Calling all Creeps

Ricky Beamer is furious when he gets kicked off the school paper. So he decides to play a joke on Tasha, the bossy editor-in-chief. Just a little joke. Harmless, really. After school one day he sticks a message in the paper. "If you're a creep, call Tasha after midnight," it reads. But somehow Ricky's message gets messed up. And now he's getting calls! Strange calls from kids who say they are creeps. Creeps with scaly purple skin. And long sharp fangs....

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My Best Friend is Invisible

Sammy Jacobs is into ghosts and science fiction. Not exactly the smartest hobby--at least not if you ask Sammy's parents. They're research scientists and they only believe in "real" science. But now Sammy's met someone who's totally UN-real. He's hanging out in Sammy's room. And eating his cereal at breakfast. Sammy's got to find a way to get rid of his new "friend." Only problem is... Sammy's new friend is invisible!

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Chicken, Chicken

Everyone in Goshen Falls knows about weird Vanessa. She dresses all in black. Wears black lipstick. And puts spells on people. At least, that's what they say.

Crystal and her brother, Cole, know you can't believe everything you hear. But that was before they made Vanessa mad. Before she whispered that strange warning, "Chicken, chicken."

Because now something really weird has happened. Crystal's lips have turned as hard as a bird's beak. And Cole has started growing ugly white feathers all over his body....

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Monster Blood III

It's the slime that never dies!

Evan can't stand baby-sitting his genius cousin, Kermit. Kermit refuses to play video games. He won't even play frisbee! All he likes to do is hang out in the basement performing strange experiments and playing mean practical jokes on Evan and his friend Andy.

But now Andy's found something that will teach Kermit a lesson once and for all.

It's green. It's slimy. And it comes in a can marked... Monster Blood!

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Beware, the Snowman

No melting allowed! Jaclyn used to live with her aunt Greta in Chicago. But not anymore. They've moved to a place called Sherpia, a tiny village on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Jaclyn can't believe she's stuck out in Nowheresville--no movie theaters, no malls, no nothing. Plus, there's something really odd about the village. At night there are strange howling noises. And in front of every house there's a snowman. A creepy snowman with a red scarf. A deep scar on his face. And a really evil smile….

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My Hairiest Adventure

He's having a really, really bad hair day. Larry Boyd just found the coolest thing in the trash--an old bottle of INSTA-TAN. "Rub on a dark suntan in minute"--that's what the label says. So Larry and his friends do. But nothing much happens, until Larry notices the hair. Dark spiky hair growing on his hands and face. Really gross shiny hair. Hair that keeps growing back even after he shaves it off….

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Deep Trouble II

In the Caribbean waters, gigantic fish are biting--and they might get you next. While spending the summer in their uncle's amazing floating lab, top-notch swimmers Billy and Sheena Deep find a wealth of cool places to explore. But evil is lurking under the sea. The fish are getting bigger … and bigger. And so are their appetites.

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How I Learned To Fly

Jack is tired of having Wilson make him feel like a total loser. That's how he ended up hiding in a creepy abandoned house and finding the coolest book, Flying Lessons. Finally he can get back at Wilson. But now that Jack's learned to fly, things down on earth are getting really scary….

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Don't Go to Sleep

Matt should have listened to his mother: if he had, maybe his life wouldn't be a waking nightmare. When Matt's mother refuses to let him sleep in the guest room he sneaks into the room one night after everyone is asleep. When he wakes up, his life has totally changed--for the worse.

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The Haunted School

It's never easy being the new kid in school, especially when you start to hear voices. Tommy Frazer has just entered Bell Valley Middle School and he is sure that there is a secret within its walls. Can Tommy solve the mystery and save the kids stuck inside the school?

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Attack of the Jack-o'-Lanterns

Nothing beats Halloween. It's Drew Brockman's favorite holiday. And this year will be awesome. Much better than last year. Or the year Lee and Tabby played that joke. A nasty practical joke on Drew and her best friend, Walker.

Yes, this year Drew and Walker have a plan. A plan for revenge. It involves two scary pumpkin heads.

