Ren Shamburger
Giving Our Kids Goosebumps: How Popular Children鈥檚 Horror Shows Us the Value of Scary Stories
Faculty Mentor(s): Prof. Timothy Miller
Ren Shamburger, on their experience in the English Honors Program:
I really enjoyed working with my classmates on all of our projects. Everyone has such interesting research and I鈥檓 looking forward to seeing the final results!
础产蝉迟谤补肠迟:听Horror is one of the most contentious genres in children鈥檚 literature. For decades parents have tried to get these books taken off the shelves of school libraries, complaining that they are too gruesome and frightening for young kids to handle. Yet despite being among the most challenged books of the past three decades, both Goosebumps by R. L. Stine and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz remain some of the most popular book series for middle grade readers. In this paper I examine why these two series are so enticing to kids, as well as the ways in which they, and other examples of children鈥檚 horror, can actually be beneficial rather than harmful for young readers.
Ren Shamburger is an nonbinary English major studying the dynamics and implications of genre fiction, with a special interest in horror. They have a minor in biology and enjoy collaborative storytelling, writing, and nature walks in their free time.
