When he was nine years old, American author Robert Lawrence Stine found a typewriter in the attic of his house. Brushing off the cobwebs, he carried it over to his room and started typing out stories and jokes. Bending over the machine, he spent hours typing till his fingers became numb. His mother begged him to go outside and play, but he did not pay heed to her. Spooked? Don’t be. This is not a horror story. Stine had simply fallen in love with writing – and he has been writing ever since. Over the last four decades, he has written over 300 children’s books teeming with creatures of all kinds from ghosts and ghouls to vampires and demonic ventriloquist’s dummies.
The write start
Born on October 8, 1943, in Ohio, Stine enjoyed reading and writing humour stories, but not horror. In fact, Stine did not believe in ghosts or any supernatural creatures, and never even thought of writing about them. He wrote dozens of humour books for kids under the name Jovial Bob Stine and created the humour magazine “Bananas”, which ran for 72 issues between 1975 and 1984.
It was only in 1989 when he penned the “Fear Street” stories, which became extremely popular among young adults, that he turned his attention to horror writing. The success of the series presented Stine with an opportunity to write scary stories for seven to 12-year-olds, something not many authors had tried before.
The first four in the “Goosebumps” series did not sell at all. According to Stine’s website, the books started gathering dust on the shelves. And just when he started to think that maybe the whole endeavour was a mistake, the sales picked up. Soon, “Goosebumps” became a hit turning Stine into an international celebrity.
F for “Fear Street”
The “Fear Street” series ran for a decade from 1989 to 1999, as Stine stopped writing the series after “Fear Street Seniors”. The entire series takes place in the fictitious town of Shadyside and features average teenagers who encounter malignant, sometimes paranormal, adversaries. While some of the Fear Street novels have paranormal elements, such as ghosts, others are simply murder mysteries. These books are far more frightful than the “Goosebumps books.
Sleep with your lights on!
While “Fear Street” is meant for teen readers, “Goosebumps” has been written for a preteen audience. The “Goosebumps” series consists of as many as 62 books, but they can be read in any order. These tales do not focus on adults finding ways to fight off monsters. Instead, children and teenagers are the main characters.
What makes “Goosebumps” fun is the unique mix of horror and humour. These eerie tales are not meant to be taken too seriously. Some of the stories will have you rolling on the floor laughing, while others will unleash your imagination. For instance, in “Say Cheese and Die” saga, a kid finds a family of skeletons doing mundane, everyday activities. These books also contain valuable life lessons for kids. The stories teach us the importance of standing up for what’s right and facing our fears. Stories such as “Be Careful What You Wish For…” tell us to not take our lives for granted and to appreciate our flaws.
OH, REALLY?
- To create an eerie atmosphere while he is writing, Stine keeps a mask, a skeleton and a three-foot-long cockroach in his writing studio.
- The Goosebumps Movie”, starring Jack Black as RL Stine, was released in 2015.
- In 2014, Stine came out with his first picture book, titled “Little Shop of Monsters Marc Brown of “Arthur fame did the illustrations.
Picture Credit : Google