But something's gone wrong. Way wrong. Because the pumpkin heads are a little too scary. A little too real. With strange hissing voices. And flames shooting out of their faces...

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Vampire Breath

Tough. That's Freddy Martinez and his friend, Cara. They're not afraid of anything. But that was before they went exploring in Freddy's basement. Before they found the secret room. Before they found the bottle of Vampire Breath.

Poor Freddy and Cara. They should have never opened that bottle of Vampire Breath. Because now there's a vampire in Freddy's basement. And he's very, very thirsty....

The Beast from the East

Ginger Wald and her identical twin brothers, Nat and Pat, are lost in the woods. No problem. After all, Ginger did go to that stupid nature camp.

Still, there's something odd about this part of the woods. The grass is yellow. The bushes are purple. And the trees are like skyscrapers.

Then Ginger and her brothers meet the beasts. They're big blue furry creatures. And they want to play a game. The winners get to live. The losers get eaten.

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The Curse of Camp Cold Lake

Camp is supposed to be fun, but Sarah hates Camp Cold Lake. The lake is gross and slimy. And she's having a little trouble with her bunkmates. They hate her.

So Sarah comes up with a plan. She'll pretend to drown--then everyone will feel sorry for her.

But things don't go exactly the way Sarah planned. Because down by the cold, dark lake someone is watching her. Stalking her. Someone with pale blue eyes. And a see-through body....

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Why I'm Afraid of Bees

Right brain. Wrong body. Gary Lutz needs a vacation--from himself. Bullies are constantly beating him up. His only friend is his computer. Even his little sister doesn't like him. But now Gary's dream is about to come true. He's going to exchange bodies with another kid for a whole week. Gary can't wait to get a new body. Until something horrible happens. And Gary finds out his new body isn't exactly human.

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Night of the Living Dummy II

Amy's ventriloquist dummy, Dennis, keeps losing his head... for real. So Amy begs her family for a new dummy. That's when her dad finds Slappy in a local pawnshop. Slappy's kind of ugly, but at least his head stays on! And besides, Amy's having fun practicing her new routine. It's like this dummy knows what she's thinking. Like he can move on his own. And it's great--until Slappy starts a routine of his own. A nasty, horrible routine. And Amy can't control him....

The Headless Ghost

Everyone knows about Hill House. It's the biggest tourist attraction in town. That's because it's haunted. Haunted by the ghost of a thirteen-year-old boy. A boy with no head!

Duane and Stephanie love Hill House. It's dark. And creepy. And totally scary.

Still, they've never actually seen the ghost. Until the night they decide to go on a search. A search for his head....

A Night in Terror Tower

All locked up and no place to go!

Sue and her brother, Eddie, are visiting London when they run into a little problem. They can't find their tour group. Still, there's no reason to panic. No way their tour guide would just leave them. All alone. In a gloomy old prison tower.

No way they'd get locked inside. After dark. With those eerie sounds. And a strange dark figure who wants them... dead.

Night of the Living Dummy III

When dummies speak... everybody listens!

Trina O'Dell's dad used to have a ventriloquist act. That's why he has all those dummies in the attic. He calls it his Dummy Museum. There's a dummy with freckles. And one with a sneer just like Rocky. Trina and her brother, Dan, think the dummies are pretty cool.

But now there are voices in the attic. And the dummies keep showing up in the strangest places.

No way those dummies could be alive! Right?

Welcome to Dead House

Look Alive!

Amanda and Josh think the old house they have just moved into is weird. Spooky. Possibly haunted. And the town of Dark Falls is pretty strange, too.

But their parents don't believe them. You'll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends. So Amanda and Josh do. But these new friends are not exactly what their parents had in mind.

Because they want to be friends... forever.

Say Cheese and Die!

A picture is worth a thousand screams.

Greg thinks there is something wrong with the old camera he and his friends found. The photographs keep turning out wrong. Very wrong. Like the snapshot Greg took of his father's new car that shows it totaled. And then Greg's father is in a nasty wreck.

