WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Goosebumps episode 6!
Summary
- Goosebumps 2023 takes a darker and more morally ambiguous approach compared to previous adaptations of the franchise, targeting a more mature audience.
- The truth of Harold Biddle's death is revealed to be more complex than initially thought, as it is discovered that his classmates were actually trying to save him before the fire accidentally started.
- The plot of "Night of the Living Dummy" subverts the classic horror trope of a bullied kid seeking revenge on their tormentors, as Harold's behavior was influenced by the evil ventriloquist dummy, Slappy.
While original Goosebumps show and movie series.
In 2023’s Goosebumps reboot, a group of small-town teens find themselves plagued by supernatural phenomena after they encounter seemingly cursed items in a haunted house. Gradually, the teens come to realize that they are being punished for some terrible secret sin that their parents committed years earlier. However, while Isaiah, Margot, Isabella, Lucas, and James found themselves caught up in increasingly elaborate paranormal problems, it took until the end of Goosebumps' first five episodes before they uncovered the root of the mystery. This outing seemed to prove that their parents were guilty of killing their classmate Harold Biddle years earlier, but the next episode proved that the truth was more complicated.
The Teen "Bullies" Were Trying To Save Harold Biddle, Not Kill Him In Goosebumps
In Goosebumps episodes 1—5, the ghost of Harold Biddle possesses the body of Mr. Bratt, a teacher at the high school that the teens attend. He appeared to the kids and intimidated them before eventually handing Margot a scrapbook of his memories that allowed her to see how he died back in 1993. This scrapbook made it look like his classmates, the parents of these teens, burned Harold alive in a prank gone wrong. This is a trope that many viewers will recognize from countless horror movies from Terror Train to Prom Night. However, the truth of the story was much more morally complex, as the teens were actually trying to save him when the fire accidentally started in Harold's basement.
Goosebumps season 1, episode 6, “Night of the Living Dummy,” saw Biddle sit down with the teens so that he could explain his story. He began by telling them about Slappy, a sentient ventriloquist dummy that his great-grandfather owned. Harold came across this dummy when he moved into his great-grandfather’s old home and Slappy made him popular at school. However, anyone who knows Slappy is the Goosebumps franchise’s most famous villain was also aware that this wouldn’t end well. Unsurprisingly, Slappy began to control Harold’s behavior, convincing him that his friends and parents were out to get him. This alienated Harold from his friends and had even worse consequences for his parents.
Why Harold Biddle Killed His Parents
Harold’s parents wanted him to fit in at school, which he struggled to achieve thanks to severe bullying in an old school. Harold wanted to use Slappy to attract friends, but his parents acted like he would be made fun of for this choice. This gave Slappy a reason to turn Harold against the parents before eventually convincing him to kill them. Goosebumps 2023 strayed from its family-friendly inspiration when Harold used a spell that Slappy gave him to turn his parents into dummies, but things soon escalated even further after this. His friend Nora saw him speaking to Slappy in school, so the doll turned him against his peers.
Harold’s Goosebumps Revenge Plot Changes A Horror Cliché
After he possessed Mr. Bratt, Harold Biddle planned to attack each of the kids so that he could get revenge on their parents. This plot twisted a classic horror cliché into something more nuanced and interesting since Harold was bullied in his old school, but the former friends that he now wants to get revenge on never wronged him. The teens at Harold’s new school were friendly and, like his parents, they were right to worry about Slappy’s influence. At least one of the people involved in stealing Slappy sought revenge on Harold, but one was worried about him and another knew that Slappy was genuinely supernatural and dangerous.
While Goosebumps 2023 features plenty of horror Easter eggs, “Night of the Living Dummy” proves the show can also subvert the genre’s familiar tropes. The story of bullies abusing a kid until their ghost comes back to kill them has been seen in Carrie, Tormented, Slaughter High, and many more. However, Harold Biddle’s “bullying” complicates this classic cliché since Harold wasn’t really bullied, but instead saw his friends as tormentors thanks to Slappy’s malignant influence. Thus, it was really Slappy, not his classmates, that killed Harold in Goosebumps 2023, since the dummy began to take over the teen’s life and turn him against his friends.