"The Barking Ghost" opens on two crooks back in the 17th Century being chased by dogs. Flashforward to present day and Cooper Holmes (Blair Slater) lives right near where they were, hundreds of years ago, in a house where he and his family just moved. Cooper's got a huge problem in that he's scared of lots of things. Of course, this might be a result of his older brother Mickey (Peter Costigan) continually scaring him by doing things like hiding under his bed with a mask on. After a sleepless night worried about barking dogs, Cooper decides to go looking for prints to find the dogs and prove they were real. He finds a mysterious coin in the stream and then meets Fergie (Jennifer Martini). She tells him that the last family that lived in his house just disappeared, leaving all their possessions there. For Cooper, this just proves that he's right to be scared, especially when he is then chased home by two snarling dogs. When he gets home though, the dogs just disappear. Unfortunately for Cooper, they turn back up in his house that night, where he watches them disappear into thin air! Fergie goes with Cooper to again look for the dogs that night. The dogs don't hurt them though, but instead want the kids to go with them. Is it smart for them to follow though?
The final episode on this set is "Be Careful What You Wish For..." Samantha Byrd (Melody Johnson) is a typical teenage girl. She's the tallest by far and hasn't quite gotten the hang of her height. She's just a bit clumsy and definitely unpopular. Judith (Susan Cooke) makes her life even more difficult picking on her. Sam's life is about to change though when she finds a strange pendant in the gym. She runs into a strange woman on the way home from school. The woman, Clarissa (Ellen Ray Hennessy), asks her to take her to Moss Ave. since she's lost her way. Once there, Clarissa tells Sam that she is granting her three wishes in return for her kindness. Sam thinks this is all a joke, but she makes a wish anyway since Clarissa tells her to. First, she wishes to be the best player on the basketball team. As you can imagine from other tales like this, the wish isn't granted in the way that she wants, which is the real trick to wishes. Her next wish has even more disastrous results! Can Sam manage to put things back right or is everyone doomed?
Personally I love Goosebumps, even though I'm a bit older than their target audience. Even though they were filmed quite a while ago, the stories have held up throughout the years. The series is great fun for kids and adults alike. If you're looking for slightly scary stories that will entertain, check out Goosebumps: Ghost Beach today.