But Greg's friends don't believe him. Shari even makes Greg bring the camera to her birthday party and take her picture.

Only Shari's not in the photograph when it develops. Is Shari about to be taken out of the picture permanently?

You Can't Scare Me!

Courtney is a total show-off. She thinks she's so brave, and she's always making Eddie and his friends look like wimps. But now Eddie's decided he's had enough. He's going to scare Courtney once and for all. And he's come up with the perfect plan to do it.

Eddie's going to lure Courtney down to Muddy Creek. Because he knows that she actually believes those silly rumors about the monsters. That there are Mud Monsters living deep inside the creek.

It's just too bad that Eddie doesn't believe the rumors, too. Because they just might be true....

Ghost Beach

Do you believe in ghosts?

Jerry can't wait to explore the dark, spooky old cave he found down by the beach. Then the other kids tell him a story. A story about a ghost who lives deep inside the cave.

A ghost who is three hundred years old. A ghost who comes out when the moon is full. A ghost who is haunting the beach.

Just another stupid ghost story. Right?

Ghost Camp

The joke's on them!

Harry and his brother, Alex, are dying to fit in at Camp Spirit Moon. But the camp has so many weird traditions. Like the goofy camp salute. The odd camp greeting. And the way the old campers love to play jokes on the new campers.

Then the jokes get really serious. Really creepy. Really scary. First a girl sticks her arm in the campfire. Then a boy jams a pole through his foot.

Still, they're just jokes... right?

How to Kill a Monster

Step 1: Run. Step 2: Run faster.

Gretchen and her stepbrother, Clark, hate staying at their grandparents' house. Grandpa Eddie is totally deaf. And Grandma Rose is obsessed with baking. Plus, they live right in the middle of a dark, muddy swamp.

This couldn't get any worse, right? WRONG.

Because there's something really weird about Grandma and Grandpa's house. Something odd about that room upstairs. The one that's locked. The one with the strange noises coming from it. Strange growling noises....

It Came From Beneath the Sink!

Their luck's about to go down the drain...

Kat and her brother, Daniel, are so lucky. They just moved to a new house with tons of rooms, two balconies and a lawn the size of a football field!

But all that good luck is about to run out. Because there's something really evil living in their new house. Something that's moving. Watching. Waiting.

Something that comes from beneath the sink....

The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight

It's a field of screams!

Jodie loves visiting her grandparents' farm. Okay, so it's not the most exciting place in the world. Still, Grandpa tells great scary stories. And Grandma's chocolate chip pancakes are the best.

But this summer the farm has really changed. The cornfields are sparse. Grandma and Grandpa seem worn out. And the single scarecrow has been replaced by twelve evil-looking ones.

Then one night Jodie sees something really odd. The scarecrows seem to be moving. Twitching on their stakes. Coming alive....

Welcome to Camp Nightmare

It's the little camp of horrors!

The food isn't great. The counselors are a little strange. And the camp director, Uncle Al, seems sort of demented. Okay, so Billy can handle all that.

But then his fellow campers start to disappear. What's going on? Why won't his parents answer his letters? What's lurking out there after dark?

Camp Nightmoon is turning into Camp Nightmare. For real. And Billy might be next...

The Werewolf of Fever Swamp

What big teeth you have!

There's something horrible happening in Fever Swamp. Something really horrible. It started with the strange howling at night. Then there was the rabbit, torn to shreds.

Everyone thinks Grady's new dog is responsible. After all, he looks just like a wolf. And he seems a little on the wild side.

But Grady knows his dog is just a regular old dog. And most dogs don't howl at the moon. Or disappear at midnight. Or change into terrifying creatures when the moon is full. Or do they?

How I Got My Shrunken Head

Two heads are better than one!

What has two eyes, a mouth, and wrinkly green skin? Mark's shrunken head. It's a present from his Aunt Benna. A gift from the jungle island of Baladora.

Mark can't wait to show the kids at school his shrunken head. It's so ugly. So gross. So awesome.

