The laughs of about 750 people echoed inside the University Auditorium on Tuesday when R.L. Stine, the author of the popular children’s horror book series “Goosebumps,” took the stage.
Stine, who was paid $27,500 by Accent Speakers Bureau, read fan mail, spoke about his family, his career and his creative process.
One of Stine’s favorite letters, which he saved, said “you’re my second favorite author.”
He said most of the letters he gets ask where his ideas come from, but he’s not sure.
“I have something in my brain that I don’t get scared by a book or a movie,” Stine said. “Horror always makes me laugh.”
Stine shared the time he met his inspiration, writer Ray Bradbury, at a book festival, a run-in that made him cry.
He told Bradbury he was Stine’s hero, and Bradbury replied, “Well, you’re a hero to a lot of people.”
Shelby Buchanan, the chairwoman of the Accent Speakers Bureau, wrote in an email that students requested a children’s author and a horror author in a student survey. She said Stine was a choice that fulfilled both requests.
“Additionally, many students have grown up reading the ‘Goosebumps’ book series,” Buchanan said. “Several students have expressed excitement over the nostalgia aspect of this show especially.”
At the meeting, Buchanan announced the next Accent Speakers event, which will be Carly Fiorina, former Republican presidential candidate, on Nov. 1.
Andy Lia, a UF food science senior, found out about the speech two weeks ago. He said he was excited to see the author after he saw the Goosebumps series on Netflix.
“I didn’t expect a comedy show kind of thing,” the 22-year-old said. “I thought of him more as a serious person, but I loved his jokes. I loved what he was talking about.”
After the speech, students came up to ask Stine questions.
Peter Nguyenho was one of the first to come and ask the question Stine gets the most: “Where do you get your ideas from?”
The audience and Stine laughed in response.
The 20-year-old UF psychology junior said his first Goosebumps novel was “Cry of the Cat,” which he read in the third grade because his favorite animal was a cat. He said that he’s read about 20 books of Stine’s and seen most of the movies.
“Comparing every other Goosebumps novel I’ve read after that, (“Cry of the Cat”) was still my favorite,” Nguyenho said.
Nguyenho said that R.L. Stine was one of his childhood heroes.
“It was pretty cool being able to talk to him and ask a question. It felt almost very surreal. It felt like I was in a novel, too,” Nguyenho said.
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R.L. Stine speaks at the University Auditorium on Tuesday. More than 700 people came to hear Stine share his stories and answer audience questions.
