A graduate student, Sara has just begun her studies at Moore College, when she meets Irish folklore professor Liam O'Connor. The attraction is mutual. Liam has only one flaw, he's very superstitious. When Liam proposes marriage, Sara is elated. Not even the brutal killer that's terrorizing campus can take away her joy. But to her horror, Sara is about to learn why Liam has a good reason to be superstitious. 2 cassettes.
However believable his plots seem to his readers, Stine insists he has never lived one of his stories. "I've never turned into a bee -- I've never been chased by a mummy or met a ghost. But many of the ideas in my books are suggested by real life. For example, one Halloween my son, Matt, put a mask on and then had trouble pulling it off. That gave me the idea for The Haunted Mask."
Although he never experienced terror first hand, he did enjoy reading about it. "When I was a kid, there were these great comic books called Tales From The Crypt and The Vault of Horror. They were gruesome. I discovered them in the barbershop and thought they were fabulous. I used to get a haircut every Saturday so I wouldn't miss any of these comic books. I had no hair at all when I was a kid!"
His ideas came from two sources: his memory and his imagination. "When I write, I try to think back to what I was afraid of or what was scary to me, and try to put those feelings into books." He also keeps a tribal mask and a skeleton hanging in his writing studio to provide eerie surroundings. Although he handles the writing by himself, Stine says he gets "lots of help from my editors, my readers, and my friends."
Kids reading Goosebumps may be looking for a scare, but the laughs they get are no accident. Before he was R. L., he was Jovial Bob, author of such works as 101 Silly Monster Jokes, and Bozos on Patrol and editor of Bananas magazine. His ability to know what kids will laugh at , as well as what will frighten them, makes the Goosebumps series all the more enjoyable for his readers.
Stine started writing when he was 9 years old! He would write stories and jokes on an old typewriter and hand them out at school. "The teacher would grab them and take them away," Stine says, "but I kept doing it." He wrote for his high school newspaper in Columbus Ohio. After graduating from Ohio State University, he moved to New York City, where he worked on a variety of writing jobs.
Although his books are fun and exciting, writing them is serious stuff. He treats writing "...like a job." To unwind after work he enjoys playing the pinball machine conveniently located in his own apartment.
For aspiring authors, Stine feels reading is as important as writing. He offers this advice: "If you want to be a writer, don't worry so much about writing. Read as much as you can. Read as many different writers as you can. Soak up the styles. You can learn all kinds of ways to say things." As a boy he read Norse legends, Greek myths, Edgar Allan Poe and baseball stories. "And Mad Magazine changed my life." Author biography courtesy of Scholastic, Inc.
"My first job in New York was making up fake interviews with movie and TV stars for a group of six movie magazines. I never spoke to the stars I wrote about. I wrote three-to-four "interviews" a day, all out of my imagination."
"'I've written over 300 books but I never learned to type. I use only one finger, the pointer on my left hand -- that's all. Three hundred books on one finger! The finger is very ugly now -- completely bent and curled and callused. When I show it to audiences, they can't believe it! This is my sacrifice for my art!"
"Sometimes kids show up at my country house and ask if my son Matt can come out and play. That's because they saw him mentioned in the back of my books. But they're very disappointed when he comes to the door -- because Matt is in his mid-twenties now! They were reading very old books! Matt is a musician, composer, and sound designer. You can hear his music at my web site, www.rlstine.com."
"I hope my readers get a chance to see my 4-D movie, R. L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse. The movie stars Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Lea Thompson, Weird Al, and others. You can find it playing at four parks: SeaWorld San Antonio, SeaWorld San Diego, Busch Gardens Tampa, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Virginia. Watch out -- you might get very wet!"
