From the Archive: R.L. Stine, Goosebumps, 1995

R.L. Stine, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded in the KPFA studios on September 22, 1995 during the book tour for the adult novel, “Superstitious.”

On September 22, 1995, Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff had the chance to interview R.L. Stine in the KPFA studio about his first adult novel, Superstitious. At the time, both the first series of Fear Street and Goosebumps were still being written, and a 1990s Goosebumps TV series was yet to make its debut.

R.L. Stine, who recently turned 80 years old, is often called the Stephen King of young adult and children’s horror. With nearly 500 books under his belt alongside several film and TV adaptations, he is best known for two series and their later iterations, Fear Street and Goosebumps

A new Goosebumps series recently completed its run on Disney+ and Hulu, and the film Zombie Town debuted in theaters in September 2023 and is now available on Hulu.

He doesn’t go into it in the interview, but along with his books written as R.L. Stine, he also write dozens of humor books for kids under the name Jovial Bob Stine. What he does talk about here is his writing process, his thoughts about the work he does, and how it appears his various children and young adult books have created lifelong readers and improved test scores in elementary and high schools across the country.

To date, “Superstitious” is only one of four adult novels written by R.L. Stine. This interview was digitized, remastered and re-edited in November 2023 and has not been heard in over twenty five years.