Aahana Swrup
‘Goosebumps‘ season 2 finds a major departure from season 1, as the anthology horror show picks up a new central storyline and characters. This time, it follows The Brewers, teenage twins Devin and Cece, who are visiting their father, Botanist Anthony, in Brooklyn’s Gravesend Neighborhood. Anthony’s older brother, Matty, mysteriously died 30 years ago after a visit to the ominous Fort Jerome, nicknamed Camp Nightmares for the spooky lore attached to it. Even though the kids know little about the event, they unwittingly walk into a similar trap and become victims of its horrors.
Meanwhile, Anthony’s eerie research—breaches containment from his off-limits basement, unleashing unthinkable dangers. The show’s basis in R.L. Stine’s beloved eponymous novel series remains evident, particularly in this season’s resemblance to ‘Stay Out of the Basement.’ However, the Brooklyn setting in Gravesend and the addition of Fort Jerome remain distinct from the on-screen narrative, building the intrigue around their origins.
Fort Jerome Does Not Exist in Real Life
As a horror-adventure show, ‘Goosebumps’ naturally sports many fictionalized components in its storytelling. Consequently, most of the elements with narrative significance are simple works of fiction, either adapted from R.L. Stine’s work or invented by creators Rob Letterman, Nicholas Stoller, and their creative team. Fort Jerome is an example of the latter. The military base-turned-local folklore-rich ruins are confined to the on-screen adaptation, lacking a real-life or literary counterpart.
However, the idea of such a Fort harboring horror stories isn’t a concept unique to Fort Jerome. Numerous ghost stories exist in reality that center around such military bases. For instance, Virginia’s Fort Monroe is said to be haunted by various ghosts, including the macabre poet/writer Edgar Allan Poe. Similarly, Fort Leavenworth in Kansas also has paranormal stories attached to it, in part because of its history as a military prison. As a result, the real-life relevance of such Forts and their association with the supernatural grounds the fictional Fort Jerome’s otherworldly existence.
Nonetheless, such a Fort does not exist in real life. For the show, the crew employed the Fort Totten in Queens as the real-life location for Fort Jerome. The place used to serve as a military base in the past, since its construction during the Civil War era. However, these days, it’s mostly used as a public park, open to tours, and occasionally used for shoots for TV shows or other forms of media. Ultimately, the on-screen Fort—steeped in rumors of hauntings and alien activity—is not a real place.
Gravesend: The Real-Life Brooklyn Neighborhood Offers a Departure From Goosebumps Conventions
The central location of Devin and Cece’s summertime adventure is actually a real neighborhood in Brooklyn. The real-life neighborhood has a rich history, as it was one of the first towns to be founded by a woman, Lady Deborah Moody. Although originally New Netherland’s Dutch Colony in the 17th century, the place is now known for its thriving Chinese community and green spaces. Nonetheless, in ‘Goosebumps,’ the neighborhood serves a distinct purpose of setting the season apart from predecessors within the expansive ‘Goosebumps’ franchise.
Author R.L. Stein—who grew up in Ohio’s suburbs—has a knack for setting his stories within the franchise in similarly suburban areas. His works of teen horror tend to unfold in backyards that he feels are more familiar to the younger demographic. For the same reason, he was reportedly surprised at season 2’s Brooklyn setting. Nevertheless, the author conceded that the change in setting seems to suit the story and likely offers a relatable location to the current youth.
Similarly, the creators wanted to change things up with the season’s Brooklyn setting, not only within the confines of ‘Goosebumps’ but popular media at large. “When we were conceiving this story, we were like, everybody’s seen ‘Sex and the City,’ seen Manhattan,” Hilary Winston, one of the writers on the show, told The Hollywood Reporter. “But there’s so many interesting, cool places in New York that I feel don’t get screen time.” As such, Gravesend’s unique identity becomes the ideal real-life backdrop for the Brewer family’s tale.
Read More: Goosebumps Season 2 Ending, Explained
