SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

Legendary author of the Goosebumps series, R.L. Stine, will speak in the Marhsall Student Center Ballroom as a part of the University Lecture Series on Wednesday.

According to the Center for Student Involvement, Stine’s Goosebumps series has sold over 300 million copies in the U.S. and has been translated into 32 languages worldwide. In 2011, the Guinness Book of World Records honored Stine as the “most prolific author of children’s horror fiction novels.”

Born in 1943 in Columbus, Ohio, Stine began his writing career early in life, finishing his first stories at the age of nine. With the help of an old typewriter, he began writing jokes rather than the horror stories he is known for.

Stine continued to focus on comical writing throughout his college career at Ohio State University editing The Sundial, a humor magazine,

“I never planned to be a kids writer,” Stine said in an interview with the Verge. “I always wrote these funny novels for adults, but no one ever wanted them. I never wanted to be scary, either. I only wanted to be funny.”

After graduating from college, Stine then moved to New York City and worked for Scholastic Inc., focusing on children’s magazines. Eventually, he lost his job at Scholastic and began writing horror novels full-time. He released his first novel, Blind Date, in 1986.

Stine married fellow writer and editor, Jane Waldhorn in 1969. Waldhorn created her own publishing company called “Parachute Press,” and helped Stine with his most popular series, Goosebumps. Their son, Matt Stine, was born in 1980.

Stine wrote the first Goosebumps novel in 1992. Currently, Stine targets an adult audience with novels such as Red Rain, Superstitious and The Sitter.

With 213,000 Twitter followers, Stine’s biography simply reads “My job: to terrify kids.” This straightforward statement sums up Stine’s prolific, lengthy and memorable career thus far.

Check-in will begin at 5:30 p.m, doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and  Stine is scheduled to begin speaking at 8 p.m.

Active USF students may pre-register for tickets at usf.edu/ulsreg while supplies last. Non-USF students that wish to attend will be admitted on a first come, first served basis the day of the event until capacity is reached.