But late one night the head starts to glow. Because it's no ordinary head. It gives Mark a strange power. A magical power. A dangerous power....

Classic Goosebumps #01: Night of the Living Dummy

He's no dummy!

Lindy names the ventriloquist's dummy she finds Slappy. Slappy is kind of ugly, but he's a lot of fun. Lindy's having a great time learning to make Slappy move and talk.

But Kris is jealous of all the attention her sister is getting. It's no fair. Why does Lindy always have all the luck? Kris decides to get a dummy of her own. She'll show Lindy.

Then weird things begin to happen. Nasty things. Evil things. No way a dummy can be causing all the trouble. Or is there?

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Classic Goosebumps #02: Deep Trouble

Don't go in the water!

Billy and his sister, Sheena, are visiting their uncle Dr. Deep on a tiny Caribbean island. It's the perfect place to go exploring underwater... and Billy's ready for an adventure.

There's only one rule to remember: stay away from the coral reefs. Still, the reefs are so beautiful. So peaceful. Billy can't resist.

But he's not alone in the water. Something's lurking deep below the surface. Something dark and scaly.

Something that's half-human, half-fish....

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Classic Goosebumps #03: Monster Blood

Blood, blood everywhere…

While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It's fun to play with at first. And Evan's dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some!

But then Evan notices something weird about the green slimy stuff – it seems to be growing. And growing. And growing.

And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite.…

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Classic Goosebumps #04: The Haunted Mask

Face-to-face with a nightmare!

How ugly is Carly Beth's Halloween mask? It's so ugly that it almost scared her little brother to death. So terrifying that even her friends are freaked out by it.

It's the best Halloween mask ever! It's everything Carly Beth hoped it would be. And more.

Maybe too much more. Because Halloween is almost over. And Carly Beth is still wearing that special mask….

Classic Goosebumps #05: One Day at Horrorland

Werewolf Village. The Doom Slide. The Coffin Cruise. These are just a few of the terrifying attractions that await Luke and Lizzy Morris at HorrorLand. Step right up and join the Morris family as they ride each ride--and scream each scream--for the very first time. Because it might also be their last.

Look in the back of the book: This special collector's edition includes a secret guide to the new Goosebumps HorrorLand series, tips and tricks for the Goosebumps HorrorLand video game, and more!

Classic Goosebumps #06: The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb

Gabe is exploring the tunnels of an ancient Egyptian pyramid. Unfortunately, Gabe is also lost! And Gabe is not alone. Someone else is in the pyramid, too.  Someone or something...  It's another fan-favorite prequel to R.L. Stine's blockbuster GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND series. Now with all-new bonus materials including a Q&A with the author and more!

Classic Goosebumps #07: Be Careful What You Wish For

Samantha Byrd is a klutz. An accident waiting to happen. And that makes her the least popular member of the girls' basketball team.  But all of that is about to change. Sam's met someone who can grant her three wishes.  Too bad Sam wasn't more careful when she asked for each one...  It's another fan-favorite prequel to R.L. Stine's blockbuster GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND series. Now with all-new bonus materials including an author interview and more!

Goosebumps HorrorLand #1: Revenge of the Living Dummy

Fright-master R.L. Stine invites you on an all-new, all-terrifying adventure!

The thrill ride begins when 12-year-old Britney Crosby encounters an old ventriloquist's dummy with a lively secret - and a wicked plan.

Just when she thinks the nightmare is over, Britney receives an invitation to an amusement park where everything is not as it seems. Who--or WHAT--is summoning ordinary kids to HorrorLand? Britney and her friends must find out fast--or remain trapped forever in the scariest place on Earth.

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Goosebumps HorrorLand #2: Creep from the Deep

Billy and his sister, Sheena, dive into a terrifying mystery when they accept a surprise invitation to HorrorLand--the amusement park that always lives up to its name.

But first Billy and Sheena must sink or swim aboard a doomed ship that happens to be underwater--with a captain who happens to be dead. At least, he used to be!

