Downtown Denver Roasted in Fake Goosebumps Books, Social Abuzz

From construction snarls to stabbing deaths, downtown Denver has taken a beating lately, as chronicled in Westword‘s recent cover story on trouble at the heart of downtown. But just when it seems like the post-injury insults are fading, now Fake Goosebumps is throwing shade.

In a January 2 post, the popular Instagram account Fake Goosebumps lampooned the Mile High City with, well, a fake cover of an imaginary Goosebumps book. “Ever since COVID it’s a damn ghost town,” reads the caption on the cover, which depicts a deserted, decrepit and eerily post-apocalyptic Denver.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fake Goosebumps (@fakegoosebumps)

Like all the images on Fake Goosebumps, this one of Denver is rendered in the style of Tim Jacobus, the artist who has painted most of the covers of author R. L. Stine’s iconic horror books for kids. But the mysterious parodist behind Fake Goosebumps uses Midjourney, a text-prompted AI program, to create their Jacobus-esque jokes.

So why pick on Denver? In the comments, the mastermind behind Fake Goosebumps tipped their hand: They are from Denver themselves. Or as it turns out, a suburb. Because no one can hate on downtown Denver like someone from Westminster or whatever.

Many of the other comments are just as telling. Especially that last one. Silent Hill? Dang. We were thinking more like Pedro Pascal shooting Cordyceps-addled zombies. Maybe someday.