I really wasn’t sure what to expect from R. L. Stine’s speech, the closing (dare I say, crowning?) event of YALSA’s (awesome!) 2014 YA Literature Symposium. Would he scare us? This seemed unlikely, as it’s not really the traditional mode for keynote speakers to terrify their audience, but from a bestselling horror author, who knew? I just knew I was pumped to see the writer who had fueled so many of the nightmares of my adolescence, in the flesh. I was surprised (but definitely amused) when he opened with a self-deprecatingly hilarious quip about a recent interaction with a fan, in which the admirer asked, “Can I get a picture with you? My kids all think you’re dead!” This was followed with the equally humble and hilarious recounting of the time someone came up to him to say, “Did anyone ever tell you you look like R.L. Stine? No offense.”
He continued by sharing fan letters both hilarious and charming, and demonstrating in person his wonderful sense of humor. He told us that his first dream was to run a comedy magazine; and he did! It was called Bananas (I felt like a pretty subpar fan when one of my work colleagues was not only totally unsurprised by this, but had had a subscription to Bananas!). He shared that his son told him Morgan Freeman should play him in the upcoming Goosebumps movie, and that when he floated the idea of playing himself onscreen to his wife, she told him he’s too old. The role went to Jack Black, and Stine assured us that all the monsters are in the film (which comes out next summer).
I read a lot of horror when I myself was a teenager. All the Fear Street I could get my hands on. So imagine my delight when my seat turned out to have one of the golden tickets (er…yellow standard raffle-style ticket). The prize was pretty much as good as getting to tour a chocolate factory, too; I got an advance copy of the next Fear Street novel, due out in April 2015, called Don’t Stay Up Late)! Continue reading YA Lit Symposium: R.L. Stine!