[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/652505eb_e9f7_493e_a538_eeee1e9bbca9.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Creator/StephenKing of children's books.]]

->''My job: to terrify kids''
-->-- '''R.L. Stine's Website/{{Twitter}} bio'''

Robert Lawrence Stine (born October 8, 1943) is the author of over 330 books, many of them for children. His book series, including ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' and ''Literature/FearStreet,'' has sold nearly 400 million copies around the world, making him one of the best-selling children’s authors in history.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Stine graduated from Ohio State University and moved to New York, where he worked as a freelance writer. Initially, he focused on comedy writing, publishing several joke books and comic novels for children, many under the pen name "Jovial Bob" Stine. He also edited the comedy magazine ''Bananas'' which ran from 1975 and 1984 and co-created the children's television series ''Series/EureekasCastle'' for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}.

Around this time, he also wrote a few pieces for the {{Gamebook}} genre, including some starring the likes of Franchise/IndianaJones and Franchise/GIJoe, several of which were republished in the early 90s to capitalize on the popularity of his YA horror novels. In 1986 Stine published a standalone teen horror novel called ''Blind Date'', the success of which persuaded him to focus on horror writing.

The YoungAdult series ''Fear Street'' started in 1989 and was followed in 1992 by the [[MiddleGradeLiterature middle grade]] series ''Goosebumps'', which quickly took off around the world. ''Goosebumps'' has been translated into 35 languages, and Stine continues to add books to the series to this day.

Stine has had three TV series based on his works: ''Series/Goosebumps1995'' (and the later reboot ''Series/Goosebumps2023''), ''Literature/TheNightmareRoom'' and ''[[Series/TheHauntingHour R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour]]''. The last one ended its run in 2014. In addition, several TV movies have become perennial Halloween favorites.

While Stine's thrillers and horror tales have proven to be great reading motivation for young people, he has also published several thrillers for adults: ''Superstitious'', ''The Sitter'', ''Eye Candy'', and ''Literature/RedRain''. ''The Sitter'' is currently being developed as a feature film by Creator/SamRaimi’s company.

Stine is a three-time winner of the Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} [[UsefulNotes/KidsChoiceAward Kids' Choice Award]] (for ''Deep Trouble'' in 1995, ''Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps'' in 1996, and ''Deep Trouble II'' in 1998) and a recipient of the American Library Association Award. For his work in promoting literacy, he was also a recipient of the ITW Silver Bullet Award.

In 2017, Stine entered the world of comic books with his take on ComicBook/ManThing. In 2019, he started an original comic series called ''Just Beyond''. In 2020, he signed a contract with Abrams to publish a three-book miniseries for the ''Franchise/GarbagePailKids''. The last two were released in 2021.
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!!Works by/associated with R.L. Stine with their own pages include:
* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}''
* ''Literature/GiveYourselfGoosebumps''
* ''Literature/FearStreet''
* ''Literature/PointHorror''
* ''Literature/NightmareHour''
* ''Literature/TheHauntingHour''
* ''Literature/TheNightmareRoom''
* ''Literature/MostlyGhostly''
* ''Literature/RedRain''
* ''Film/WhenGoodGhoulsGoBad''
* ''Series/EureekasCastle''
* ''Series/EyeCandy''
* ''[[Series/TheHauntingHour R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour]]''
* ''Film/TheHauntingHourDontThinkAboutIt''
* ''Literature/WizardsWarriorsAndYou''
* ''Series/JustBeyond''
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!!Tropes in his other works include:

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: ''The 13th Warning'' centers around a kid who considers 13 to be his lucky number, and is the 13th kid of parents who were also the 13th kid. However, on Friday the 13th, his 13th birthday, his luck turns around in a bad way.
* AuthorAppeal: Stine likes redheads so you can expect to see one in at least every other book he writes.
* BookEnds: ''The Best Revenge'' begins and ends with screams. Specifically, the screams of delight as the kids discover they got bikes from their father and then screams of [[spoiler: horror as two bullies are eaten by the zombie kids.]]
* CreatorProvincialism: Played straight a few times with his home state of Ohio but he intentionally averts this with his current home in New York, as he states he has a superstition about setting his books there, except for ''The Sitter'' and ''Eye Candy''.
* DeathWorld: The titular planet in Stine's gamebooks ''Badlands of Hark'' and ''Invaders of Hark'' is a spectacular example PlayedForLaughs, as there are so many choices that [[TheManyDeathsOfYou result in your unexpected death]] that it almost makes ''VideoGame/{{Shadowgate}}'' look like ''TabletopGame/CandyLand''.
* {{Ghostwriter}}: The ''Literature/GhostsOfFearStreet'' books were written by people besides Stine, despite being marketed using his name, with the real author or authors listed inside each book. One ''Ghosts of Fear Street'' book was written by a pair of sisters who go by Creator/AGCascone; they later went on to write their competing series of books, ''Literature/DeadtimeStories''.
* GroundhogDayLoop: ''It's the First Day of School...Forever!'' focuses on a kid having to repeat a disastrous first day of school over and over again. The loop starts before he even finishes the day and things get wilder as they go on. [[spoiler: It turns out this is all a videogame and the loops were due to the player getting a game over]].
* TheFullNameAdventures: ''The Adventures of Shrinkman'', named after an in-universe superhero that the protagonist is a fan of.
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: ''The Adventures of Shrinkman'', which was a recycled version of a ''Goosebumps Series 2000'' book that had been canceled.
* ProductPlacement: ''The Beast'' and ''The Beast 2'' was written to promote the titular real-life roller coaster, so they have many instances of the characters going on about how awesome The Beast is.
* PromotedFanboy: Stine is a massive Creator/{{Disney}} fan, and was able to get his works made into several Disney productions.
* TomatoSurprise: His other works are just as fond of this as ''Goosebumps'' was:
** ''My Alien Parents'': A boy believes his parents have been replaced by aliens, but [[spoiler: he's just a robot who was malfunctioning]].
** ''Joe is Not a Monster'': Joe is picked on by kids for being a monster, but the narrator insists he isn't. How does he know this? [[spoiler: He's Joe's second head]].
** ''The Best Revenge'': A family is revealed to be [[spoiler: zombies, whom take care of a pair of bullies that have been harassing the kids]].
** ''It's the First Day of School...Forever!'': [[spoiler: Artie's life is just a video game a kid is playing]].
* YetAnotherChristmasCarol: ''Young Scrooge'', about a boy named Rick Scroogeman who is given this treatment.
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