If you grew up as a kid in the 90’s, chances are you were at least somewhat familiar with the Goosebumps series of novels from R.L. Stine. They were just the right level of creepy for kids of varying ages, almost like a spooky ghost story you might hear at summer camp. Much like everything in this world, Goosebumps is making the jump into modern digital technology with the launch of new app from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, appropriately titled, ‘Goosebumps VR,’ and to top it all off it’s a virtual reality app to be used with VR viewers, taking the lighthearted spooky nature of the books to new heights in a way that could only happen with an immersive experience like VR.
The app, which has hit the Play Store today, is free to download and takes users through an immersive experience as a passenger in a vehicle driven by R.L Stine (played by Jack Black). The user is tasked with helping Stine to escape a giant praying mantis that’s chasing you both through the creepy city streets. The app supports both 360 video and virtual reality, meaning that the app is compatible both with and without a VR viewer so users will be able to experience it either way.
While using the app in pairing with something like Google Cardboard is likely to be a more immersive and enjoyable experience, users can turn on 360 video mode to access the content with just a smartphone too, as Sony has taken into account that not all users will own a VR headset. For those who grew up with the Goosebumps books, this is sort of like a nice little treat to pay homage to something that won over the hearts and minds of so many young people. It’s a bit of nostalgia that should go a long way with old time fans as well as anyone who just generally enjoys these kinds of VR experiences on mobile devices. It also displays that more companies are dabbling in VR technology and apps to bring more content to users and make the VR experiences more robust.
