Who was born in October and writes scary children’s books?

What famous author has written more than 300 books, wrote the Goosebumps series and was born Oct. 8?

If you guessed R.L. Stine you would be right! At age nine, Stine found a typewriter in his attic and began to type stories and joke books. In high school, he joined the school newspaper. When he went to college, he was the editor of a humor magazine. After college, he moved to New York City to start his career as a writer. He has a writing studio in his apartment. He keeps scary things around to create an eerie atmosphere like a mask, a skeleton and a three-foot-long cockroach.

Here’s some other tips from this famous author.

How he comes up with his stories

Stine says, “I just walk along and a title pops into my head. Like I'll think, ‘Little Shop of Hamsters’... hmmm... What could I do about hamsters?” Stine likes to know the title first and then the ending. Then when he writes the story, he can figure out how to surprise or fool the reader. He makes an outline of the whole book and every chapter before he starts writing. When he’s done, he gives the book to his wife. She’s an editor – a very hard editor.

What he says to kids who want to write

“Read as many different writers as you can. Soak up the styles. You can learn all kinds of ways to say things.” He tells young writers to write every day. “Think of it this way,” he says. “When you write, you are a writer!”

Your students can write to R.L. Stine

R.L. Stine
c/o Parachute Publishing
157 Columbus Avenue, Room 518
New York, NY 10023

AIM-VA already has Goosebumps

Stay Out of the Basement, Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask II, and Planet of the Lawn Gnomes in accessible formats.

DBVI, Learning Ally, Bookshare and 3rd party choices have additional books written by R.L. Stine and are also listed on the website https://aimva.org/get-started/search-for-a-book. Any book not currently found in the AIM-VA library can be produced if requested by a DRM (Digital Rights Manager).

Other Resources

• For Sneak Peaks and Shrieks information about current R.L. Stine books, go to: http://rlstine.com/news
• Teaching with Goosebumps: Lessons and Activities for Your Classroom https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collections/teaching-content/teaching-goosebumps-lessons-and-activities-your-classroom/