Halloween Month: R.L. Stine Tribute!

For me, and many other kids growing up in the 90’s, Goosebumps was one wild craze that nobody saw coming. It took everyone by surprise, caused a little controversy, but overall and most importantly, it got kids excited about reading. Why was it popular? What was it about the books that got kids reading? And, overall, how did it start?

Let’s begin.

Goosebumps author R.L. Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio and began writing at an early age. He was nine years old when he started playing around with a typewriter to write joke books and stories, which he would then share at school. He never described himself as a good student, as he would often be spending time typing up stories, comics, and jokes before eventually working on his high school newspaper. Later on, he would attend Ohio State University and graduate with a B.A. in English.

After this, he worked on various magazines, including Search, and one that he helped create titled Bananas. Like his early stuff, it consisted largely of funny material for kids. One day, though, when he was having lunch with another editor, something happened. The editor was frustrated from working with a teen horror author and remarked that Stine could do a much better job. Right then and there, she gave him a title and basically said, “Go for it.”

R.L Stine did just that, writing a book titled Blind Date. It was geared towards young adult readers and turned out to be pretty successful. After this, he did another teen horror novel titled Twisted, which also sold well. From here, he realized that horror was what he wanted to do. This led to him creating a series called Fear Street which consisted of even more stories for teen readers.

After doing those books for a while, his editors approached him with the idea of writing horror books for younger readers in the 7 to 12 demographic. He passed on the offer at first, thinking that the books would alienate his teen audience. Despite that, they kept asking him to give it a try. He said he’d consider it if he could come up with a title. This would become Goosebumps, and he wrote four books. To their surprise, the books didn’t do too well…

…yet. Through word of mouth, the books caught on. There wasn’t any initial advertising, kids told kids to check out the books and, from there, the popularity soared.

I discovered the books when my brothers started getting them. I’d read whatever I could get my hands on, provided I was finished with another book at the time. The first Goosebumps novel I read was The Girl Who Cried Monster, and I really enjoyed it. I had been warming up to some horror movies at the time, so I loved the idea of reading kid-friendly horror stories. I had a great time with the books and started to wonder if there would ever be an anthology movie or series based on them.

And what do ya know… they made a TV series of it.

I loved watching it and seeing how the adapted stories would turn out. Sometimes I’d find myself liking the books more, but it was still cool to see in terms of wanting to get into more lighthearted horror. I still remember the first time watching the premiere episode, which was an adaptation of The Haunted Mask. It was awesome seeing the characters come to life, and the mask looked really cool. It’s easily one of my favourite episodes. On top of that, watching it in its evening prime-time debut made it feel extra special and is an experience I’ll never forget.

There are other pretty good episodes, and they were, for the most part, very faithful to the books. I still continued reading them, even as the TV was going, and always found plenty of surprises. My favourite is definitely A Shocker on Shock Street. It centers around two kids who are fans of horror movies released under the “Shock Street” name, and they’re invited to be the first ones to attend the theme park attraction based on the films. It’s reminiscent of the Simpsons episode where everyone goes to Itchy and Scratchy Land and everything goes wrong, resulting in mayhem and nonstop thrills.

The whole story is full of the kind of chaos I like to see in horror adventures, and the fact it had kids who love horror movies as lead characters was something I could relate to. I prefer the book more than the TV version, but that’s just my personal preference. There’s also something very reminiscent of b-movies in it that I enjoy, so the whole story makes for a good time. Plus, the ending really caught me off guard.

When I think about it, the books were never exactly scary. The elements of horror were there in a fun way that was never overwhelming, yet still eerie enough to pull kids into the idea of wanting more scary stuff. When I think about it, it really seems that kids like scary stuff and want it, they just don’t want something that’s too frightening. I could go into the science of it and how it relates to an adrenaline rush, but that’s practically a whole other entry in and of itself.

In short, Goosebumps was and still is a good solid time. It’s a great way to get kids into the horror genre without scaring ’em too much. There are a wide variety of stories to choose from, and the craziness just keeps on coming. And the best part is that R.L. Stine is still going strong, writing not only new Goosebumps stories, but new Fear Street books as well. I read some of those when I was in high school and liked them, but have always mostly preferred Goosebumps. I may have to check out more to see what I’ve been missing.

During and after my R.L. Stine phase, I took a little inspiration and made my own attempts to write some horror stories. They were often simple & straightforward, and I didn’t do as many as other types of stories, but I had fun writing them and it’s still a goal to write my own horror stories.

Goosebumps wasn’t about scaring the daylights out of kids, it was about showing them that horror can be fun, and that it can be something they want to read. These story concepts would probably be frightening in a film from an experienced horror director, but Stine gave them an added element of silliness and just enough over-the-top fun. I think of these stories like The Twilight Zone meets Creepshow meets The Goonies, with the addition of b-movie-inspired titles for added fun.

Have I been overusing the word “fun” in here? Probably, but that’s the best way to describe the Goosebumps books. They really are a lot of fun and I’m glad to have read them as a kid.

It definitely further developed my love for and interest in horror as well as writing, and with the recent movies inspired by the books, I’m sure it will inspire more kids to keep on reading, check out more horror stuff, and maybe even write the next big thing.

Thank you R.L. Stine for all the memories and being a part of my childhood! And until next time, fellow readers, watch out for Slappy. He’s… yeah, just watch out for him.