R.L. Stine
Robert Lawrence Stine started writing joke books for his friends at school when he was nine years old and he's been writing ever since. R.L. Stine's books are read all over the world, selling over 350 million books and making him one of the best-selling children's authors in history. He has always loved to write funny stuff and make kids laugh. For ten years, he was editor of a humor magazine called Bananas. Later, he was head writer for a funny Nickelodeon TV show, "Eureka's Castle." In 1986, R.L. Stine turned scary. He wrote his first teen horror novel, Blind Date, which became an instant bestseller. In 1989, he created the Fear Street series, the best-selling young adult book series in history. He has written over one hundred Fear Street, Fear Street Sagas and Ghosts of Fear Street books. Goosebumps began in 1992. The book series quickly became a hit around the world. Translated into 32 different languages, it made R.L. Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity. The Goosebumps TV show was the number one kids' show in the U.S. for three years in a row. Cartoon Network has been rebroadcasting the series since fall 2008.
Stine is busy writing a brand new series, Goosebumps HorrorLand. It features classic characters such as Slappy the evil dummy and The Haunted Mask as well as many new characters. Each book in the twelve volume series will contain two stories - the first will be a standard Goosebumps tale, while the second will be a serialized story set at HorrorLand, a terrifying amusement park. The first two books, Revenge of the Living Dummy and Creep from the Deep were published in April 2008 and received prominent coverage in The New York Times and a starred review in Publisher's Weekly.
Rotten School, Stine's hit book series for kids, stars charming conniver Bernie Bridges and is set at a boarding school run by Headmaster I. Will Upchuck, 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Heinie and Coach Manly Bunz. Rotten School is in development for a feature film at Fox. He also wrote the story for the 4-D movie at Busch Gardens and Sea World Parks, called "R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse." Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It is out on DVD from Paramount. It premiered on the Cartoon Network in September 2007.
Stine is proudest of the millions of kids who have learned to love reading through his books. In addition to Rotten School, his other series include Dangerous Girls, The Nightmare Room and Mostly Ghostly. He likes to travel, visit schools and talk about reading. He sets up writing workshops in several schools in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. He even traveled to Russia with First Lady Laura Bush to talk to Russian children in schools about books and reading.
Stine has received numerous awards and honors, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards. He has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the National Education Association "Read Across America" and he received the first Champion of Reading Award from the Free Public Library of Philadelphia.
Stine lives in New York City with his wife, Jane and his King Charles spaniel, Minnie. His son, Matt Stine, is a composer, producer and audio engineer.
