Difference between revisions of "R.L. Stine"

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[[image:Stine.jpg|thumb|left|They even look the same GODDAMN!]]
[[File:Stine.jpg|thumb|250px|They even look the same!]]
[[File:RLSTINE.jpg|thumb|250px|Chris, aged 18, posing as a harmless young boy with his favorite book.]]


'''Robert Lawrence [[Chris and Race#Jews|Stine]]''', famed author of the children's horror series ''Goosebumps'', is frequently cited by Chris as a major literary influence.<ref>[[Mumble 4]]</ref> To be painfully honest, besides ''Of Mice and Men'' and ''Catcher in the Rye'' (which were definitely required reading in whatever [[English]] course he took, since there'd be no other way he'd have even heard of them), Mr. Stine's novels are Chris's ''only'' literary influence. This means that all of [[Clyde Cash]]'s [[Mumble 4|''Fight Club'' references]] fly right over his [[Hair|greasy little head]] and out into the [[Time Void]].
'''Robert Lawrence Stine''' (born 8 October 1943) is a famed author, best known for creating the children's horror novel series ''Goosebumps'' and ''Fear Street''. He is frequently cited by [[Chris]] as a major literary influence, even as he misspells his name half the time.<ref>[[Mumble 4]]</ref>  


[[Image:RLSTINE.jpg|thumb|Christian posing as a [[Asperchu|harmless]] [[BlueSpike|young boy]] with his favorite book.]]
Whereas most children outgrow R.L. Stine novels by age 10, having discovered meatier and [[Harry Potter|more sophisticated fiction]] in line with their intellectual and emotional development, Chris remained an ardent fan of his work well into [[high school]]. Any inferences one may make from this are entirely correct. This could possibly explain some of Chris's flaws in his writing, such as [[Sonichu|one-dimensional characters]] and [[Issue 4|predictable plots.]]


Why is it that Chris made the effort to actually read Stine's many mediocre paperbacks? Besides [[A Week With Christian Chandler|reading them to avoid paying attention in class]], it's easily explained by his personality. Ponder for a moment the hypercommercialized fandoms that make up every other facet of Chris's miserable existence: [[Sonic]], [[Pokémon]], [[My Little Pony]], [[Yu-Gi-Oh!]], [[Sonichu (comic)|arts'n'crafts]], [[My big 18th party (story)|Good Burger]], [[Lego]], [[LittleBigPlanet|video games completely lacking in adult themes]], [[The Adventures of The American Rabbit|etc.]] Chris's interests form the most childish collage of failure ever to be held by a human being. It isn't hard to believe that whatever slight thirst for the written word he possesses can be easily quenched by a bunch of grade-school level novels — though [[Autism|autistic]], [[Chris and sex|sexually frustrated]] man-children are probably not the demographic R.L. Stine was going for.
These books have also probably influenced his belief in and understanding of ghosts and other [[Chris and religion|occult topics]].


But it might be a deeper connection than simply bad taste.
__TOC__


{{quote|[[Donald Duck impersonation|I feel happy to terrify kids.]]|R.L. Stine}}
{{clear}}


{{quote|[[Chris and remorse|I guess I'm way too kind and generous, and a saint - if you can believe that!]]|R.L. Stine}}
==Mentions==
[[File:506-100 0540.JPG|thumb|300px|Chris's attempt to draw R.L. Stine's books.]]


{{quote|[[Rosechu (species)|I have a cheat-sheet for each one of my characters about their personality, the way they look, etc. So there is no possible way that I could have writer's block. ]]|R.L. Stine}}
* The earliest indication of Chris's appreciation of Stine's oeuvre was his high school assignment [[A Week With Christian Chandler]], for which he photographed himself "reading an R.L. Stine novel during Coping class."
* On his [[MySpace]] page, Chris noted, "I used to read a lot of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps and Fear Street books." 
* In an [[IRC (31 December 2008)|IRC chat]], the only books he could think of to recommend to fans were ''Star'' by Pamela Anderson and "Goosebumps/Fear Street."
* During a [[February 2009]] [[Mumble 4|chat]] with [[Clyde Cash]], Chris said that he'd "read a whole buncha R.L. Stine books."
* Chris saluted R.L Stine in his [[August 2009]] [[KCWC Top 10 Dedication Special]], naming him as an "inspiration" in high school.
* In [[Mailbag 4]] he informed a fan that his favorite Goosebumps story was "The Haunted Mask." A few days later, in [[Mailbag 7]], he stated that this was actually his favorite book of all time.
* In his series of [[OkCupid]] profiles he cited the "Goosebumps or Fear Street Novels" as his favorite books.
* Chris made sure to tell potential sweethearts [[Regina e-mails|Regina]] and [[Sydney Kirsch]] that he thought these books were super-cool.
* In his [[Kacey Call 6|sixth call]] with [[Kacey]], Chris defensively informed her he ''does'' own books, specifically citing ''Goosebumps'' and ''Fear Street''.
* The literary works of R.L. Stine were the major inspiration behind the stupid [[Trollin Train#Hey, the Equipment and the Digging (Thu 26 Aug 2010 5:12 AM)|ghost story]] that [[JenkinsJinkies]] told the [[Trollin Train]] to scare them off, according to an [[Jackie E-mails 10|email]] to [[Jackie]].


