“I just find horror very funny”: RL Stine opens up on writing career
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There have been a lot of rumours circulating about RL Stine, the man behind hundreds of children’s horror books.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rumours that he’s dead and that he’s a collection of writers using the same name are not true, but what about the claim he was once writing a new book each week?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That’s not true either,” he told the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">BBC</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “It took two weeks.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 77-year-old writer behind series such as </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Goosebumps</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Give Yourself Goosebumps</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fear Street</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Point Horror</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has said even he doesn’t know exactly how many books he’s written, or how many copies have been sold.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to Wikipedia, it’s upwards of 400 million, but he believes “that’s got to be a made up number - who counted that?”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As for the latest adaptation of his work into a Netflix trilogy, he has a warning for anyone planning to watch them: “My books were PG-rated. These movies are definitely not.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Netflix’s </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Fear Street</em> <em>Trilogy</em></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> consists of three slasher films set in 1994, 1978, and 1660 that are set to be released over three weeks. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stine said it was a “shock” seeing his work adapted for a grown-up audience, but it’s content doesn’t scare him.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t get scared from horror movies,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There’s something missing in my brain. I just find horror very funny.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Goosebumps</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> series celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Stine’s impact on the horror genre is clear - and he’s agreed to write another six books.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t know how I did it,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Back in the day I was writing a </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Goosebumps</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and a </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fear Street</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> book every month.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’d been writing for 20 years and no-one had noticed - and then to suddenly have that kind of success was exhilarating. It just kept me going.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ve definitely topped 300 books now. How crazy do you have to be to write 300 books?”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With two of the films already available to watch, Netflix will likely be monitoring how </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fear Street</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is received - with so much RL Stine material to go off, it could be the start of a series of spin-offs.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: RL Stine / Instagram</span></em></p>
