Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio the oldest of three children, to a homemaker mother and a shipping clerk father. He began writing at age 9 when he found a typewriter in his attic, subsequently beginning to type stories and joke books and has been writing ever since. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, later moving to New York City to become a writer. He wrote dozens of joke books for kids under the pen name Jovial Bob Stine and created the humor magazine Bananas, where he worked for many years with Nickelodeon. He wrote some movie novelizations and many gamebooks at this time, too. In 1985 he began writing for the New Yorker. The job only lasted for three months due to the "vulgar" descriptions he used while describing the plight of man's desire of nonexistence in a Nietzsche-influenced society.

In 1986, Stine wrote his first teen horror novel, Blind Date. He soon followed with the "novels" Twisted, Beach Party, The Boyfriend, The Baby-sitter, The Baby-sitter II, The Baby-sitter III, The Baby-sitter IV, Beach House, Hit and Run, and The Girlfriend - most of which were published as part of the Point Horror series. He was a 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 1990, Stine teamed up with Parachute Press to create Fear Street. In 1992, Stine made an attempt at writing comedy by creating a series called Space Cadets which lasted only three books. Later in the year, Stine and Parachute went on to launch Goosebumps. According to Forbes List of the 40 best-paid Entertainers of 1996-97, Stine placed 36th with an income of $41 million for the fiscal year. His books have been translated into 32 languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide, landing on bestseller lists world wide. In three consecutive years during the 1990s, USA Today named Stine as America's number one best-selling author. Among the awards he has received are the 2002 Champion of Reading Award from the Free Public Library of Philadelphia (that award's first year), the Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Award for Best Book-Mystery/Horror (three-time recipient) and the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (also received three times). During the 1990s, Stine was listed on People Weekly's "Most Intriguing People" list, and in 2003, the Guinness Book of World Records named Stine as the best-selling children's book series author of all time. He won the Thriller Writers of America Silver Bullet Award in 2007. His stories have even inspired R. L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse, 4D movie-based attractions at SeaWorld San Diego and Busch Gardens Europe.

Also produced was a TV series that ran for four seasons from 1995—1998 and two video games; Escape From Horrorland and Attack of the Mutant. In 1995, Stine released his first novel targeted at adults, called Superstitious. He has since published two other adult-oriented novels; The Sitter and Eye Candy.

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 Horrorland and the stand-alone novels Dangerous Girls (2003) and The Taste of Night (2004). Also, a direct-to-DVD movie Don't Think About It, starring Emily Osment, based on Stine's Haunting Hour series, was released by Universal Home Entertainment on September 4, 2007.

Personal life

In 1969, Stine married Jane Waldhorn, who became an editor and writer and eventually formed Parachute Press with a business partner. Their only child, Matthew, was born on June 7, 1980 and currently works in the music business. Stine currently lives with his wife as well as his dog, Minnie.

Original series

Space Cadets

1. Jerks-in-Training
2. Losers in Space
3. Bozos on Patrol

Goosebumps

Goosebumps Series 2000

1. Cry of the Cat
2. Bride of the Living Dummy
3. Creature Teacher
4. Invasion of the Body Squeezers, Part I
5. Invasion of the Body Squeezers, Part II
6. I Am Your Evil Twin
7. Revenge R Us
8. Fright Camp
9. Are You Terrified Yet?
10. Headless Halloween
11. Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls
12. Brain Juice
13. Return to HorrorLand
14. Jekyll and Heidi
15. Scream School
16. The Mummy Walks
17. The Werewolf in the Living Room
18. Horrors of the Black Ring
19. Return to Ghost Camp
20. Be Afraid; Be Very Afraid!
21. The Haunted Car
22. Full Moon Fever
23. Slappy's Nightmare
24. Earth Geeks Must Go!
25. Ghost in the Mirror

