Bestselling author R.L. Stine is the headliner at this weekend’s third annual Jax Book Fest.
Stine’s Goosebumps series for young people has sold over 300 million copies in the United States alone and has become a publishing phenomenon in 32 languages around the world. The Guinness Book of World Records cited him as "Most prolific author of children's horror novels."
Stine started writing when he found a typewriter in the attic of his parents’ house at the age of nine. He wrote stories and joke books and in college, he was editor of The Sundial, the school humor magazine, for three years.
Stine has written books under two different pen names, Jovial Bob Stine and Eric Affabee. His writing is not limited to children books; Stine wrote a James Bond book called, James Bond in Win, Place or Die.
Goosebumps began in 1992 and new books are still coming out. The series quickly became a hit around the world, making Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity.
The Goosebumps TV show was the number one kids' show in America for three years in a row. A movie adaptation of Goosebumps starring Jack Black as a fictionalized version of Stine was released in 2015 with a sequel following in 2018.
“I just like to scare kids,” Stine told Melissa Ross on First Coast Connect when she asked what inspired him to create Goosebumps.
Dylan Stine, Bob's grandson, was born in 2014. So Bob decided to do his first picture book. It's titled Little Shop of Monsters. Marc Brown of Arthur fame did the illustrations. Bob and Marc have more picture books in the works.
R.L. Stine will speak Saturday at the Main Library, along with author Mike Thaler and local writers like New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson and local activist Rodney Hurst.
Listen to the full interview with Stine on Tuesday’s First Coast Connect With Melissa Ross.
Amanda Brannon can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org, 904-358-6317.
