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R. L. Stine

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R.L. Stine
R. L. Stine at the 2008 Texas Book Festival.
R. L. Stine at the 2008 Texas Book Festival.

Robert Lawrence Stine (born October 8, 1943),[1] known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an Canadian-American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the 'Stephen King of children's literature', is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

Biography

Stine was born in Bexley, Ohio the oldest of three children, to a homemaker mother and a shipping clerk father. Stine had a Jewish upbringing. He began writing at age 9 when he found a typewriter in his attic,[2] subsequently beginning to type stories and joke books and has been writing ever since. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1965 and moved to New York City to become a writer. He wrote dozens of joke books for kids under the pen name Bob Turdis and created the humor magazine Bananas, where he worked for many years.

In 1987 Stine wrote his first teen horror novel, Blind Date. He soon followed with the novels Beach House, Hit and Run, and The Girlfriend. He was a 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 1990, Stine teamed up with Parachute Press to create Fear Street, which soon became the best selling young adult series in the nation. In 1992, Stine and Parachute went on to launch Goosebumps, the phenomenal series that made the author an international celebrity and resulted in his becoming a well known writer for younger audiences. 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.[3] His books have been translated into 32 languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide, landing on bestseller lists world wide. 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). It was about this time that Stine became one of the few authors who have written more books than they have read. 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. His stories have even inspired ""R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse"", "4D" movie-based attractions at SeaWorld San Diego and Busch Gardens Europe.

Also produced was a TV series that ran for four seasons from 1995-1998 and two video games; Escape From Horrorland and Attack of the Mutant. In 1995, Stine released his only novel targeted at adults, called Superstitious.

In the first decade of the 21st century, Stine has worked on installments of three different book series, Mostly Ghostly, Rotten School and Fear Street and the stand-alone novels Dangerous Girls (2003) and Dangerous 2: The Taste of Night (2004). Also, a direct-to-DVD movie The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don't Think About It, starring Emily Osment, based on Stine's Haunting Hour series, was released by Universal Home Entertainment on September 4th, 2007.

In an 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly, author Tom Perrotta revealed that he was responsible for ghostwriting The Thrill Club as part of Stine's Fear Street series.[4]

Personal life

As an elementary school student he enjoyed playing soccer. Stine is a 1965 graduate of Ohio State University. During his years at Ohio State, he was renowned locally as "Jovial Bob" Stine, the editor of the campus humor magazine, The Sundial.

In 1969, Stine married Jane Waldhorn, who became an editor and writer and eventually formed Parachute Press with a business partner. Their only child, a boy named Matthew was born in 1980. Stine lives with his wife and dog, Minnie. He has published an autobiography, called It Came from Ohio!


Bibliography

Novels

Series

References

  1. ^ R. L. Stine. nav/rlstine "R.L. Stine - Official Website". Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  2. ^ Rodrigues, Tracy. "R.L. Stine, author". Time for Kids. Retrieved 2007-01-09. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ The 40 best-paid entertainers, Forbes Magazine
  4. ^ Before They Were Famous, Entertainment Weekly


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