Yep | TheaterFire

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wooq@reddit

Goosebumps started in 1992, I was in 8th grade and reading fantasy and sci-fi. But I absolutely had a Countach poster up in my room.

I always beelined for Mr. Men when I was really young, Choose Your Own Adventures starting maybe 2nd or 3rd grade. Anyone remember the Pizza Hut summer reading program "Book It"? Get five stars and get a free personal pan pizza?

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VanillaCokeMule@reddit

Yes, easiest free pizza of my life

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Jland5515@reddit

lol same! car folders and Harry Potter

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sidneyzapke@reddit

And then there was me. The poor kid who could merely browse and wish.

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Snoo_88763@reddit

I worked at Scholastic Books for a few years.

They loved you as much as you loved them. Book Fairs were sacred and exalted. It was like we ran on smiles, it was so uplifting.

The rest of the place was madness.

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sven_ftw@reddit

Hahaha yes!!

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ElMatadors@reddit

Jonah Hill looks worse than usual in that photo.

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Darth_Neek@reddit

I never knew that feeling because my family was to poor to participate. Just walked around feeling awkward and out of place.

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kantf1120@reddit

I was in the fortunate position of being able to buy, but I distinctly remember those that were not. It’s part of why my wife and I do “free” book fairs. There should be no haves and have nots for books. Sounds like so many other people are in the same boat learning that lesson from you. Hope you can take some solice in that your experience helped shape a better one for the next generation.

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ex_oh_ex_oh@reddit

Honestly, I never got to buy a lot of books bc we were also pretty poor but I never felt any shame about not being able to. I just liked looking over the scholastic book sheet that they gave you and sometimes using it as a guide to what I might want to check out at the library.

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possiblyourgf@reddit

Yeah this brings me back. Not quite the exact same experience because we were fortunate enough to have a little money, but this meant 10 dollars for the book fair. Which in 2008, was really only enough for me to get erasers. Which was fine! But would have loved to go crazy

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SpaceAdventures3D@reddit

Sorry to read that. Thankfully now they have a program called Share the Fair, where a school's community can donate funds into an account. That way lower income kids can get books, and in a way where they do not stand out from the rest of the kids.

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Darth_Neek@reddit

Wasn't like that in the 90s, but I'm glad for the kids who won't have to experience what I did.

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Jonestown_Juice@reddit

I feel you. I had to call my grandparents and ask them to send me money for this kind of stuff. And when it came I had to hide it from my parents. My parents were always pawning my TV and NES that my grandparents bought for me.

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rambo_lincoln_@reddit

Fuck, that’s horrible. I’m sorry.

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stargarnet79@reddit

Same. Core memory too.

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heyitspokey@reddit

I got lucky with this. My school book fair had a poster contest every year, the prize being a book fair gift certificate. I won every year. I realized as an adult it was mostly fixed, I was poor and was one of the very few kids if not only at my backwoods school who actively used the library to check out books for fun. (To be fair, I had almost no competition in the contest.)

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sixfourtykilo@reddit

That's the best part about being a parent. You (hopefully) get to provide your kids with the experiences you missed out on!

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WaywardMind@reddit

Also a Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes volume.

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pupperdogger@reddit

Grab a Far-Side book too?

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WaywardMind@reddit

I usually had to pick two or three chapter books, and then I was allowed one comics book (Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, or Far Side) -- maybe two if my grades were good or it was the end of the year. But yes, Far Side was definitely a go-to.

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kantf1120@reddit

Yep, same!

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ChromeDestiny@reddit

This was also my mom's policy. I got most of my Garfield books used or on sale but I was able to talk my mom into getting me a full colour Garfield anthology from the book fair. I also had the Lambo poster but I think I got that as a gift and it likely was from some discount department store.

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FestiveArtCollective@reddit

Choose your own adenture books and Sweet Valley High were my go to.

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feraljohn@reddit

Whoever the girl on the left is, she needs to be cast as Lana in a live-action version of Archer.

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imsaneinthebrain@reddit

I remember agonizing over what to put as the custom license plate on that Lamborghini poster. Ended up going with kickbut. So lame.

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LifeGetsBetter01@reddit

Kickbut is frickin rockin dude what are you talking about

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imsaneinthebrain@reddit

I just remember a lot of my friends giving me hell, saying kick but what? 10-year-old me wasn’t pleased lol

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TheJRKoff@reddit

There was a paper folder everyone wanted..... Lambo coutache on one side, Ferrari Testarossa on the other. It was a must have

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apsando@reddit

I bought that lamborghini poster. It was 6ft long

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Ambitious_Jelly8783@reddit

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OskeeWootWoot@reddit

Some of us were Countach kids, and some of us were Diablo kids.

