The New York Times Profiles Author R.L. Stine

R.L. Stine, creator of the best-selling Goosebumps series, was recently profiled by his former next-door neighbor and New York Times reporter Alessandra Schade.

Schade reflected on what it felt like growing up next door to “the man responsible for my nightmares” in addition to sharing Stine’s journey to becoming the author of one of the best-selling children’s book series of all-time.

As detailed in the article, before he started writing Goosebumps, Stine worked at Scholastic as an assistant editor of Junior Scholastic Magazine. He even started Bananas, a kids humor magazine, but once he started freelancing, he decided to leave comedy behind.

“Forget the funny stuff,” Stine told the New York Times, describing what was going through his mind at the time. “I’m going to be scary.”

The first Goosebumps book was released in 1992. Now, more than 30 years later, the series is a global megabrand and pop culture phenomenon, with more than 400 million books in print, two feature films, television series, video games, consumer products, and more.

“It’s the best audience in the world, 7- to 11-year-olds,” Stine told the New York Times.

Read the full profile here: I Was Haunted by My Neighbor, the ‘Goosebumps’ Author R.L. Stine