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| Mr. R.L. Stine! |
Do you have any idea who the "Stephen King of childen's literature" is? That's right! It's the American writer, R. L. Stine!
He even says he has a great job: "My job is to give kids the CREEPS!" R.L.'s books are read all over the world. He is the author of hundreds of horror fiction novels.
Some of his other works include a Space Cadets trilogy, two Hark gamebooks, and dozens of joke books. As of 2008, he has sold over 400 million books, making him one of the best-selling children's authors in history.
Robert Lawrence Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio on October 8, 1943 to Jewish parents. His mother, Anne, was a homemaker and his father, Lewis, was a shipping clerk. He has a younger brother and sister -- Bill and Pam. No one in his family ever called him R.L. Everyone calls him Bob.
When Bob was nine, he found an old typewriter up in the attic. That discovery changed his life. He carried it down to his room and started typing stories and little joke books. His mother begged him to go outside and play. But Bob always said it was too boring outside. He stayed in his room typing away-- and he has been writing ever since. In school, Bob was not a great student. He got mostly B's, but he never studied very hard.
He spent most of his time writing stories and joke magazines. He was terrible in math, and he hated gym class. The only sport he was ever good at was ping pong!
After graduating from Ohio State University (OSU) in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Bob headed to New York City to become a writer. He wrote dozens of joke books and humor books for kids. And he created Bananas, a zany humor magazine which he did for ten years. In those days, he wrote under the name Jovial Bob Stine.
Bananas was for teenagers, published by Scholastic Press for 72 issues between 1975 and 1984, plus various "Yearbooks" and paperback books.
Stine was editor and responsible for much of the writing (other contributors included writers Suzanne Lord and Jane Samuels and artists Sam Viviano, Samuel B. Whitehead, Bob K. Taylor, Bryan Hendrix, Bill Basso, and Howard Cruse). Recurring features included "Hey - Lighten Up!", "It Never Fails!", "Phone Calls", "Joe" (a comic strip by John Holmstrom), "Phil Fly", "Don't You Wish...", "Doctor Duck", "The Teens of Ferret High", "First Date" (a comic strip by Alyse Newman), and "Ask Doctor Si N. Tific".
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| Matthew and Jane |
He married
Jane Waldhorn on June 2, 1969. Jane became an editor and writer, and they worked together on several children's books.
On April 1, 1983, Jane and her partner,
Joan Waricha, formed their own publishing company,
Parachute Press, and helped create all of R.L.'s most popular book series.
Their only child, Matthew, was born on June 7, 1980.
In 1986, R.L. turned scary!
He wrote his first teen horror novel, Blind Date, which became an instant best-seller. Many scary novels followed, including Beach House, Hit And Run, The Babysitter, and The Girlfriend.
He was also the co-creator and head writer for the Nickelodeon Network children's television show Eureeka's Castle, original episodes of which aired as part of the Nick Jr. programming block during the 1989 to 1995 seasons.
In 1989 he created the Fear Street series, the best-selling young adult book series in history. He has written about 100 Fear Street books about teens facing all kinds of terror.
Before launching the Goosebumps series, Stine authored three humorous science fiction books in the Space Cadets series titled Jerks in Training, Bozos on Patrol, and Losers in Space.
In 1992, Stine and Parachute went on to launch Goosebumps. The book series quickly became a hit around the world. Translated into 32 different languages, it made R.L. a worldwide publishing celebrity. The Goosebumps TV show was the number-one kids' show in the U.S. for three years in a row. It ran for four seasons from 1995–1998. The episodes are still shown at Halloween time. Many of the shows are on DVD.
Other R.L. Stine book creations include: Ghosts of Fear Street, Give Yourself Goosebumps, The Nightmare Room (also a TV series), Mostly Ghostly, and Beware!, a collection of all his favorite stories, poems, comics and illustrations. Rotten School was a series of funny books about the rottenest school on earth. R.L. has published two creepy short story collections-- The Nightmare Hour and The Haunting Hour.
Also, two teen vampire novels-- Dangerous Girls (2003) and Dangerous Girls II: The Taste of Night (2004). Produced was three video games; Escape from HorrorLand, Attack of the Mutant, and Goosebumps HorrorLand. In 1995, Stine's first novel targeted at adults, called Superstitious, was published. He has since published two other adult-oriented novels; The Sitter and Eye Candy.
A direct-to-DVD movie The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don't Think About It, starring Emily Osment was released by Universal Home Entertainment on September 4, 2007.
According to Forbes List of the 40 best-paid Entertainers of 1996-97, Stine placed 36th with an income of $41 million for the fiscal year. His books have landed on many bestseller lists. In three consecutive years during the 1990s, USA Today named Stine as America's number one best-selling author.
Among the awards he has received are the 2002 Champion of Reading Award from the Free Public Library of Philadelphia (that award's first year), the Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Award for Best Book-Mystery/Horror (three-time recipient) and the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (also received three times).
During the 1990s, Stine was listed on People Weekly's "Most Intriguing People" list, and in 2003, the Guinness Book of World Records named Stine as the best-selling children's book series author of all time. He won the Thriller Writers of America Silver Bullet Award in 2007.
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| Minnie! |
His stories have even inspired R. L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse, 4D movie-based attractions at SeaWorld (San Antonio and San Diego) and Busch Gardens (Williamsburg and Tampa).
These days, R.L. is busier than ever. He's working on many books, including the
Goosebumps HorrorLand series. You can find out more inside info about new books on this Web site (
http://rlstine.com).
R.L. lives in New York City with Jane and his King Charles, Minnie. His son is a composer, musician, and sound designer. For more info about R.L., check out his autobiography -- It Came From Ohio-- published by Scholastic.
You can find many of his books at the Grade School LRC! :)