Anonymous
Posted October 15, 2009
The book was a great read until the last 20 pages where he began 2 tie it all together. The story of the return student who falls in love with the ecentric, superstitious, not 2 mention attractive Irish professor was great. It kept you guessing as the killings began to happen and u don't know who 2 suspect. All arrows point 1 way, then another. Then you begin 2 find out about the professor's scetchy past and the truth about him. Once it all starts 2 come 2 light is where the disappointment begins 4 me.It did have me guessing until the end, just not the ending I would have liked... I guess. If u are in2 the supernatural, u will love this book. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.So I bought this at a yard sale 10 years ago and started it, got a few chapters in and put it back on the bookshelf, then periodically I decided to pull it off and give it a fair try, and now, 10 years later i have finished it, all I can say is i am glad that i only paid $.50 for this, because it was a let down all the way through. The killer, obvious, the plot was somewhat interesting and the characters were an obvious attempt in trying to create complex characters, and makeing them more dull and unbelievable. When you spend thre to four pages repeating the same phrase in every paragraph 8-12 times persentence, it's time to pray that the Muses will smite you for a litterary disaster. When I finally finished it I was glad, because i would not have to read it again. The only reason I sped through the last 25 chapters was because it was 1 rediculously short chapters, and 2. thats when the whole stroy actually began to get good, to bad the character remained as dry and boring as they started out.<BR/>All in all the idea behind it was good, just a pitty that it was written in such a horrible manner.
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Posted November 12, 2008
I really enjoyed this book! I thought the storyline was great and I love R.L. Stine's writing style. I used to read Goosebumps and Fear Street when I was younger and was so happy that he wrote a book for adults. I hope he comes out with more adult books! I couldn't put this one down! Good read! :)
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Posted August 3, 2008
This book was awsome. A really good read R.L. Stine outdid himself! I hope he makes more adult books in the future.
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Posted October 24, 2007
The book called Superstitious a book by R.L. Stine is about a young man named Liam he is about 30 years old, he is a collage professor. When people start to come up dead on the campus everyone is terrified. It reminded me of all the people who die every year and how you can¿t trust anyone. I really enjoyed this book and hope you will too.
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Posted April 29, 2005
This book was very good.The way he told everything.I swear I never would have guessed who was killing everybody and neither will you no matter how good of a detective you think you are.But there were some sexual parts you might want to skip over. Or maybe not,but I did. And the secerts some of those people have will blow you away and why they have those secerets are even more shocking.
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Posted July 12, 2004
I bought this book on a hunch from when i was younger reading Goosebumps. I was shocked to find this was a little more indepth than those books yet intrigued to find it was very interesting. I finished the book in 2 days and since then i have read it 7 times. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror, suspense and a twist of love.
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Posted February 17, 2004
The first chapter starts off very promising, but I just couldn't get interested. I forced myself to read 11 chapters, and then finally put it down and started on something better. Reading should be fun!!
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Posted October 23, 2003
First of all, i need to say that if this is the first Adult fiction book by R.L. Stine, then he needs to stick to Goosebumps. Stine needs to realize that you can't write a perverted story filled with disgusting, (yet pretty awsome) deaths and overly detailed sex, put a cheesy cover on it and then have the guts to say it's an 'adult fiction' it got two stars cause the deaths were kinda cool
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Posted June 3, 2001
THIS BOOK WAS ONE OF HIS BEST BOOKS, BECAUSE IT HAD THRILL, BUT, IT ALSO HAD PASSION AND IT WAS VERY MUCH IN DETAIL FOR DEFINITE THRILL SEAKERS. IF YOU'VE READ HIS YOUNGER VERSION OF BOOKS THIS A GOOD BOOK TO BREAK FROM YOUNG ADULT TO ADULT.
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Posted April 7, 2001
This book gives you suspense, overall the plot is great, but the ending was somewhat horrible. The solution was poorly satisfying. I guess R. L. Stine didn't really know how to end it. After I finished the book, I felt I've been ripped off my time reading 400 pages. The main plot is good however.
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Posted September 11, 2000
R.L. Stine is the best horror story writer. Superstitious is one of R.L. Stine best works. I have read practically every series that he has. I hope that he comes out with more books like this. The way it was vividly explain to the reader is what I most enjoyed about it. I deeply recommened it to all readers.
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Posted June 21, 2000
I have read all of stine's fear streat series.. When i read this book I was very impressed.. it is the best book he has ever wrote.. and I am hoping to see more adult books from him..
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Posted February 19, 2000
This book is go to be the best book I've ever read. It kept me in total suspence. I could never put the book down, I said 'Just one more chapter' but it ended up with about 10 chapters. I recommend this book for all readers!!!
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Posted June 30, 2009
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Posted October 21, 2008
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Posted May 15, 2009
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Posted October 28, 2008
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Overview