Although the two couldn’t be more different in terms of style and target audience, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to name R.L. Stine as the Stephen King of children’s and young adult literature.
After all, the author has spent the last 35 years penning a never-ending string of novels, short stories, comic books and much more, many of which hold a special place in the hearts of readers all over the world. While his back catalogue hasn’t been mined anywhere near as often or repeatedly as King’s, that could be about to change.
Jack Black’s Goosebumps was a decent-sized hit that got a subpar sequel, while Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy was an unqualified success that director Leigh Janiak wants to turn into the Marvel Cinematic Universe of horror. Disney Plus series Just Beyond premieres tomorrow and an episodic Goosebumps reboot is also in the works, so it’s all systems go for Stine.
In a new interview with ComicBook, the 78 year-old teased that even more adaptations of his bibliography could be set for the big and small screens, although he was reticent to offer up any concrete details.
“There’s some other projects in the works, one based on the teen novels that I did called The Babysitter. There were four books and I think those are in production for television. We keep moving, we just keep going and see what happens. But no, I’m sorry, I don’t have any more updates on the other Goosebumps show.”
All-ages horror doesn’t have to skimp on the scares, and few have proven themselves better and more capable at bringing it to life on the page than R.L. Stine, so he’s one of the more obvious and eminently qualified names to tap for inspiration.
