Goosebumps At 33 Season Finale!: Don't Go to Sleep

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Don't Go To Sleep

Matt Amsterdam is frustrated.  He's 12-years-old and no one shows him the respect that he has earned over his long and fruitful lifetime. He's treated like a child, like he is a lesser to his older siblings, both of whom get whatever they desire, while Matt pretty much gets the shaft. Matt soon realizes that life just isn't fair, that the world doesn't revolve around him the way it does his older brother and sister, and Matt figures out one of life's biggest truths, reality bites the big one.

After being told he cannot sleep in the attic, Matt decides he needs to take action and break free from these chains that have held him so tightly for all these years. He's had enough of this tyranny and has been held back by "The Man" (aka Mom) for far too long now, so he goes against his communist mother's wishes and sleeps in the attic anyways. In Matt's rebellious fit against reality and all that dare defy him, he finds solace in his new and incredibly dusty home, until his reality is turned upside down.

Don't Go to Sleep comes from the show's third season, originally airing on the 20th of September, 1997. The episode is one of the scarier ones that I have seen, mostly due to a few creepy and skewed close-ups of adults taunting our good buddy Matt, who is put to test by the reality police after all his complaints about his own reality. Matt is put into difficult adult circumstances, like being a pro-hockey player during a game, a brain surgeon in the middle of a surgery and a bomb squad ace just as a bomb is about to blow.

There's even a situation where Matt is just about to get married, which seems okay ('cause it's guaranteed ass) until the bride is revealed to be an onion chomping boar of a women, which is funny, because in Calling All Creeps, one of the bullies eats onions too. Must be a Canadian thing I suppose. Either way, it is these harsh realities that are meant to show Matt that it isn't so easy being an adult, and that maybe his reality isn't so bad after all.

While Matt might be coming off as a bit selfish and bratty, I think he could use some leeway here, especially when it comes to sleeping in the attic. He is 12 and he may need a little privacy for any future discoveries he might have, and what better place than the attic? I mean, the bathroom works okay, but if someone were to spook him while in there, he may just quickly leave without washing his hands afterwards, leaving a resi-don't all over the house. Plus, there is a female tailoring mannequin up in the attic, which despite having no legs, arms, head, facial features or hair, will be more than enough inspiration for a 12-year-old boy. Trust me.

One thing I noticed almost immediately, is that Matt, who while sharing my name, also has a look that is very familiar too…

Strange coincidence? Sure, but how about I throw in this fact: I made my room in the basement starting around the same age as Matt…how's that for spooky? Though, I didn't have a mannequin, but I did have cable (thank you USA network, thank you).