Horror Stories and Reading Groups

Because they deal with themes and issues that we can all identify with, especially with regards to our deepest fears, horror stories can make very good subjects for book club discussion. They can be particularly good choices for if you’re planning a themed night – you can decorate to create atmosphere, do some “spooky” live readings, followed perhaps by a film adaptation of the horror story and a discussion about the two different interpretations, their effectiveness and so on.

Topics for discussion could include:

• The criteria for a good horror story – each member’s opinions
• What is it about the story that makes it feel scary? (e.g.. setting, descriptions, pace, suspense)
• How is this story different from any other horror stories read in the past?
• What was the scariest part of the story?
• What did each member like about the story?
• What did each member dislike about the story?
• If each member had to write a horror story, what types of things would they include?
• Was this story believable? If so, how did the author make it believable?
• What was the main point of the story?

During the reading group discussion, it is useful to keep in mind the elements that make up a good horror story and which help a skilled author to really involve and “scare” the reader: setting, suspense, believable characters (if you don’t care about them, it is no longer as scary), balance in gory details (less is more and the imagination is more powerful than any written text) and of course, a satisfying ending.

A biography of Robert Lawrence Stine.

Robert Lawrence Stine born October 8, 1943), known as R. L. Stine, and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American writer and producer. Stine, who is called the "Stephen King of children's literature," is the author of hundreds of horror fiction novels, including the books in the Fear Street,Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, and The Nightmare Room series. Some of his other works include a Space Cadets trilogy, two Harkgamebooks, and dozens of joke books. R. L. Stine's books have sold over 400 million copies as of 2008.

Early life

Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio on October 8, 1943, to Jewish parents, Anne (née Feinstein), a homemaker, and Lewis Stine, a shipping clerk. He began writing at age nine when he found a typewriter in his attic, subsequently beginning to type stories and joke books. He graduated from The Ohio State University (OSU) in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

While at OSU, R. L. Stine edited the OSU humor magazine, The Sundial, for three out of his four years there. He later moved to New York City to pursue his career as a writer.

Career

He wrote dozens of humor books for kids under the pen name Jovial Bob Stine and created the humor magazine Bananas. Bananas was for teenagers published by Scholastic Press for 72 issues between 1975 and 1984, plus various "Yearbooks" and paperback books. Stine was editor and responsible for much of the writing (other contributors included writers Robert Leighton, Suzanne Lord and Jane Samuels and artists Sam Viviano, Samuel B. Whitehead, Bob K. Taylor, Bryan Hendrix, Bill Basso, and Howard Cruse). Recurring features included "Hey – Lighten Up!", "It Never Fails!", "Phone Calls", "Joe" (a comic strip by John Holmstrom), "Phil Fly", "Don't You Wish...", "Doctor Duck", "The Teens of Ferret High", "First Date" (a comic strip by Alyse Newman), and "Ask Doctor Si N. Tific".

In 1986, Stine wrote his first horror novel, called Blind Date. He followed with many other novels, including The Babysitter, Beach House, Hit and Run, and The Girlfriend. He was also the co-creator and head writer for the Nickelodeon Network children's television show Eureeka's Castle,^] original episodes of which aired as part of the Nick Jr. programming block during the 1989 to 1995 seasons.

In 1989, Stine started writing Fear Street books. Before launching the Goosebumps series, Stine authored three humorous science fiction books in the Space Cadets series titled Jerks in Training, Bozos on Patrol, and Losers in Space.^[11] In 1992, Stine and Parachute went on to launch Goosebumps.^[4]

Also produced was a Goosebumps TV series that ran for four seasons from 1995–1998 and three video games; Escape from HorrorLand, Attack of the Mutant and Goosebumps HorrorLand. In 1995, Stine's first novel targeted at adults, called Superstitious, was published. He has since published three other adult-oriented novels; The Sitter, Eye Candy, and Red Rain.

