Weirdo Halloween (Paperback)

Robert Lawrence Stine began telling spooky stories when he was a young boy, and loved to stop right before the ending, leaving his little brother Bill in suspense. Stine, an avid radio listener, preferred to stay indoors and listen to the shows that featured storytelling, and also write and draw magazines instead of playing outside with his friends. After he found a portable typewriter in his parent's creepy attic, he typed all of his work--with only one finger! In 1956, at age 12, he wrote his first "book"--inspired by his love of MAD, Tales From The Crypt, and Vault of Horror magazines--entitled THE ALL-NEW BOB STINE GIGGLE BOOK, which was followed by HAH! FOR MANIACS ONLY, and many others. In the early 1960s, Stine attended Ohio State University, and was the editor of the Sundial, the university's newspaper--and he still typed with one finger! Because of the kooky humor in the newspaper, Stine created the name "Jovial Bob" for himself. After graduating in 1965, he taught for one year. In 1966, he moved to New York City where he held a succession of jobs before his luck changed in 1968, when he began working for Scholastic, Inc. Stine worked there for 16 years on magazines including Junior Scholastic and Scope, and created the offbeat magazine, Bananas. He published his first book, HOW TO BE FUNNY, in 1978. Still known as "Jovial Bob," he wore bunny ears to his first book signing which, unfortunately, was not a big success--he only signed one book! In the 1980s, he became a freelance writer, and also wrote for the popular Nickelodeon television show, EUREEKA'S CASTLE. Shortly after that, he wrote his first three young adult horror books, all of which were immediate hits. Because of the spectacular success of these books, he was asked to create a series of horror titles, which led to the series known as Fear Street. Stine's first book for the series, NEW GIRL, was published in 1989. While the Fear Street series was climbing the bookselling charts, Stine was asked to create another series of horror books for an even younger audience. The name of the series, Goosebumps, came to Stine after he read the headline, "It's Goosebumps Week on Channel 11!" in a television-listing guide. To keep him inspired, Stine keeps a tribal mask and a skeleton hanging in his writing studio. A fun fact: One Halloween, Stine's son, Matt, had some trouble taking off his frightening mask, which was the inspiration for the book, THE HAUNTED MASK.