The popular Goosebumps series is known for its exciting mix of horror and adventure stories. The new TV show for Disney+ and Hulu, created by Rob Letterman and Nicholas Stoller, brings the series up to date. In contrast to the episodic anthology style of the 1995 series, this adaptation uses a serialized anthology style, telling different interconnected stories over the course of a season while still using classic Goosebumps characters and elements. With a new point of view, the show brings R.L. Stine‘s scary world to life.
The second season of Goosebumps is called “The Vanishing,” and it started on January 10, 2025. The story is about Anthony, a botanist who is still upset about his brother’s disappearance 30 years ago. Anthony’s estranged twins, Cece and Devin, are back with him for the summer but he is having a hard time connecting with them because of unresolved family trauma. Fort Jerome, a mysterious place, is a key part of the season’s climax. Its abandoned ruins are linked to secrets of alien experiments and scary stories. The show does a great job of weaving together themes of loss, healing, and the risks of messing with what you don’t know. Let’s look into the season’s plot and find out what’s really going on in this made-up but interesting place.
Goosebumps Season 2 Plot
In Season 2 of Goosebumps, Anthony, a botanist who is still trying to figure out what happened to his brother 30 years ago, is introduced. Anthony gets back together with his twins, Cece and Devin, for the summer in an effort to get back together with them. But the family’s weak bond is put to the test when they get involved in a scary mystery involving an alien ship and the creepy Fort Jerome.
Fort Jerome, a former military base, is a key part of the season’s plot. It turns out that Dr. Ramona Pamani, the daughter of the person who first found the alien ship, has been doing tests at the abandoned fort. When the twins learn that their father, whom they haven’t seen in a long time, is trapped in a pod inside the alien-infected fort, they are put in danger. With a serum that Ramona made, the twins have to go into the fort and save Anthony before the alien takes over his mind.
As the story goes on, Fort Jerome represents how people are recklessly seeking knowledge and the bad things that can happen when they mess with the unknown. The scary mood of the setting and its connections to alien stories make me wonder if such a place really exists.
Goosebumps Season 2: Is Fort Jerome Based on a Real Location?
Goosebumps gets a lot of its ideas from R.L. Stine’s scary stories but Fort Jerome is not a real place. The military base turned folklore-filled ruins are made up by Rob Letterman and Nicholas Stoller, who created the show. In real life or in Stine’s books, it doesn’t exist. Instead, it’s used as a background for the show’s exciting stories about strange alien experiments, missing people and creepy hauntings.
But the idea of a haunted military base or fort isn’t too far from the truth. A lot of places in real life have the same creepy and supernatural vibe. Many people say that Fort Monroe in Virginia is haunted, with stories of meeting the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe. In the same way, Fort Leavenworth in Kansas has its own scary ghost stories that are often connected to its time as a military prison. The scary things in Fort Jerome are based on real events which makes the scary things seem more real.
Fort Totten in Queens, New York, was used as the real-life location for Fort Jerome on the show. When it was first built during the Civil War, Fort Totten was a military base. It is now a public park that people can tour and that is often used for film and TV productions. Even though Fort Totten doesn’t have the scary alien stories that Fort Jerome does, its historical architecture and moody setting make it a good replacement for the made-up military base.
Fort Jerome’s Role in the Story
In Goosebumps: The Vanishing, the main conflict of the season is caused by Fort Jerome’s dark past. The fact that the abandoned base is linked to alien experiments makes the atmosphere tense and scary. Dr. Ramona Pamani’s research at the fort adds to the story by bringing up themes of scientific arrogance and the moral problems that come up with experiments.
The characters are in grave danger because aliens have taken over the fort, forcing them to face their fears and form stronger bonds. Anthony sees the fort as a chance to make peace with his kids and come to terms with the fact that his brother has gone missing. Cece and Devin are going through a tough time that tests their strength and bravery and brings them closer together in the end.
A masterful mix of fiction and real life
The people who make Goosebumps have done a great job of mixing scary stories from fiction with real-life haunted places, which gives the stories more depth. Even though Fort Jerome doesn’t exist: the setting feels real and engrossing because of its link to historical and supernatural stories. A lot of practical effects and attention to detail go into making Goosebumps seem even more real, pulling viewers deeper into the scary and suspenseful world of the show.
Ultimately, Fort Jerome is still a made-up place full of horror and mystery, a perfect example of how well the show can tell stories that are both real and made up. Whether you’ve read Goosebumps before or this is your first time, the scary story of Fort Jerome will make you wonder what’s real and what’s not.
