Robert Lawrence Stine, known by his pen name R.L., is an American novelist. He is the writer of the horror fiction novel series Goosebumps, which has sold over 400 million copies worldwide in 35 languages and become the second-best-selling book series in history.
The series spawned a media franchise, including two television series, a video game series, a comic series, and two feature films. Stine has been called the “Stephen King of children’s literature.
Stine wrote the teenage horror fiction series Fear Street, which has sold over 80 million copies and has been adapted into a trilogy of films.
His other horror fiction novel series include Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, Nightmare Hour, and The Nightmare Room. He has also written dozens of humor books for children under the alias Jovial Bob Stine.
Childhood & Education
R.L. Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio, on October 8, 1943. He is currently 81 years old, and will be 82 in October 2025. His parents are Lewis Stine, a shipping clerk, and Anne Feinstein. He grew up in Bexley, Ohio.
Regarding his education, he graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1965. While at Ohio State University, he edited the humor magazine The Sundial for three years. He later moved to New York City to pursue his career as a writer.
Professional Career
R. L. Stine wrote dozens of humor books for children, including Jovial Bob Stine, and created the humor magazine Bananas.
He was the editor and responsible for much of the writing. Recurring features such as “Hey – Lighten Up!”, “It Never Fails!”, “Phil Fly,” “Phone Calls,” “Joe,” “Doctor Duck,” “Don’t You Wish,” “The Teens of Ferret High,” “First Date,” and “Ask Doctor Si N. Tific.”
Stine wrote his first horror novel, Blind Date, in 1986. He followed with many other books, including The Babysitter, Hit and Run, Beach House, and The Girlfriend. Moreover, he started writing “Fear Street” books in 1989.
Before launching the Goosebumps series, he authored 3 humorous science fiction novels in the Space Cadets series named Bozos on Patrol, Jerks in Training, and Losers in Space. In 1992, he and Parachute Press went to launch Goosebumps.
He also produced a Goosebumps T.V. series for four seasons and 3 video games including Escape from HorrorLand, Attack of the Mutant, and Goosebumps HorrorLand.
His first novel targeted at adults, Superstitious, was published in 1995. Since then, he has published three other adult-oriented novels, including The Sitter, Eye Candy, and Red Rain.
In the first decade of the 21st century, he worked on installments of five different book series, including Mostly Ghostly, Fear Street, The Nightmare Room, Rotten School, and Goosebumps Horrorland, as well as the stand-alone novels Dangerous Girls (2003), and The Taste of Night (2004).
Additionally, he worked on a direct-to-DVD film, The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don’t Think About It.
In 2014, Stine returned to the Fear Street books with his novel Party Games. In the 2015 film Goosebumps, he made a cameo appearance. In Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018), he had another cameo as Principal Harrison.
In 2019, Stine starred in an episode of the children’s TV series Arthur. He also voices Bob Baxter in Fright Night.
Net Worth & Awards
According to Celebrity Net Worth, R.L. Stine’s net worth is around $200 million as of 2025. Moreover, according to the Forbes List of the 40 best-paid Entertainers of 1996–97, he was placed in 36th grade with an income of $41 million for the commercial year.
His novels have sold over 400 million copies globally since 2008, landing on many bestseller lists. During the 1990s, USA Today named R.L. Stine as America’s number-one best-selling writer.
Among the awards, he has won the 2002 Champion of Reading Award (that ward’s first year), three Disney Adventures Kids’ Choice Awards for Best Book-Mystery/Horror, the three Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, Thriller Writers of America Silver Bullet Awards, and the Horror Writers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Personal Life
On June 22, 1969, R.L. Stine tied the knot with Jane Waldhorn, an editor and writer who later co-founded Parachute Press in 1983. The couple has an only child, Matthew, who was born on June 7, 1980, and works in the music industry.
