here.

The story is a slow burn to build its pressure cooker so to speak. While some folks out there love to douse their kids horror with pixie sticks, sugar, and Ritalin laced aura farming, others may enjoy a more subdued, structured, laid back approach to develop nuance and creating mood. And its climax is actually more sugared and Ritalin laced than most batshit balls to the wall kids horror stories out there. So does it mean that a slow burn, not a lot of Bigfoot action, saturated in mystery tropes and red herrings book was made up for by the end?

Well, there’s setup and payoff to everything “random in the book”. From the MC having markered on measles to avoid going to camp in the first place staying on throughout the story, to the mystery of werepeople and “why” they are there, gets some sort of answer. Some more concrete than others, like the measles one having satisfying payoff to it. The werepeople angle is strange but this is a book where the fact werepeople are at the camp in the first place supersedes the question of why there are werepeople in the book to begin with. These were people are there for cryptid hunting, and the fact that werepeople are technically Cryptids themselves isn’t lost on me with the irony.

The action and ways characters interacted with each other in the book was refreshing, as most of the time you’d expect a more adversarial relationship with outsiders coming into a new group. We’ve seen it done in Ghost Camp, we’ve seen it done in Dead House, and many others. But here, it’s almost like the kids accepted each others differences to a degree. Maybe even it was intentional on Stine’s part to throw in situational humor by the end, making the audience think that the others didn’t know that the mains of the story weren’t like them, and that’s why the ending wrapped up the way it did.

Part of the problem with Goosebumps historically is the overreliance on twists to zing the book. I think people like myself have grown disinterested on every goosebumps book having one, because not every story needs one. I know I love my dark twist endings like the Werewolf Skin and The Tale Of Vampire Town’s in the genre. But what good would it have done for a group of werepeople specifically hunting Bigfoot to kill a family out of hunger? Remove the shock value, there is no further twist with the werepeople other than their existence, and no character reveal to further propel. Besides one clear cut character we meet at the camp which could’ve been used as the “twist” when she openly told the main character to stay away. There would’ve been no intrigue to the twist, and it would be easy to dismiss this as a twist because “I saw it coming”. So here, with no intrigue possibly left, I dug it. It was refreshing.

On the other hand, the books main weaknesses imo was the execution on some of the reveals being sudden. Not necessarily in the pacing or narrative direction, but I mean in the delivery on the writing. Stine and editors could’ve proofread the book a bit more to iron those rough patches out. And honestly, the book was too short imo. There felt like there could’ve been an additional thirty pages of build up to put in before the climax. Which I think could’ve delivered more contextual things that required logical thought than being told directly what it is (as we got in the book). Using logical thought isn’t an issue for this book because it makes sense just thinking about it for a minute. But it would’ve elevated this book if it had more concrete things than ambiguity.

Some may say ambiguity makes horror “work”. I’m one that isn’t really afraid of most things in the horror genre. I tend to laugh at movies like Insidious and many other things. But I will say this about ambiguity — it makes you think longer on something and keeps conversation relevant with the unknowns. Sometimes not knowing everything actually helps, idk if that’s the case here but it feels like that to me.

All in all, I think this one of my more regarded modern GB books in a long time. It’s narrowly focused, tight, and linear with crescendoing moments that build on each previous one. Is it derivative like layers of paint on the wall? What isn’t in the genre lol. Is it predictable? Yeah, but its cleverness comes in the context which works to negate that. And is it silly and absurd? Absolutely. Hence why I love Goosebumps.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, time for a new Goosebumps book. Last year we had one lesser entry but then a solid one came around as a bounce back. House of Shivers so far has been mostly “good but nothing too special” tier books but compared to Slappyworld I am so glad most at least reach a mild good, with Say My Name as the obligatory not so good one.

Now we finally get a new camp book after 12 years. Yes, it has been that long since Creature Teacher the Final Exam. And it involves bigfoot. Camp books involving bigfoot are way too common but Stine hasn’t done it yet so let’s see how fresh it is.

Harper is a big fan of drawing monsters. One day her parents tell them the kids are being sent to Camp Woo Woo for the summer which they are not interested in. Thankfully for them that camp has been closed due to bears. However, someone knows a camp they can go to that is of the beaten path, called Camp Bigfoot.

They sign up for that and the place is really into bigfoot, but warns of the creature possibly existing. And they got a campout coming up which sounds like a great place for such a creature to show up. Does he exist or is everyone just pulling Harper’s leg?

