Actually, I wouldn't have minded that storyline. It certainly doesn't sound any worse than "Bucky Barnes comes back from the dead" did before Ed Brubaker started writing Cap. Plus the fallout of Peter trying to reconnect with Gwen while dealing with his feelings for MJ could be interesting.Believe it or not, that was not the original plan on how to break up Peter and MJ.
Marvel's first idea was to have Peter Parker involved in a time travel plot with Dr. Strange. While back in time, Peter would have taken advantage of this moment and helped Harry Osborn get past his drug addiction with proper help. Without Harry's suffering, Norman would not have had the extra pressure that would have pushed his Green Goblin persona into returning. Without Green Goblin returning, he does not throw Gwen Stacy off the bridge and Spider-Man wouldn't have accidentally killed her. Without Gwen's death, Peter and MJ would not have gotten together. Instead, Peter and Gwen would have stayed together.
While the deal with the devil is friggin' stupid, there's something to be said for the awfulness of them nearly purposefully retconning away the death of Gwen Stacy, one of the most pivotal moments of Spider-Man.
And then there's Norman. A non-villainous Norman. Who presumably still has the Green Goblin persona buried inside him ready to break out at any time. If treated more like Kid Loki than Joseph the Magneto Clone that's got some potentially interesting story-lines right there.
You can't tell me that sounds worse than the dreck we got with OMD.