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notorious_BIGfoot@reddit

Boxcar children and goosebumps

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Sorry_Consequence816@reddit

I can trace my high school obsession with UFOs, cryptids and anything occult/paranormal directly to a book about UFOs and the War of the Worlds broadcast I got from one of those fairs.

Everyone thought I was weird until the X-Files started. (I mean I am weird, just not in the creepy way.)

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ispeektroof@reddit

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zenviking83@reddit

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boringandsleepy@reddit

I grew up and turned into a skeptical Scully. My teenage self would be so disappointed!

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Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit

My teenage self would be proud of you. Me today, but me then too.

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boringandsleepy@reddit

Thanks. I love my parents for raising me in a religiously neutral household (which was very unusual in my area), but they were neutral on everything, including critical thinking. When I had my personal revelations about science and politics in my early 20s, my mom confessed that she was happy because she didn't like being so neutral when I would talk about wacky shit like people living with dinosaurs and homeopathy and etc in my teens.

??

I have a three year old and I will not be so neutral. I think it was harmful and caused me a lot of unnecessary distress, especially worrying about my soul, etc. My son will be raised to think carefully about everything, especially about who is selling a belief and why. We are living in exceptionally scary times, identifying BS is a critical skill.

Sorry for my random rant, stranger!

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Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit

Rant? That was an excellent read, and I appreciate that you shared it.

'You deserve to be loved, and to feel loved, just for being you.' --Mr Rogers mashup with my meditation teacher

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boringandsleepy@reddit

Mr Rodgers was amazing and I want to be the kind of parent who would make him proud. I knew I wanted to be a mom way back in my teens but it didn't happen until I was 40. My husband feels like a failure because we are struggling financially and we live in a crappy apartment in a crappy neighborhood. I keep telling him it doesn't matter. Our son is told he is loved every day. He never has to worry about being hit or neglected. He goes to sleep every night feeling safe. If he gets older and tells us he gay or trans, he will be fully supported. Fancy houses, HOA neighborhoods and new cars aren't nearly as important.

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kittensbabette@reddit

Same 😭 I've become what I hated. Although I'm still really into reading about paranormal stuff and podcasts, I still want to believe (although UAPs are real just not ghosts and stuff)

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zenviking83@reddit

My obsession with UFOs/aliens (still ongoing) started with Sightings and Unsolved Mysteries. Those, Goosebumps, and Ghostbusters also got me into ghosts and the occult. Although the modern UFO scene seems manipulated (X-files like conspiracy?) and ghosts have largely been turned into reality TV garbage. Still we get some interesting stuff coming out time to time.

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Specialist_War1410@reddit

Okarun?

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JuniorBlank@reddit

I’m glad someone else was thinking this too

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Abuses-Commas@reddit

Have you taken a look at the topic lately? Things are wild.

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gh0st-Account5858@reddit

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whateverday@reddit

Thank you so much for this 💗

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Faskwodi@reddit

And a copy of Encyclopedia Brown, as well as a Hardy Boys paperback. 💯💪🏿

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DaveinOakland@reddit

Was anyone else a huge Piers Anthony Xanth fan as a little kid?

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kingofangmar13@reddit

🤣

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Remarkable_Cookie626@reddit

I’ll see your lamborghini poster and raise you a book order form with a cute kitten poster.

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Sad-Chocolate-2518@reddit

One of my favorite memories of my daughter being in elementary school was walking into her book fair with my tax refund in my pocket. Happily told my baby girl, “get as many books as you want!” That was a great day!

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not_a_bug_a_feature@reddit

Animorphs

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paparoach910@reddit

My one regret was not getting Judge Drede vs. Predator. My favorite find was their Alien guide

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gofigure85@reddit

And a Yikes! pencil with some cute fun shaped erasers that do fuck all

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free-toe-pie@reddit

I always volunteer to help with the book fair at my children’s school. You will be sad to hear there aren’t any posters anymore. But kids still buy a shitload of books.

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MasterTraveler357@reddit

6 Lamborghini posters and no books

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imnewherealso1@reddit

This hit harder than I expected

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NoelNeverwas@reddit

I bought a poster of a kitten. Thinking back it is the gayest thing I ever owned

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A_Girl_Has_No_Name58@reddit

Fuck yeah. I can feel the energy oozing from this photo!!!

