R. L. Stine
R. L. Stine, born in 1943 in Columbus, Ohio, is a renowned author recognized for his prolific contributions to children's and young adult horror literature. With a BA from Ohio State University, Stine began his career as a teacher and later transitioned to magazine writing and editorial roles before penning his first horror novel, "Blind Date," in the 1980s. He is best known for his popular series, including "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street," which cleverly blend everyday scenarios with elements of horror, making them engaging for a gender-neutral audience. Stine's work has garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards, including Children's Choice and American Library Association honors. His books have also inspired television adaptations, such as the "Goosebumps" series and "The Haunting Hour." In recent years, Stine has continued to publish new works, including the "House of Shivers" and "Stinetinglers" series, showcasing his enduring appeal. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, and their son, Matthew.
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Subject Terms
R. L. Stine
Author
- Born: October 8, 1943
- Place of Birth: Columbus, Ohio
Biography
R. L. Stine was born in 1943 in Columbus, Ohio, the son of businessman Lewis Stine and Anne Feinstein Stine. He earned a BA from Ohio State University in 1965 and did postgraduate work at New York University from 1966 until 1967. He married publisher Jane Waldhorn. He also writes under the names Robert Lawrence Stine, Eric Affabee, Jovial Bob Stine, and Zachary Blue.
Stine taught social studies at a junior high school in Ohio from 1965 through 1966. He was a magazine writer in New York City from 1966 until 1968, an assistant editor for Junior Scholastic magazine from 1968 through 1971, the editor of Search magazine from 1972 until 1975, the editor of Bananas magazine from 1975 until 1984, and the editor of Maniac magazine from 1984 through 1985. In 1986, he became head writer for Eureeka’s Castle, a series that aired on the Nickelodeon television network.
After losing his job with Junior Scholastic in the 1980s, Stine wrote his first horror novel, Blind Date, the story of a teenage boy who experiences memory loss and the mystery girl who wants to go on a date with him. Stine is a prolific writer of books for children and young adults, and one year turned out twenty-four horror novels. One of the big appeals of his books are that they are intended for a gender-neutral audience and were among the first children's series written to appeal to both groups of children. He claims to get the ideas for his books from everyone he meets. He also insists that his books are purely entertainment and have no literary value.
His books have been highly popular and critical successes, particularly the Fear Street, Goosebumps, and Nightmare Room series. Stine is well regarded for his ability to twist the mundane into horror, as he did in The Baby-Sitter and The Stepsister. The novels in his Fear Street series center on the same Fear Street setting, where the protagonist of each novel lives. All the books feature a murder. His books' popularity translated into a FOX television show that ran from 1995 to 1998 and featured Stine as host. In 2004, he began publishing his Mostly Ghostly series. Another television series, R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour was produced on Discovery Family from 2010 to 2014.
Stine is the recipient of several Children’s Choice and American Library Association awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ohioanna Library Association. He also received three Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards. As of 2012, his books were still selling in the hundreds of thousands each month.
After nearly twenty years off and a vigorous Twitter campaign, R. L. Stine started a new Fear Street series in 2014. In 2015, a movie based on his Goosebumps series, also called Goosebumps, was released starring Jack Black as a fictionalized version of Stine.
This was followed by three Return to Fear Street novels, all published in 2018, and the graphic novel series Just Beyond, featuring four books published between 2019 and 2021. Several books in the Garbage Pail Kids series were also published between 2020 and 2021. An anthology, Stinetinglers, was published in 2022.
A prolific writer by any standard, Stine had four books published for multiple age groups in 2023. They were a picture book entitled Why Did the Monster Cross the Road?, for which he collaborated with Max Brown; Stinetinglers 2, a sequel to the anthology published a year earlier; a new installment in the Goosebumps spinoff House of Shivers series, Scariest. Book. Ever.; and a manual for future horror writers entitled There's Something Strange About My Brain: Writing Horror for Kids. The octogenarian also toured across the United States to promote the new House of Shivers series.
Stine and his wife, Jane, live in New York City. They have one son, Matthew.
Bibliography
"About R. L." The World of R. L. Stine. R. L. Stine, 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Reuters. "'Goosebumps' Writer R. L. Stine Looks to His Childhood for Book Ideas." Washington Post. Washington Post, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Stine, R. L. "'I Never Wanted to be Scary': An Interview with R. L. Stine." Interview by Chris Plante. Verge. Vox Media, 14 Oct. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Stine, R. L. It Came from Ohio! My Life as a Writer. New York: Scholastic, 2015. Print.
Strickland, Ashley. "'Fear Street': R. L. Stine and the Return of Teen Horror." CNN. Cable News Network, 30 Sept. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Wallace, Mitch. "Giving Myself ‘Goosebumps’: R.L. Stine Talks Writing, Head Colds And Awful Puppets." Forbes, 24 Oct. 2023, www.forbes.com/sites/mitchwallace/2023/10/23/giving-myself-goosebumps-rl-stine-talks-writing-head-colds-and-awful-puppets/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Yandoli, Krystie Lee. "‘Goosebumps’ Author R.L. Stine: ‘The World Has Gotten Scarier’." Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2023, www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/r-l-stine-goosebumps-inteview-books-censorship-horror-1234849389/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.