==Literary influence==
==In the comic==
Despite being 28, Chris still cites Stine as his favorite author. Worse, he seems to know R.L. Stine primarily or exclusively through the ''Goosebumps'' and ''Fear Street'' series, and seems unaware or uninterested in Stine's more gruesome, violent, and slightly realistic teenage novels. Stine's not the best novelist around by a long shot; if Chris had to choose one author to read forever, he backed the wrong horse. The ''Goosebumps'' and ''Fear Street'' books are full of bizarre, nonsensical plot twists, simplistic characters, groaner puns, and ridiculous deus/diabolus ex machinae to either spring characters out of trouble or get them in even deeper. Sound familiar? Chris's favorite ''Goosebumps'' story is ''The Haunted Mask''.<ref>[[Mailbag 4]]</ref> The reason why: Chris identifies himself with the protagonist Carly Beth, who is also easy troll bait. No surprise here.
[[File:GB.png|thumb|350px|Chris reminisces about his reading days.]]


Bear in mind, also, that these books are aimed at children no older than 10 who like goofy stuff like that and wouldn't understand anything deeper. Most who kept reading after grade school moved on to more challenging fare, like ''Harry Potter'', as they grew up. Chris, though, stayed with Stine through thick and thin, well into high school and seemingly beyond. Through a combination of laziness and [[PS3|fanboyish]] [[Hex Bawx|hostility]] (according to the Dark Christian [[The Wall of Originals|Pokémon card]], he hated Harry Potter purely because it was replacing Pokémon in popularity), he didn't bite any other literary hooks that came his way. What is likely is that he may have tried to read ''Harry Potter'', but the advanced writing style and literary devices were too complex for his autistic mind, so he condemned the series. Thus he has no familiarity with adult (let alone, ''adolescent'') literature, nor any apparent interest. He has no grasp of symbolism, subtlety, foreshadowing, or any other literary technique or style. He might not even read anything outside of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' comics and hentai manga nowadays, if he reads at all. As any published author can tell you, writing from such a severely restricted reference pool is a recipe for [[Sonichu (comic)|disaster]].
In [[Sonichu 7|''Sonichu'' #7]], Chris tells [[Megan Schroeder|Megan]] that his inspiration to create [[Bionic the Hedgehog]] struck while he was reading "a 'Fear Street' novel from my favorite author R.L. Stein". In the same issue he reminisces: "When I read a 'Goosebumps' or 'Fear Street' book back in the day, I'd fill each character role with ones from the wide-world of [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]. Sometimes, I would put myself in a lead role, but before I was able to, [[Facial blindness|I had to train my brain to visually remember what I looked like from a mirror]]."


R.L. Stine once exhorted his fans to read all kinds of books from different authors and genres. This is yet another piece of good advice to fall on Chris's deaf ears. Chris is so incapable of venturing outside his comfort zone that he couldn't even leave the fantasy world of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' while reading the books. On page 24 of [[Sonichu 7]], Chris revealed that while reading ''Goosebumps'', he would imagine characters from the story being portrayed by figures from the Sonic video game series.
== References ==
<references />


==In summation==
==See also==
The [[Honest Content|HONEST TRUTH]] is that Chris is a 28-year-old preteen who is either unable or unwilling to grow up and read big boy books.
* [[Chris and writing]]
 
* [[Saw]]
==Sauce==
<references />


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/r_l_stine.html R. L. Stine Quotes]
*[http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/r_l_stine.html R. L. Stine quotes]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Stine, R.L.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stine, R.L.}}
{{People}}
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:People]]

Revision as of 01:25, 31 May 2024

They even look the same!
Chris, aged 18, posing as a harmless young boy with his favorite book.

Robert Lawrence Stine (born 8 October 1943) is a famed author, best known for creating the children's horror novel series Goosebumps and Fear Street. He is frequently cited by Chris as a major literary influence, even as he misspells his name half the time.[1]

Whereas most children outgrow R.L. Stine novels by age 10, having discovered meatier and more sophisticated fiction in line with their intellectual and emotional development, Chris remained an ardent fan of his work well into high school. Any inferences one may make from this are entirely correct. This could possibly explain some of Chris's flaws in his writing, such as one-dimensional characters and predictable plots.

These books have also probably influenced his belief in and understanding of ghosts and other occult topics.

Mentions

Chris's attempt to draw R.L. Stine's books.
  • The earliest indication of Chris's appreciation of Stine's oeuvre was his high school assignment A Week With Christian Chandler, for which he photographed himself "reading an R.L. Stine novel during Coping class."
  • On his MySpace page, Chris noted, "I used to read a lot of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps and Fear Street books."
  • In an IRC chat, the only books he could think of to recommend to fans were Star by Pamela Anderson and "Goosebumps/Fear Street."
  • During a February 2009 chat with Clyde Cash, Chris said that he'd "read a whole buncha R.L. Stine books."
  • Chris saluted R.L Stine in his August 2009 KCWC Top 10 Dedication Special, naming him as an "inspiration" in high school.
  • In Mailbag 4 he informed a fan that his favorite Goosebumps story was "The Haunted Mask." A few days later, in Mailbag 7, he stated that this was actually his favorite book of all time.
  • In his series of OkCupid profiles he cited the "Goosebumps or Fear Street Novels" as his favorite books.
  • Chris made sure to tell potential sweethearts Regina and Sydney Kirsch that he thought these books were super-cool.
  • In his sixth call with Kacey, Chris defensively informed her he does own books, specifically citing Goosebumps and Fear Street.
  • The literary works of R.L. Stine were the major inspiration behind the stupid ghost story that JenkinsJinkies told the Trollin Train to scare them off, according to an email to Jackie.

In the comic

Chris reminisces about his reading days.

In Sonichu #7, Chris tells Megan that his inspiration to create Bionic the Hedgehog struck while he was reading "a 'Fear Street' novel from my favorite author R.L. Stein". In the same issue he reminisces: "When I read a 'Goosebumps' or 'Fear Street' book back in the day, I'd fill each character role with ones from the wide-world of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sometimes, I would put myself in a lead role, but before I was able to, I had to train my brain to visually remember what I looked like from a mirror."

References

See also

External links


    People