ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280007
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: LAURA LIPPMAN THE BALTIMORE SUN
R.L. Stine, the most successful horror writer you've never heard of, is dressed in black today, trying to live up to his terrifying reputation. It's a tricky act for a nice Midwestern guy with glasses, receding hairline and a pleasant smile.
And it's not even close to his young fans' expectations, which run toward a monstrous visage - maybe one more eye, or a few less teeth. But you have to work with what you've got, and in Stine's case, that's black clothes, a plastic skeleton he keeps in his office and his shadowy initials.
``The kids want to meet someone more like Dracula,'' Stine shrugs. Or someone less like Dad, at least. Yet Stine's distressingly normal appearance doesn't keep him from being mobbed at book stores, or put off the thousands of kids who write each month, desperate to know everything about the mind behind such classics as ``It Came from Beneath the Kitchen Sink'' and ``Go Eat Worms!''
If you don't have children, Stine is probably a complete mystery. And even parents who have watched their children devouring his series books, ``Goosebumps'' and ``Fear Street,'' might not realize how large an empire can be built on one man's fervid imagination.
Stine has long enjoyed a kind of invisible success, his books flying off the shelves well beneath the radar of many traditional best-seller lists. That changed last year with USA Today's weekly list of 150, which lumps all books together on the basis of sales - no distinction between paperback and hardback, fiction or nonfiction, adult or children's books.
Now Stine has two or three books in the top 50 in a typical week, and he's no stranger to the No. 1 spot. He claims an estimated 90 million books in print, although it's hard to keep count, because they keep coming at a rate of two a month, 24 a year, with sales of more than 1.25 million per month.
``Fear Street,'' for the junior high school crowd, was his first series. But it was ``Goosebumps,'' launched in 1992 for grade school kids, that propelled Stine to his current superstar status.
Spinoffs of ``Goosebumps'' have followed, but Stine finally had to relinquish the writing duties for those. ``I can't write more than two a month,'' he says, almost apologetically.
He also apologizes for not reading all his fan mail, which requires a staff of five. He receives 2,000 letters a month from his fans and they all ask the same questions, in the same order. Dear R.L. Stine: What does R.L. stand for? (Robert Lawrence.) How old are you? (52 as of this month.) How much money do you make? (A lot.)
There's a Fox television version of ``Goosebumps,'' which just began airing and a fan club with all the attendant merchandising opportunities. His first adult novel, published this fall by Warner Books, earned Stine $1 million and a movie deal.
Some kids read only Stine's books, while others are more eclectic in their tastes. For example, fourth-grader Andrew Huff devours everything from Stine's books to classics like ``Treasure Island'' and ``Little Women.''
``I didn't really think these books were so cool at first, but I gave myself a chance to read them and really liked them,'' Andrew says of the ``Goosebumps'' series. ``I like reading mystery, action, adventure, the Hardy Boys. I'm a really good reader.''
Stine discovered his own reading habit while growing up in Bexley, a well-to-do Columbus suburb.
Bobby, as he was known then, began writing at age 9. A lover of comic books, he wrote joke books, which he also illustrated. Later, at Ohio State University, he edited the campus humor magazine.
When he graduated, he moved to New York. A life-long lover of magazines, he found work at everything from a fan magazine to a soft drink publication.
He ended up working for Scholastic Books, editing Bananas, a Mad-like humor magazine for young people. The magazine had a long run, but when the end was in sight, a Scholastic editor suggested he try horror books for young people. ``Blind Date,'' published in 1986, was a best seller.
From there, it was a short trip to ``Fear Street,'' now approaching 60 entries. His wife of 26 years, Jane, works on that series as part of her role at Parachute Press, which also produces ``Goosebumps'' for Scholastic.
``Oh it's hard being married to your editor,'' Stine mock-complains. ``We have all these fights about `Fear Street.' It's always about plots. And she's always right.''
Those who accept him as the author of all the books that bear his name believe he must have a secret formula that allows him to churn out prose so quickly. ``I wish I had a formula,'' he says. ``It would make it so much easier.''
Already, rumors are afoot that his retirement may be sooner, rather than later. His young readers worry the adult book will mean the end of ``Goosebumps.'' One very specific rumor had Stine quitting at No. 36, although No. 37 is already done and No. 38 is under way.
``I've achieved everything I've ever wanted to do,'' he says. ``More. All I ever wanted in life was to have my own national humor magazine and I had that when I was 28. Everything else has been extra. You can't plan for success like this. It's like winning the lottery.''
It's like winning the lottery by playing the number 13, over and over again.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PATRICK SANDOR/The Baltimore Sun. R.L. Stine,by CNBmega-selling author of kids' horror books, sits with a friend in the
work area of his New York home. color.