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goodkat83@reddit

90’s goosebumps books fuckin slapped.

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greendemon42@reddit

Unicorn poster and the Boxcar Children Cookbook.

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xColty@reddit

Captain Underpants all day!

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Prior_Dot7241@reddit

Grab a shel Silverstein

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Prior_Dot7241@reddit

Don’t forget the bookmark light and pencil erasers

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kiwininja@reddit

I had a Countach poster and an F40 poster. Because I was a high roller.

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KenAdams02@reddit

I always wondered how many other kids got those exact two posters

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emi2018@reddit

It was the kitten bookmarks that always got me.

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Rubberclucky@reddit

For me, it was always a Calvin and Hobbes book.

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Sykojello@reddit

Lisa Frank color-in poster and bookmarks with the tassels.

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IndecisiveLibra01@reddit

Big pimpin

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Hopeful-Steak-9743@reddit

I got hand me down everything with no complaints. One year I was able to get a kitten poster! Another year I won a draw for one book, so I got the most expensive one. A 1994 baseball price guide. Still in my childhood dresser. Love cats and baseball more than ever.

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vallogallo@reddit

I stole my sister's allowance to buy all of the Scary Stories to Read in the Dark books (the original ones with the nightmare illustrations). Don't know what happened to them though

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rangeghost@reddit

It was always random stuff I would never ordinarily buy, like a Batman choose your own adventure or a Spider-Man version of Where's Waldo.

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eatelectricity@reddit

Calvin & Hobbes anthology and a Garfield poster for me.

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OathOfFeanor@reddit

How do you know about my lamborghini poster?!

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AgreeableAardvark78@reddit

I got a spiral bound book on rocks that I was OBSESSED with.

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freudianslipagain@reddit

And a slap bracelet 💅

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NakedSnakeEyes@reddit

It was Fear Street that I read, I don't think they had Goosebumps yet.

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fairlyaveragetrader@reddit

Even more fitting with that meme is our generation grew up with that idea that when you're an old geezer, having some young woman on your arm is a status symbol 😂

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Boring_Pace5158@reddit

So she does exist :P

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bassman314@reddit

Who else had the 6' Dodge Viper poster?

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ThrenderG@reddit

Oh man this brings back memories. One year at the book fair I remember scraping together enough allowance money to buy a hard cover version of Treasure Island, complete with a section of Wyeth illustrations. I thought it was the nicest book in the whole fair, felt like a pimp.

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SuperModes@reddit

It was a Ferrari poster but you’re pretty spot on.

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Elegant-Ad-1162@reddit

🤣 fyeah

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amateur_bird_juggler@reddit

They always had the most delicious dinosaur erasers. Great mouth-feel.

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Sad-Meringue-694@reddit

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Pm_All_The_Tiddies@reddit

Whomst is taller girl on left. You know for educational purposes.

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OutlawHemi99@reddit

Thought that was Joey Diaz at first glance lol

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i_love_ankh_morpork@reddit

I think it’s Big Pussy Bonpensiero, the dirty rat 🐀

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Ube_Ape@reddit

The feeling when that same kid tosses you an eraser he bought with the leftover change. 😂

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JuWoolfie@reddit

Ahh yes, the year Canada introduced toonies…

I was so confused at how my money had somehow doubled.

All my big coins used to be 1$

Now I had a bunch of big coins that were 2$!!

It was confusing and thrilling, I could buy twice as many books with my big coins! Huzzah!!

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clevingersfoil@reddit

So, what is the name of the tall lady on the left?

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Adabiviak@reddit

MFW I'm walking out of the fair with the 1979 book, "More Codes For Kids", about to start my career as a spy.

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Xero_id@reddit

Gotta add that magic eye book

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willi5x@reddit

I got a boxed set of the Hobbit and LOTR once. Those books changed my life. I don’t know if I ever finished a book on my own before that. I didn’t have the attention span for it.

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TLO_Is_Overrated@reddit

Hey Puss... did those Goosebumps ever really exhist?

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jramsi20@reddit

Is it ok if I sit? (Is that really him tho?)

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TLO_Is_Overrated@reddit

Maybe it was anova thusky accomplise.

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JoeGibbon@reddit

For me it was Mad Libs

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LaLa_820@reddit

Our grandson had a fair recently. His parents sent him to school with $20. He bought a car poster at lunch and lost the change and poster on the playground. I pick him up after school and he wants to go back in to buy something because he’s sad and I can’t say no. 20 minutes later he walks out with 2 posters, a journal, and car bookmarks. I spent $40 that day.

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