R.L. Stine Holds Book Signing for 'Stinetinglers 3' at Sag Harbor Books

Acclaimed children’s author R.L. (Robert Lawrence) Stine has been frightening young readers for decades — and he doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

His popular “Goosebumps” series of books have sold 400 million copies and have been published in 35 languages (apparently affection for spooky literature is a universal theme among children). With a 32-year career under his belt and over 300 titles to his name, at age 80, Stine, who spends the warmer months of each year in Sag Harbor, shows no signs of slowing down.

In fact, he will be at Sag Harbor Books this Friday to take part in a book signing for his latest title, “Stinetinglers 3: More Chilling Stories From the Master of Scary Tales,” a collection of 10 short stories geared toward readers ages 8 to 12.

In a recent interview, Stine explained that he has been coming out to Sag Harbor for a long time — “with the pilgrims,” he thinks. Friday’s event will mark his third time promoting one of his books at Sag Harbor Books.

“It’s such a nice little store. Everyone’s really great,” said Stine, who first stepped into the little corner store three years ago and fell in love with its local charm. That’s when he came up with the idea to do a book signing for his latest release, which at the time was “Stinetinglers: All New Stories by the Master of Scary Tales,” published in 2022. His book “Stinetinglers 2: 10 More New Stories by the Master of Scary Tales” followed in 2023, as did another event at Sag Harbor Books.

“It’s nice doing events out here,” he said. “Last year was great. We had people lined up around the block, somebody flew up from Argentina to come to it.”

Initially, Stine was supposed to write “Stinetinglers,” a collection of 10 short stories, as a one-time thing. But, after coming to his editor with the title, she said, “I love it, I’ll take three.”

So, Stine has ended up writing 30 short stories for this series, and now, he is already lined up to write a fourth installment of “Stinetinglers,” and, contrary to popular belief, he said it’s not really any easier than writing a longer novel.

“It’s kind of like writing 30 novels,” Stine explained. “You need a beginning, a good middle and a funny, twisty end.”

With published stories amounting to the triple digits, some may think coming up with new tales would be a daunting task, while others might believe it comes easier after all those years. For Stine, it’s not really that simple.

“It doesn’t get any easier, but somehow, you know, that’s what I do. Come up with another one. It’s all I’ve ever done,” he said.

Stine explained that he has developed a system that works quite well — he writes every day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. That’s it.

“You would kill for those hours!” he exclaimed.

Stine’s goal is to write 10 pages a day and stop. Then, he gets to take the dog for a walk or hang out by the pool. “It’s a good life,” he said.

Stine added that he finds inspiration in the act of writing itself, and that may be what keeps him going.

“A lot of authors like having written, I like the actual process of writing,” he explained. “Writing dialogue, moving it through, doing a twist ending, I love that part, even after all these years.”

But his favorite part of his career as a writer is the number of letters he receives from kids who read his stories. That’s where he discovers the most joy. Some of the more memorable letters he has received from young fans include one that read, “Dear R.L. Stine, you are my second favorite author,” and another that went, “Dear R.L. Stine, do you remember me? You came to my school, and I stepped on your foot.”

But perhaps his favorite letter of all is the one that was brutally honest. It goes like this: “Dear R.L. Stine: I’ve read 40 of your books and I think they’re really boring.”

“It’s the perfect letter, right?” Stine laughed. “‘Alright, maybe 41 will be interesting.’ I love that letter.”

Whatever his young critics may have to say about his stories, Stine feels that exposing children to literature is of the utmost importance, and his goal is to make it fun along the way.

“All ‘Goosebumps’ is about is getting them to read,” he explained. “I don’t really want to terrify kids. Well, a little bit. Not too much! It’s all reading motivation.”

Stine emphasized that the digital age has also had a huge impact on children’s literature.

“It’s all about showing kids that you don’t always have to be looking at a screen. You don’t have to be entertained by television or your laptop, you can turn to a book and be really entertained,” he said. “That’s really the point of these books.

“You don’t really think about it when you’re in a little room writing, but even after all these years, parents come up to me and say, ‘My kid never read a book in his life, and I caught him reading ‘Goosebumps’ under the covers last night with a flashlight,’” he continued. You never get tired of hearing that.”

It would also seem that Stine isn’t getting tired of being a wildly popular author of books for children, and he spoke about his excitement for the upcoming release and signing event in Sag Harbor.

“I’ve never been this busy! But it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “I hope people will come. I’m really proud of these books.”

R.L. Stine will debut “Stinetinglers 3: More Chilling Stories From the Master of Scary Tales” at a book signing and meet and greet at Sag Harbor Books, 7 Main Street, Sag Harbor, on Friday, August 30, at 5 p.m. Tickets are $25, and include a signed copy of his new book. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit southamptonsagharborbooks.com.