Because You Just Can’t Have Too Much R.L. Stine: An Exclusive Stinetinglers Excerpt

I’m too old for R.L. Stine. Sort of stating the obvious there, but bear with me. My first encounter with his books wasn’t through Goosebumps, like so many of my fellow library workers, but rather through his Fear Street series. When I was in high school I had a real penchant for Christopher Pike, and so a run in with R.L. Stine was inevitable. It was my little sister, six years younger than me, who was caught up in the true thrill of Stine-o-mania. So it’s a little ironic that I’ve moderated the fellow as often as I have over the years. Ten years ago I was the moderator on a Wrinkle in Time panel that included Stine (and has me wearing a dress that I never ever put on again after I saw how it looked on me). And now, at the last ALA Conference, Stine wanted his keynote speech to be a discussion with someone. And that someone turned out to be me.

The bulk of our talk was about an all new series coming out from R.L. Stine and, for the first time ever, involving short stories. But don’t listen to me. Listen, instead, to the press release that someone, somewhere had to put together perfectly:

“Following the massive success of the Goosebumps and Fear Street Series, the master of horror for young readers and New York Times bestselling author R.L. Stine, is releasing ten new short stories that are sure to leave readers shivering, STINETINGLERS (published by Feiwel & Friends, on sale 8/30/2022, ages 8-12). These chilling tales follow a boy who hates bugs as he starts to see them everywhere, a basketball player whose skin starts to almost drip off his hands (but no one else can see it), a girl who babysits for the creepy new family next door, and more — perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! “

Sound good? Of course it does! And I haven’t even told you the best part. Today, on this very blog, I’m going to premiere an excerpt from the book.

I didn’t get to choose the chapter I’d be premiering here, but as luck would have it, it’s the one I wanted all along. “Our Little Monsters” reminds me a little of Shannon Hale’s “Babysitting Nightmare” from Funny Girl, but it goes a couple steps further. Hope you enjoy it, because I am a huge fan:

Many thanks to Tatiana Merced-Zarou and the folks at Macmillan for allowing me to premiere this excerpt. Stinetinglers is on shelves everywhere August 30th. Look for it then!

Filed under: Excerpts