R.L. Stine
Robert Lawrence Stine 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
- 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.
- Chris defensively informed Kacey, "I do own books"--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
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."