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“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> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CIs4FjSFKyE/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CIs4FjSFKyE/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by R. L. Stine (@rl_stine1)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <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>

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