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Goosebumps HorrorLand #3: Monster Blood for Breakfast!

For an athlete like Matt Daniels, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It's also the most dangerous. That's because somebody is about to pull a mean prank. The recipe is simple: Just add gooey, green Monster Blood.

As if Matt's problems weren't big and slimy enough, an invitation to HorrorLand is also on its way. Can Matt survive inside a terrifying scream park where trouble lurks behind every turnstile? Can YOU?

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Goosebumps HorrorLand #4: The Scream of the Haunted Mask

After the worst Halloween ever, Carly Beth assumed that nothing could be scarier than a drooling rubber mask with a mind of its own. If Carly Beth can survive the worst Halloween ever, even a terrifying amusement park like HorrorLand might seem like a vacation.

Goosebumps HorrorLand #5: Dr. Maniac vs. Robby Schwartz

Robby creates his own comic strips so he can freak out his friends and family. His favorite character is Dr. Maniac, a villain with a wicked grin and crazy superpowers. And now Dr. Maniac is on the loose … in the real world!

Goosebumps HorrorLand #6: Who's Your Mummy?

Abby and Peter are staying with Uncle Jonathan in an eerie old village. Their uncle knows a lot about Egyptian pyramids, and his living room even looks like an ancient tomb. Do other secrets lurk inside Uncle Jonathan's house? MUM's the word! Next, Abby and Peter will get all WRAPPED up in a terrifying mystery. Slappy the Dummy and other villains have been sighted in HorrorLand theme park. A monster named Byron might offer help . . . if they can find him.

Goosebumps HorrorLand #7: My Friends Call Me Monster

Before joining the other kids trapped in HorrorLand, Michael Munroe will learn a few new lessons in FEAR: Never trust a teacher who calls everybody "Little Monsters." Be careful if that teacher invites you to lunch at her house. And never EVER trust a teacher with a giant monster egg in her own attic--especially if it's about to hatch!

Goosebumps fans are always asking me that question. And it's not an easy one to answer. Think about where you get your own ideas. They come from everywhere. People you meet. Stories. Movies. Dreams. Memories. Thin air!

I need a lot of ideas for my books, so I find myself thinking about scary stuff all the time. Luckily, I love doing just that. I've spent most of my life dreaming up ideas for stories and books.

A lot of my ideas for Goosebumps books started a long time ago. When I was a kid, I could never get enough stories. I devoured entire library shelves of fairy tales, Greek myths, Norse legends, and folktales. I loved stories on the radio and TV, too.

One of my earliest memories has to do with the story Pinocchio. My mother read me the original version of the tale--which is a lot scarier than the Disney version. In one scene, Pinocchio gets tired of the cricket's constant lectures. So he takes a big wooden mallet and smashes the cricket against the wall. Later, Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on the wood-burning stove and burns both his feet off.

Thanks to Pinocchio, I always liked the idea of a wooden puppet coming to life. And so I eventually invented Slappy and wrote three Night of the Living Dummy books for the Goosebumps series.

As you might expect, Halloween was my favorite holiday when I was a kid. I always wanted to be something really scary. A ghost. A mummy. A--duck? One year, my mother bought me a duck suit. Other kids thought it was pretty funny, but I didn't think it was funny at all. When I wrote The Haunted Mask for Goosebumps, I remembered that duck costume and how embarrassing it was. And so I gave Carly Beth, the girl in the book, a duck costume, too.

Dr. Maniac vs. Robby Schwartz just came from the name Dr. Maniac. What makes him a maniac? Is he a superhero or a super villain? Is he so crazy even he doesn't know?

A few more questions Goosebumps fans love to ask:

What are your favorite Goosebumps books?

Night of the Living Dummy, Say Cheese and Die, and The Haunted Mask. In fact, I liked those so much I've brought them back in the new Goosebumps HorrorLand series.

How long does it take you to write a Goosebumps book?

Ten days. I also spend two or three days outlining each book.

What advice do you have for kids who want to be writers?