So this was a good one, although as usual with this current series it’s on the lower end of that. One of the things that carried this was, oddly enough, the dialogue. There’s some fun back and forth, with characters that are likable and work well off each other. There’s a brother named DJ who has some funny bits and their dynamic is nice. They give each other shit but it’s not too bad, so more healthy than normal.

The parents, for the brief bit we get of them, are said to get along despite being married for so long. That’s less believable than Bigfoot. There are a few more fakeouts than usual for the current books but there is enough of a sense of fun making it less egregious.

When things get going, it’s got plenty of action. There’s a scene in the forest that was decently creepy with enough tension. Tone leans more to the goofy but it’s balanced enough. House of Shivers so far is more on the dark side so this one does stand out but there is one dark moment and a played straight action climax. The climax is pretty solid, even.

Bigfoot is a solid threat when he shows up and Harper is a fair protagonist. Just simply having an interest like drawing monsters sets her slightly apart. First female protagonist of HOS btw.

There is a weird bit of set/payoff here. A scene early seems like pure filler but it pays off in the climax. It’s not quite explained why it ends up being the resolution but at least it paid off? There are still some structure problems. The drawing monsters thing is a good setup but it doesn’t pay off or become as important as you’d hope.

We get another type of monster in this story and while it’s badly done per say it does feel random. There’s no real reason why they are in here, it’s just sort of there cuz why not. It does take a bit to get truly cooking and the ending is abrupt. No twist which is like, it just could have used a bit more of a wrapup for the characters to talk about what just went down.

But as a whole, it is a fun read. It went by quickly and even with the flaws, it didn’t drag or anything like that. Notably flawed in terms of some of the progression and how things connect together but it still has enough action and decent humor to make it enjoyable. Don’t expect too much and you’ll get enough to like here.

Ranking this series is hard as most fall more in the middle, with Say My Name as the clear bottom and Mummy as the clear top as of now. Some others impressed just a bit more while this felt more clean and focused than some others. It’s in the rough middle as far as the camp books go but it is another good one.

That’s just a sub genre Stine tends to do well so it didn’t hurt the streak. So yeah not much else to say. Next one comes August and involves birds. Please don’t reveal that the main kid is a bird or something, that’s all I ask. As for the next read in general, who knows. Besides the stuff I read for reviews of course. I got ideas so it could be sooner than later, we’ll see/.

See ya.

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[Justin Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harper loves scary stuff, so when her parents want to send her off to lame Camp Woo Woo she's annoyed. So annoyed she marks up her face with red dots to make it look like she's sick. Because this is a 21st century Goosebumps book, everyone assumes she has the measles. Even her parents, which means they're probably anti-vaxxers.

The measles issue actually becomes important by the end, delivering what might be Uncle Bob's most political Goosebumps book ever. If you can read between the lines.

Mostly, however, this is a straight forward keep-you-guessing chiller where we wonder what's really going on at the unregulated and red flag-ridden summer camp.

Usually I get annoyed with Stine's is-it-real-or-is-it-not scares, but this book got me thinking about all the crazy stuff I believed as a kid. Deciphering what's a lie and what isn't actually is challenging when you're young, and clearly we live in times where it remains difficult as an adult.

Bigfoot and the measles become a striking metaphor for the real-life terror we now face every day -- what to believe and what not to believe. Maybe we're paranoid, or maybe they're really out to get us.

Harper's obsession with horror and desire to stay at Camp Bigfoot, even after a narrow escape with her life, suggests we are drawn to what's flashy and dangerous even when we know better. That the discarded camp is called "Woo Woo" does not escape me with its own metaphorical weight.

Ordinarily I would laugh at myself for projecting high art concepts onto a Goosebumps book, but in this case the ending is so abnormal from typical Stine fair that I actually believe the entire text was written with the underlying desire to make a point about misinformation and the resurgence of once-eradicated deadly diseases. That's my theory, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

[Kevin Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this one 4.0/5. It’s a pretty fun adventure and a solid addition to the new series. I’ve been really happy with these last two House of Shivers books, they feel like a great return to that classic Goosebumps vibe. It's fast paced, entertaining, and definitely worth a read if you're a fan of the camp horror vibe.

[A.D. Aro · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable entry in the House of Shivers line. I always like the summer camp setting and many of those (Ghost Camp, The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, etc) were some of my favorite Goosebumps tales. Was hoping for a little more Bigfoot in this book, but Stine does give us plenty of other creatures.

[Elliot Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really good for modern-day Goosebumps!!!

[Dominick F · Rating 5 out of 5]

good pacing but the ending did not have a twist at all. overall this was a good read but the ending, one of the reasons i got into goosebumps sucked.

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. I’m not a fan of chapter titles. The ending was kinda funny and not typica