Give Yourself Goosebumps

1. Escape from the Carnival of Horrors
2. Tick Tock, You're Dead!
3. Trapped in Bat Wing Hall
4. The Deadly Experiments of Dr. Eeek
5. Night in Werewolf Woods
6. Beware of the Purple Peanut Butter
7. Under the Magician's Spell
8. The Curse of the Creeping Coffin
9. The Knight in Screaming Armor
10. Diary of a Mad Mummy
11. Deep in the Jungle of Doom
12. Welcome to the Wicked Wax Museum
13. Scream of the Evil Genie
14. The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock
15. Please Don't Feed the Vampire!
16. Secret Agent Grandma
17. Little Comic Shop of Horrors
18. Attack of the Beastly Baby-sitter
19. Escape from Camp Run-for-Your-Life
20. Toy Terror: Batteries Included
21. The Twisted Tale of Tiki Island
22. Return To The Carnival of Horrors
23. Zapped in Space
24. Lost in Stinkeye Swamp
25. Shop Till You Drop...Dead!
26. Alone in Snakebite Canyon
27. Checkout Time at the Dead-End Hotel
28. Night of a Thousand Claws
29. Invaders from the Big Screen
30. You're Plant Food!
31. The Werewolf of Twisted Tree Lodge
32. It's Only a Nightmare
33. It Came from the Internet
34. Elevator to Nowhere
35. Hocus-Pocus Horror
36. Ship of Ghouls
37. Escape from Horror House
38. Into the Twister of Terror
39. Scary Birthday to You
40. Zombie School
41. Danger Time
42. All-Day Nightmare

Give Yourself Goosebumps Special Edition

1. Into the Jaws of Doom
2. Return to Terror Tower
3. Trapped in the Circus of Fear
4. One Night in Payne House
5. The Curse of the Cave Creatures
6. Revenge of the Body Squeezers
7. Trick or...Trapped!
8. Weekend at Poison Lake

Fear Street

1. The New Girl
2. The Surprise Party
3. The Overnight
4. Missing
5. The Wrong Number
6. The Sleepwalker
7. Haunted
8. Halloween Party
9. The Stepsister
10. Ski Weekend
11. The Fire Game
12. Lights Out
13. The Secret Bedroom
14. The Knife
15. The Prom Queen
16. First Date
17. The Best Friend
18. The Cheater
19. Sunburn
20. The New Boy
21. The Dare
22. Bad Dreams
23. Double Date
24. The Thrill Club
25. One Evil Summer
26. The Mind Reader
27. Wrong Number 2
28. Truth or Dare
29. Dead End
30. Final Grade
31. Switched
32. College Weekend
33. The Stepsister 2
34. What Holly Heard
35. The Face
36. Secret Admirer
37. The Perfect Date
38. The Confession
39. The Boy Next Door
40. Night Games
41. Runaway
42. Killer's Kiss
43. All Night Party
44. The Rich Girl
45. Cat
46. Fear Hall: The Beginning
47. Fear Hall: The Conclusion
48. Who Killed The Homecoming Queen?
49. Into The Dark
50. Best Friend 2
51. Trapped

New Fear Street

1. The Stepbrother
2. Camp Out
3. Scream, Jennifer, Scream
4. The Bad Girl

Fear Street Super Chiller

1. Party Summer
2. Silent Night
3. The Goodnight Kiss
4. Broken Hearts
5. Silent Night 2
6. The Dead Lifeguard
7. Cheerleaders: The New Evil
8. Bad Moonlight
9. The New Year's Party
10. Goodnight Kiss 2
11. Silent Night 3
12. High Tide
13. Cheerleaders: The Evil Lives

Cheerleaders

1. The First Evil
2. The Second Evil
3. The Third Evil
4. The Evil Lives!

The Fear Street Saga Trilogy

1. The Betrayal
2. The Secret
3. The Burning

Fear Park Trilogy

1. The First Scream
2. The Loudest Scream
3. The Last Scream

Cataluna Chronicles Trilogy

1. The Evil Moon
2. The Dark Secret
3. The Deadly Fire

99 Fear Street: The House of Evil

1. The First Horror
2. The Second Horror
3. The Third Horror

Cataluna Chronicles

1. The Evil Moon
2. The Dark Secret
3. The Deadly Fire

R.L. Stine Presents: Classics Spookified

1. To Kill A Monster Bird
2. The Apples Of Wrath
3. The Screwtape Emails
4. The Diary Of Anne Freak
5. The Creature In the Rye
6. The Old Man And The Sea Monster
7. Scare-adise Lost
8. In Cold Monster Blood
9. The Great Scaresby
10. Mein Creep
11. Arabian Frights

Fear Park

1. The First Scream
2. The First Scream Part One: The Last Scream
3. The Loudest Scream
4. The Last Scream

=====Fear Street Sagas