Read, read, read. Read as much as you can by as many different authors as you can. That way, without even realizing it, you build a good vocabulary--and you pick up different ways of saying things, of describing the world and the people in it. Nothing is as important for someone who wants to be a writer as reading books by many different authors.

So keep reading--and have a scary day!

--R.L. StineQ: How is the new HorrorLand series different from previous Goosebumps books?

A: I've always said that Goosebumps books are like a roller coaster—full of thrills and chills and fast twists and turns. But Goosebumps HorrorLand is a whole new ride. Each edition is two books in one. The first is a complete Goosebumps story. The second is a continuing story set in the scariest amusement park ever—HorrorLand. Why is it so scary? Because the meanest, creepiest villains from all the Goosebumps books are in HorrorLand, and they want to make sure no one gets out.

Q: These are the first all-new Goosebumps books to be published in eight years. What inspired you to go back to Goosebumps?

A: My readers! Everywhere I went kids asked me: When are you going to write new Goosebumps books? So now I am.

Q: What is the most surprising thing that has happened to you as a result of the popularity of Goosebumps?

A: Everything that has happened to me has been amazing and surprising. I got the chance to do things that I dreamed of when I was a kid: I got to ride on a float in a parade, I got to go behind the scenes at Disney World, I've been on TV. I got to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium (actually I let my son do that). I met my all-time hero, Ray Bradbury. But the biggest thrill was and continues to be meeting and hearing from so many kids who enjoy my books.

Q: What inspired you to call the series Goosebumps?

A: I was stumped. I couldn't think of a name for the series. Then I saw an ad on a TV station that was showing horror movies. The ad said, "It's goosebumps week on Channel 11." That was it!

Q: Goosebumps HorrorLand is set in a scary theme park. Do you have a favorite theme-park ride?

A: Here's the truth. I love theme parks but I'm a real chicken on rides. I'd rather invent scary rides for my books than go on them for real.

Q: What inspired you to write the first Goosebumps HorrorLand book, Night of the Living Dummy?

A: I've always thought dummies were scary. There's something about those dead wooden eyes staring at you and then suddenly coming to life. Creepy!

Q: Do you own a ventriloquist's dummy? If so, has it ever insulted, chased, or attacked you?

A: I do own a ventriloquist's dummy. It looks just like me! So far, it hasn't ever chased me or attacked me. But you know, people have told me that dogs always sense ghosts and evil things before humans do. Well, my dog, Minnie, who is normally a very quiet, calm dog, is absolutely terrified of the dummy. She barks at it and shivers with fear whenever she sees him! So now I can't help wondering if she knows something about the dummy that I don't know.

Q: Slappy is a villain that the fans love to fear. What makes him so popular?

A: Face it— all of us would like to be a little mean and a little rude sometimes. Slappy is mean and rude ALL the time. I think that's why the fans love him.

Q: Why did you decide to write scary books?

A: I always liked scary movies and books. When I was about eight or nine, I started reading scary horror comic books. They were called Vault of Horror and Tales from the Crypt. And my brother and I went to every scary movie. We didn't get scared—we always LAUGHED!

Q: What scares you? Do you have any phobias?

A: I have one phobia—I can't jump into water. I have to step into a swimming pool; I can't jump or dive in. My nephews think it's a riot that a scary guy like me is afraid to jump into a pool!

Q: Do kids come to your house for Halloween? What do you give out?

A: Kids come to my apartment in New York City because I have a skeleton and a cupful of eyeballs and a lot of creepy stuff. I always give out copies of my books along with the candy bars.

Q: Goosebumps has sold hundreds of millions of books worldwide. When did you first realize that Goosebumps was going to be such a huge success? How did you celebrate?

A: I was in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, driving to a bookstore for a book signing. I remember I was stuck in a huge traffic jam and I was really worried I would be late and was growing more and more annoyed at all the traffic. When we finally approached the bookstore, I realized that the traffic jam was caused by all the people who were coming to see me! I celebrated by signing hundreds of books!

Q: What's the weirdest fan letter you've ever received?

