'I had no idea why it appealed to me so much,' he told The Dispatch. Around that time, Stine began writing his own stories. But when he was 9 or 10 years old, a trip to the Bexley Public Library introduced him to the work of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, he said. Stine, whose initials stand for Robert Lawrence, became an avid reader as child, mostly reading comic books. More: Columbus weather: Small chance of rain on Halloween Love of writing came early for Stine Stine, master of frighteningly fun novels for kids has a new work: 'SlappyWorld #17' That’s the kind of businessman I am: I didn’t want to do 'Goosebumps.' I said, 'OK, all right, let’s try two or three of them.''

'No one had ever done a scary-books series for 7- to 12-year-olds, and I was afraid it would mess up my audience for 'Fear Street.' I was already doing the older, teen series. 'The truth is, when we started “Goosebumps,” back in 1992, I was very reluctant to do it,' he said. Stine told The Dispatch in June that he never would've thought 'Goosebumps' would still be popular years later. Stine was in attendance, along with fellow children's author Mary Pope Osborne, who was celebrating the 30th anniversary of her series, 'Magic Tree House.' celebrated the series' 30th anniversary earlier this month during a Halloween Family Day event. The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. After “Harry Potter,” it is the second best-selling book series in history. “Goosebumps” has sold more than 400 million books in 32 languages and spawned television and film versions. The Bexley native and Ohio State University graduate began 'Goosebumps' with the book “Welcome to Dead House” in July 1992 and has been writing them ever since - now there are more than 330 titles. Stine has been frightening millions of children and tweens for years with his best-selling horror series.

With Halloween upon us, you might have memories of being a kid during this time of year reading the latest book in the 'Goosebumps' series, hanging on to every word even when you were scared to read what happened next.įrom Slappy the Dummy to the creepy attractions at Horrorland, author R.L.

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