Why did Disney+ cancel Goosebumps? All details explored

Goosebumps, the teen horror-thriller series based on R.L. Stine’s best-selling book franchise, will no longer continue on Disney+ or Hulu after its second season. The show, which combined supernatural scares with coming-of-age drama, premiered in October 2023 and returned with a second season in January 2025.

Despite attracting millions of viewing hours and developing a dedicated fan base, Variety confirmed that it will not return for a third season on Disney’s streaming platforms. The decision follows Disney+'s broader trend of scaling back on scripted content as part of its programming strategy.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television and developed by Rob Letterman and Nicholas Stoller, the series reimagined classic Goosebumps stories for a modern audience, blending familiar book-inspired plots with original twists.

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What happened to Disney+'s Goosebumps?

John Long stars as Mr. Bratt (Image via Disney)

Disney+ has not officially stated the exact reason for the Goosebumps cancellation. However, the decision follows a wider pattern of content reductions on the platform in recent years. Reports say that from 2020 to 2023, Disney cancelled a bigger percentage of its shows than competing streaming services like Netflix or Max.

Variety says that Goosebumps had a total of 75 million viewing hours in the U.S. over its two seasons and an extra 43 million hours in 16 other countries. Even though these numbers are good, Disney+ did not renew the show.

Willow and Star Wars: The Acolyte are two other shows that have been cancelled. Disney+ has only renewed four shows so far in 2025, which means that the selection process for new shows will be stricter in the future.

Experts in the field have said that Disney's streaming approach is changing to focus on saving money and combining services. It looks like Disney is making fewer original scripted shows now that it has included Hulu programming in the Disney+ app. This restructure may have played a role in Goosebumps ceasing after its second season.

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Are there future plans for the show?

David Schwimmer stars as Anthony Brewer in the second season (Image via Disney)

The show is no longer on Disney+, but Goosebumps may not be gone for good. Along with Scholastic Entertainment and Disney Branded Television, Sony Pictures Television makes the show. They hope to sell it to other networks or streaming platforms. This might mean that a third season could happen on a different platform.

The creators want to look into new creative options for the Goosebumps intellectual property, which has already included books, a TV show anthology from the 1990s, and two films. Because the franchise is well-known around the world and has a lot of fans, industry sources think it might find a new home.

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What are Goosebumps seasons 1 and 2 all about?

Rob Letterman and Nicholas Stoller at the 2023 New York Comic Con (Image via Getty)

The first season of Goosebumps premiered just before Halloween 2023. It consisted of ten episodes, with the first five released at once and the rest airing weekly.

The story was about five high school kids who looked into the death of Harold Biddle, a mystery teen whose story was tied to terrible mysteries in their town. Justin Long, Rachael Harris, Zack Morris, Isa Briones, Miles McKenna, Ana Yi Puig, and Will Price were all in season 1.

Season 2, which was out in January 2025, included a whole new setting and cast. This time, the story was about fraternal twins who moved home with their father, a botanist who had just gotten divorced. David Schwimmer played the father. The twins and their friends found a series of supernatural happenings that were connected to the past when their friends went missing in weird ways.

David Schwimmer, Ana Ortiz, Jayden Bartels, Sam McCarthy, Elijah M. Cooper, Francesca Noel, and Galilea La Salvia were all in the cast for the second season.

Both seasons had nods to R.L. Stine's original books, mixing fresh storylines with supernatural themes that fans of the series would recognize.

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The legacy of Goosebumps as a franchise

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books came out for the first time in 1992. Since then, they have sold over 400 million copies around the world and been translated into 32 languages. The franchise has grown beyond novels to include TV and films. The anthology TV series from 1995 to 1998 was the first to adapt stories directly from the books. In 2015 and 2018, there were two live-action films.

The Disney+ series was the first big TV adaptation in more than 20 years. Instead of being episodic, it had interconnected plots and recurrent characters.

Future adaptations, whether for streaming, film, or other media, still seek the series due to its strong brand recognition.

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Will Goosebumps return?

The official poster for Goosebumps (Image via Disney Plus)

While Disney+ has officially ended its involvement with the series, the possibility of a continuation remains open. If Sony Pictures Television finds a new partner to distribute the show, it could start over again with either a direct third season or a different format. There are a few different ways to go about this. One is to keep the seasonal anthology approach, where each season has a new setting and cast. Another is to switch to a more traditional anthology, where each episode has a new tale.

There hasn't been an announcement about a new platform yet, and it's not clear when any prospective revival will happen. But because the series has a history of changing and adapting, it may come back to screens.

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Disney+ canceled Goosebumps after two seasons, which shows how the platform is changing its strategy and cutting back on programming. Even though a lot of people are watching the show, it is part of a larger trend of cutting back on material. Sony Pictures Television is looking for a new home for the property right now.