The series has sold over 300 million copies. The new e-book version of the series has changed words like “crazy” and “squirrel cheeks.”
Saturday 04 March 2023 09:41 UK
The authors of the popular children’s book series Goosebumps have adapted a dozen titles to remove or change references to mental health, ethnicity and weight.
After JK Rowling Harry potter, goosebumps It is the second best-selling book series in the world.
Publisher Scholastic, which once sold more than 4 million copies a month, is re-releasing children’s horror novels as edited e-books amid ongoing controversy over publishing censorship, reports The Times.
Author RL Stine has made over 100 edits to the original work, including characters now described as “cheerful” instead of “plump.”
References to villains who “slavish” their victims were also removed.
While the word “crazy” has also been replaced with alternatives such as “ridiculous,” reports The Times.
Goosebumps’ first book was published in 1992. The series includes works such as Welcome to Dead House and Stay Out of the Basement.
Changes to the original text are made immediately thereafter Rishi Sunak denounces Roald Dahl’s rewriting of children’s books.
The prime minister cited the Big Friendly Giant’s warning not to verbally “gobblefunk” in condemning the move, which has also been branded as “ridiculous censorship” by author Sir Salman Rushdie.
A copy of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novel has also been revised to remove numerous references to race, and will be republished later this year.
“At least 6 chins” description changed
Stine, 79, from Ohio, USA, originally published 62 books in the Goosebumps series. In 2015, it was made into a movie starring Jack Black, and a sequel was released in 2018.
The Times reported that in one story in which aliens abduct large people and eat them, a character described as having “at least six jaws” is now “at least six foot six.”
In another book, references to a wolf’s whistle were removed, and another character’s description of it resembling a “bowling ball”, having “squirrel cheeks”, etc. was removed.
Many references to the word “crazy” were also removed throughout the series. “And so on. The term “a real nut” became “a real wild one” and “nutcase” became “weirdo”.
The adaptation is reportedly part of an ebook re-release that began in 2018.
Stein and Scholastic did not respond to requests for comment, according to the New York Times.
