Just in time for Halloween, the Columbus Metropolitan Library and Experience Columbus are welcoming famed children's horror author R.L. Stine for a sold-out event this Thursday as part of the library’s Authors at the Library series.
A central Ohio native, Stine has written hundreds of spooky tales for young readers, most notably, the hugely successful Goosebumps books.
At age 82, he’s still going strong, with his latest title published just this past summer.
Stine sat down with WOSU's Matthew Rand to talk about the enduring popularity of his stories.
Matthew Rand: This is a treat for me. I grew up reading Goosebumps in the mid-90s at the height of the series' popularity. Why do you think it became such a hit and why does it still resonate today?
R.L. Stine: I don't know, Matthew. It's 33 years of Goosebumps. How did this happen? I really don't know. I will tell you the honest truth. When we started out, I said “Let's do two or three of them.” That shows you what I know, right? And it's 33 years later. I never heard what kind of book series lasts this long. I think people really like to be scared.
Matthew Rand: Well, that is something. I mean, on the one hand, fear is fun, right? But I think a lot of people these days will tell you we're also living through some very real scary times. How does fictional horror help kids—and grownups, for that matter—deal with the things we're truly afraid of?
R.L. Stine: Well, fear is fun when you know you're safe at the same time. I mean, you know, there are different kinds of fear. My books are like an escape from fear, really. Kids have these battles with ghosts and monsters, but they know they're safe in their room reading at the same time, and they know the books are never going to go too far and they're going to let them off okay. I only have happy endings. Kids demand happy endings for these books. I once did an unhappy ending to one of my Fear Street books, and the readers turned on me immediately. They were furious, and they wrote to me, “Dear R. L. Stein, you moron, you idiot. How could you write that book?” They want a happy ending for these books.
Matthew Rand: You were born in Columbus, grew up in Bexley and graduated from Ohio State. How did these central Ohio roots help shape you, and do they show up in your writing?
R.L. Stine: Yeah, Bexley shows up in my work. Almost all the stories are suburban backyard stories. Goosebumps stories don't start in some castle in middle Europe. They all start in somebody's kitchen or somebody's backyard. And when I think about that suburban setting, I always think back to my childhood and what Bexley looked like and still does look like. Every time I go back, it can't, you know... Bexley is surrounded by Columbus. It can't change at all. Every time I go, it looks like, just like when I was there.
Matthew Rand: After all these years, what keeps you writing and has the process changed for you since the early days?
R.L. Stine: I always say greed and stupidity, that's what keeps me going, but that’s a stupid answer. (laughs) You know, I started writing when I was nine. I don't know why. Why did I like it so much? And I still do. I still enjoy getting up in the morning and coming up with new stories and writing these books. I just love it.
Matthew Rand: Well, your books have sold hundreds of millions of copies all around the world. What does it mean to know you've sparked a love of reading for so many young people?
R.L. Stine: Oh, I never get tired of parents coming up to me and saying, “My kid never read a book in her life. And the other night I caught her under the covers in the middle of the night, reading a Goosebumps book with a flashlight.” I love that. I never get tired of hearing it.
