"Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House" was the first book in the "Goosebumps" series by R.L. Stine. It was first published in 1992, and has been reprinted since then, apparently with some editing. The book features several classic horror elements, specifically being in the "haunted house" subgenre, although it combines several different horror elements. It was also apparently different in tone than later books, being more graphic in its violence.
There are many definitions of what makes horror, but for me, the first and most important thing about horror is atmosphere. Once the right atmosphere of eerieness is set, anything and everything can be used to heighten it. But it is difficult to say just how an author or creator goes about doing so: just selecting the usual tropes of horror is as likely to produce something corny as something scary. But in the first few pages, Stine managed to immerse me. I don't know how, but he did it. It isn't that the story was that innovative: 12 year old Amanda and her 11 year old brother Josh don't like the new house that her parents have decided to move into. A long lost uncle left the house to her father in his will, and her father moves the family so he can concentrate on writing. From the beginning, Amanda and Josh don't like the house, and neither does their dog Petey. With a minimum of description, of weeds in the yard and a cold wind, the scene is set. The book then slowly introduces the supernatural: figures in the window of the house, curtains blowing when they shouldn't, giggles and footsteps just out of range of detection. Again, none of this is unusual, but it all deployed skillfully.
Josh and Amanda also meet some neighbor kids, and despite Amanda's nervousness and her dog's dislike of the neighbors, they even start to play games with them. But the weird happenings in the house, and the little hints that the neighbor kids drop, let her, and the reader, know that something else is going on. It is only in the final 30 pages of this 120 page book that the secrets are revealed, followed by an action sequence and a somewhat happy ending---still with some stirrings of menace.
What impressed me most about this book was that it managed to present horror and drama and psychological tension so efficiently---and while within the bounds of what would be understandable and appropriate for the target audience. Like a lot of horror, it works in real themes, such as parental neglect and abusive peer groups, but does it in a way where it feels like those themes are being introduced naturally. While reading this book, I came across a quote by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "The essence of horror is to present an irrational and pitiless enemy, because everyone’s greatest fear is facing that which can’t be reasoned with." The twist on that in this book is that everything seems reasonable enough--- their parents just want them to adjust and have explanations for the house's weird behavior, and the neighbor kids seem friendly enough, even persuassive as they try to make friends. But of course, none of it is really reasonable. And so this parallels something that many middle school students will actually be dealing with: entering into peer groups that seem friendly and reasonable, but actually are not.
I imagine that much of this psychological development would dissipate as the series became more established. As horror and paranormal motifs became more prevalent in popular culture, the edge of psychological menace that they caused in this book would become less effective.