American Goosebumps The Haunted Mask 1995 Fox Kids Network Promotional Painting

This 10.5" x 13.5" original promotional illustration entitled "American Goosebumps" was painted by artist Dave McMacken in 1995 to advertise the Fox Kids Network anthology television show based on the hugely popular R. L. Stine children's book series.

Lithograph posters of the painting, published in an edition size of 500, were mailed to Fox affiliates around the country as part of a marketing campaign, complete with a mock "Floyd's of Fullerton" insurance policy from the "Musee du Renard des Enfants" (French for "Fox Kids Museum"). Years later, McMacken sold modified prints of the piece at his Astoria, Oregon studio/store, Ratz & Company.

Nothing is safe from the Goosebumps craze that swept the 1990s (at the time, Scholastic was reportedly selling 5 million of the tween-horror paperbacks a month), not even Grant Wood's famous "American Gothic" portrait--the Haunted Mask transforming the reserved farmer into a snarling monster, to the terror of his ordinarily plaintive daughter, whose brooch now bears the Fox Kids logo. Two beady eyes peek out of the house's first story, while the slimy Goosebumps font materializes in the arched window above, as the rooftop weather vane sparks from a direct hit of lightning in an oncoming storm.

The first novella to receive a televised treatment, and Stine's personal favorite adaptation, The Haunted Mask premiered as a two-part primetime special on October 27, 1995 to an audience of nearly 8 million U.S. households.

Skittish 11-year-old Carly Beth, an easy target of pranks at school, wants to go as something scarier than the duck costume her mother made for Halloween. To get revenge on her tormentors, she buys a hideously-deformed mask in the backroom of a mysterious novelty shop. Little does Carly Beth know that the mask is alive and becomes increasingly more possessive with every wear, and it's her who's in for a scare.

A graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, McMacken's career as an illustrator lasted for over five decades.

He designed record album sleeves seen by millions for musicians like The Beach Boys (Friends [1968]), Frank Zappa (200 Motels [1971], Over-Nite Sensation [1973]), The Temptations (Wings of Love [1976]), Kansas (Leftoverture [1976]), Commodores (Natural High [1978]), The Beatles (Reel Music [1982]), Journey (Raised on Radio [1986]), Warrant (Dog Eat Dog [1992]), and AC/DC (Ballbreaker [1995]).

In the film industry, McMacken composed a number of one-sheet posters, notably Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979) and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) for IMAX theaters.

His video game cover credits extend from Brøderbund's The Battle of Olympus (1990) to SquareSoft's Secret of Evermore (1995). Other software company clients include Capcom, Electronic Arts, and SEGA.

Working primarily in the Art Deco style, McMacken also produced several commercial projects for BMW, Budweiser, Coors, Fisher-Price, HarperCollins, M&M's, The Walt Disney Company, and various tourist destinations spanning the globe.