SCHOLASTIC has over 400 million Goosebumps books worldwide in 32 languages in print since the series’ introduction in 1992, earning critical acclaim and dominating global best seller lists.

R.L. Stine has been recognized as one of the bestselling children’s authors in history. Now, the literary phenomenon is coming to the big screen in 3D, just in time for Halloween.

In “Goosebumps,” teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette), upset about moving from a big city to a small town, finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door, and makes a quick friend in Champ (Ryan Lee).

But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach’s comes when he learns that Hannah’s mysterious dad is in fact R.L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling “Goosebumps” series.

As Zach starts learning about the strange family next door, he soon discovers that Stine holds a dangerous secret: the creatures that his stories made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Stine’s creations are unintentionally released from their manuscripts, Zach’s life takes a turn for the weird.

In a crazy night of adventure, it’s up to Zach, Hannah, Champ and Stine to team up and get all of these figments of Stine’s imagination—including Slappy the Dummy, the girl with the haunted mask, the gnomes and many more—back in the books where they belong to save the town.

Initially, director Rob Letterman, and producers Deborah Forte and Neal H. Moritz faced a dilemma: with nearly 200 different Goosebumps books to choose from, which book to adapt?

The answer came as the filmmakers cracked the code: They would put dozens of Stine’s most famous creations into one film, with Stine himself at the center.

“We wanted to create a bigger experience than the books or the television show,” says Forte. “The script needed to capture the true essence of the ‘Goosebumps’ books, but also deliver a big movie ride for the audience.”

That true essence of the books required threading the needle on the tone that struck a chord, over and over again, in hundreds of books.

“The books are scary, but not too scary; they’re fun, but not over-the-top,” says Moritz. “We wanted a story that kids could relate to, and have fun with Jack Black playing R.L. Stine. Jack has a quality that makes everyone comfortable.”

“That combo of funny and scary goes so well together—they’re like peanut butter and jelly,” says Black.

“Goosebumps” opens in Philippine theaters Oct. 21.