A: It's the weirdest and also my favorite. Here goes: "Dear R.L. Stine. I have read 40 of your books and I think they are really boring." Goosebumps cast a spell upon children by transforming even the most reluctant students into avid readers. Despite the fact that almost every book has a different collection of characters, the series has one common element that kids can't get enough of: THE AUTHOR!

However believable his plots seem to his readers, Stine insists he has never lived one of his stories. "I've never turned into a bee – I've never been chased by a mummy or met a ghost. But many of the ideas in my books are suggested by real life. For example, one Halloween my son, Matt, put a mask on and then had trouble pulling it off. That gave me the idea for The Haunted Mask."

Although he never experienced terror first hand, he did enjoy reading about it. "When I was a kid, there were these great comic books called Tales From The Crypt and The Vault of Horror. They were gruesome. I discovered them in the barbershop and thought they were fabulous. I used to get a haircut every Saturday so I wouldn't miss any of these comic books. I had no hair at all when I was a kid!"

His ideas came from two sources: his memory and his imagination. "When I write, I try to think back to what I was afraid of or what was scary to me, and try to put those feelings into books." He also keeps a tribal mask and a skeleton hanging in his writing studio to provide eerie surroundings. Although he handles the writing by himself, Stine says he gets "lots of help from my editors, my readers, and my friends."

Scholastic's brand-new series, Goosebumps HorrorLand, debuted April 2008. It features classic Goosebumps characters such as Slappy the evil dummy, The Haunted Mask, as well as many new characters.

Goosebumps began in 1992. The book series quickly became a hit around the world—more than 300 million Goosebumps books have been sold to date. Translated into 32 different languages, the Goosebumps series made R.L. Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity, and Goosebumps was named the world's bestselling book series of all time in the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records. The Goosebumps TV show was the number-one kids' show in the U.S. for three years in a row. In fall 2007, the TV series re-aired on the Cartoon Network.

Kids reading Goosebumps may be looking for a scare, but the laughs they get are no accident. Before he was R.L., he was Jovial Bob, author of such works as 101 Silly Monster Jokes, and Bozos on Patrol and most recently he's written Rotten School, about the world's funniest school. His ability to know what kids will laugh at, as well as what will frighten them, makes the Goosebumps series all the more enjoyable for his readers.

Stine started writing when he was 9 years old! He would write stories and jokes on an old typewriter and hand them out at school. "The teacher would grab them and take them away," Stine says, "but I kept doing it." He wrote for his high school newspaper in Columbus Ohio. After graduating from Ohio State University, he moved to New York City, where he worked on a variety of writing jobs.

He has won numerous awards and honors, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he was the 2007 Winner of the Thriller Writers of America Silver Bullet Award. R.L. Stine also received the first Champion of Reading Award from the Free Public Library of Philadelphia.

Although his books are fun and exciting, writing them is serious stuff. He treats writing "…like a job." To unwind after work he plays with his dog, Minnie, and reads mysteries – the scarier, the better.

For aspiring authors, Stine feels reading is as important as writing. He offers this advice: "If you want to be a writer, don't worry so much about writing. Read as much as you can. Read as many different writers as you can. Soak up the styles. You can learn all kinds of ways to say things." As a boy he read Norse legends, Greek myths, Edgar Allan Poe and baseball stories. "And Mad Magazine changed my life" His favorite thriller? Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury.It Came From Ohio! My Life as a Writer

By R.L. Stine
As told to Joe Arthur



It's the REAL DEAL on the author of GOOSEBUMPS®!

Was R.L. Stine a SCARY kid?
Did he have a WEIRD family?
Did his friends at school think he was STRANGE?
Why does he like to TERRIFY his readers?
Where does he get his FRIGHTENING ideas?

ALL of your questions about America's best-selling author are answered in this STINE-TINGLING life story.

For the first time ever, R.L. Stine reveals what he was like at your age and what his life is like TODAY.

PLUS: Private snapshots and photos from his family album!

AVAILABLE NOW
IN BOOKSTORES EVERYWHERE!