Now, before I start, it’s important to know what a huge part of my life Goosebumps was growing up. I had all of the books, watched all of the TV series and was genuinely in love with anything R.L Stine related from a very young age…even up to enjoying the Goosebumps movie that came out recently! So when I saw this had been announced and was a show for adults, being 22 now, I was super excited. Now I don’t think you have to have read the books/seen the TV series to enjoy the show but for me, the real fear was being taken back to my childhood and reliving the stories that had kept me up at night all those years ago. Slappy from Night of the Living Dummy had always terrified me and had been the book I still couldn’t read, even now so when I saw this bought to life…I genuinely cried. Cried from fear but also cried at how overwhelmingly amazing it was being brought into the books that I loved so much.

Back to the show though. We struggled to find the entrance as before you’re in The Vaults, you have to walk down a subway, which (I’ll be honest here) looks like a bit of a shit hole so I thought I’d gone the wrong way, but as soon as you see the entrance, it’s the perfect location. We were given our tickets and placed in the “Rat” group. This ticket determines which shows you will see. For me, that was: The Blob That Ate Everyone, Cuckoo Clock of Doom, One Day at Horrorland, Stay Out of the Basement and Night of the Living Dummy (in that order). We’re going back again next week and we spoke to a couple who were “Spiders” and they’d seen: The Haunted Mask, Say Cheese and Die,  The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight (and SOotB and NotLD which everyone sees I think) so we shall be Spiders next time!

The bar you wait in has Goosebumps related food and drinks, which I’ve got to say is absolutely awesome! Cocktails in syringes, Say Cheese and Die toasties…it’s just a fab idea. In the bar, there’s a merchandise stall, which offers some great merchandise at awesome prices. I got 3 Goosebumps books (which were created for the show, with a programme at the front) for £10 and a poster for £1. Next time, I’ll be getting the CD and hopefully a mask…as you can buy some of the masks from the show!

15 minutes before the show starts, you’re taken into another bar and you sit at the tables of your group. There are rats, spiders, crows and snakes. I’ll be honest, I hated this part. There were far too many people in a small room, drinking alcohol; really noisy…it was essentially just like a club. I was feeling a little apprehensive at this point but I shouldn’t have been. After 15 minutes, someone burst into the room and did a short intro. The Goosebumps theme tune was then played and we were taken off into our groups. (I was already scared!)

I LOVED that you didn’t just walk to the next show; there was always something going on. You walk through those hypnotic tunnels, slides, you go into a lift and just so happen to meet a Goosebumps character in there…, and my personal favourite: being buried alive. Okay, not exactly but I honestly had no idea that this would be part of the show but half our group was cut off and guess who was at the front leading the way? Me, of course. The walls started getting smaller and smaller and I’m on my hands and knees at this point before I realise I’ve lead the entire group into a dead end. I’m shouting now. “It’s a dead end. It’s the wrong way. We’re trapped in here”. I’m banging on the walls, trying to find a door…some would say I was freaking out a little. Did I hold onto my fiancé? No, I found some random girl and held onto her instead, not sure why. Anyway, that part is awesome but not really great if you’re even slightly claustrophobic.

As I said earlier, we saw 5 mini-shows. Some parents had bought their children along (when there’s specifically a children’s version of something, you should probably take your children to that!) which in my opinion, was really stupid. There was an awful lot of swearing, a few sexual references and honestly, just not appropriate for a child. I don’t want to ruin the shows by telling you them in detail but you won’t be disappointed. Please don’t go in thinking they’re going to be word for word copies of the book. The shows are based on the books so take on the main theme of the books but some characters change, some things do get changed because remember, this show is for adults. I’ve seen a few reviews where people were disappointed because they weren’t carbon copies of the books but for me, this made it much more real and exciting.

When I left the show around 90 minutes later, I was on a complete high and was lucky enough to win tickets to go back again, which will be next week. I am so happy with how they done this and really quite sad that it ends next month. I’m hoping it will come back somewhere else and you all can experience it because honestly, it’s worth every penny. 

Buy your tickets to Goosebumps Alive here (ends 5th June)