Yes, that’s me - though “did” is more like still doing! I also did the Free Cities wg mod and started The Recipe Book which are both Twine based.
That’s a hard one to call. I guess it depends on what’s happening to the protagonist and whether single-handed play is required at that point!
The passage links tend to work best where the PC takes an action, or time passes, rather than just an artificial “Next” or “More” page break (those I feel can be immersion breaking). Maybe it’s me, but I find that in places where the PC is powerless, a single link where they comply actually emphasises their lack of control at that point in contrast to the multiple options they may have had up to then. It also gives some (false) hope that they aren’t being railroaded to the final scene - maybe escape will be possible on the next page? Similarly, giving the option of willingly doing some demanded action, or reluctantly doing it can keep the player connected with their character, immersed in the story, even though the outcome is exactly the same. The long ending is a “reward” of a fashion, even if it’s a bad one, and if I’m reading between the lines correctly, it’s probably best enjoyed with as much immersion as you can manage.
The thing to do is to try both ways and see which you prefer. Better still, as you’ve written the text and it won’t be as rewarding to you, is to try other games and see which you like most.
I haven’t read the Goosebumbs ones, my initiation into these was the Fighting Fantasy ones. In those you’d get to passages where you’d see instructions along the lines of “If you are carrying the sword go to 247, if you have the axe go to 103, otherwise turn to 497.” Obviously it relied on the reader to remember what had happened, and then act honestly. In Twine those kinds of passages are best done with variables and conditions, and never showing the reader the choice, but showing them the correct passage. Those books also had a minimal character sheet, and dice rolls for some things.