In the first decade of the 21st century, Stine has worked on installments of five different book series, Mostly Ghostly, Rotten School, Fear Street, The Nightmare Room, Goosebumps Horrorlandand the stand-alone novels Dangerous Girls (2003) and The Taste of Night (2004). Also, a direct-to-DVD movie The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don't Think About It, starring Emily Osment was released by Universal Home Entertainment on September 4, 2007.

Personal life

On June 22, 1969, Stine married Jane Waldhorn, who became an editor and writer and formed Parachute Press with Joan Waricha on April 1, 1983. Their only child, Matthew, was born on June 7, 1980 and works in the music industry

As the 1990s came to a close,Goosebumps fever began to fade. Stine launched a new series in 2000, Nightmare Room, with each title featuring an online component. In 2004, he mixed humor and horror in Who Let the Ghosts Out?, the first book in theMostly Ghostly series.

Stine continues to branch out into new directions, writing about common student fears in 2011's It's the First Day of School ... Forever! and exploring the vampire craze in 2010's Bitten.

R.L. Stine says he has a great job: "My job is to give kids the CREEPS!" R.L.'s books are read all over the world. So far, he has sold over 350 million books, making him one of the best-selling children's authors in history. He was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1943. His mother, Anne Stine, was a homemaker and his father, Lewis Stine, was a shipping clerk. He has a younger brother and sister-- Bill and Pam. No one in his family ever called him R.L. Everyone calls him Bob. - When Bob was nine, he found an old typewriter up in the attic. That discovery changed his life. He carried it down to his room and started typing stories and little joke books. His mother begged him to go outside and play. But Bob always said it was too boring outside. He stayed in his room typing away-- and he has been writing ever since. In school, Bob was not a great student. He got mostly B's, but he never studied very hard. –

He spent most of his time writing stories and joke magazines. He was terrible in math, and he hated gym class. The only sport he was ever good at was ping pong! After graduating from Ohio State University in 1965, Bob headed to New York City to become a writer. He wrote dozens of joke books and humor books for kids. And he created Bananas, a zany humor magazine which he did for ten years. In those days, he wrote under the name Jovial Bob Stine. –

He married Jane Waldhorn in 1969. Jane became an editor and writer, and they worked together on several children's books. Later, Jane and her partner formed their own publishing company, Parachute Press, and helped create all of R.L.'s most popular book series.

In 1986, R.L. turned scary!

He wrote his first teen horror novel, Blind Date, which became an instant best-seller. Many scary novels followed, including Beach House, Hit And Run, The Babysitter, and The Girlfriend.

In 1989 he created the Fear Street series, the best-selling young adult book series in history. He has written about 100 Fear Street books about teens facing all kinds of terror. Goosebumps began in 1992. The book series quickly became a hit around the world. Translated into 32 different languages, it made R.L. a worldwide publishing celebrity. The Goosebumps TV show was the number-one kids' show in the U.S. for three years in a row. The episodes are still shown at Halloween time. Many of the shows are on DVD.

Other R.L. Stine book creations include: Ghosts of Fear Street, Give Yourself Goosebumps, The Nightmare Room (also a TV series), Mostly Ghostly, and Beware!, a collection of all his favorite stories, poems, comics and illustrations. Rotten School was a series of funny books about the rottenest school on earth. R.L. has published two creepy short story collections-- The Nightmare Hour and The Haunting Hour. Also, two teen vampire novels-- Dangerous Girls and Dangerous Girls II: The Taste of Night .

These days, R.L. is busier than ever. He's working on many books, including the Goosebumps HorrorLand series. You can find out more inside info about new books on this Web site. R.L. lives in New York City with his wife Jane and his dog Minnie. His son Matthew is a composer, musician, and sound designer. You can see them all in the PHOTO GALLERY section of this Web site. If you need other info about R.L. Stine, check out his autobiography-- It Came From Ohio-- published by Scholasti

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1315