*By Chloe Aiello* R.L. Stine, best-selling author of the iconic Goosebumps and Fear Street series, may have built an empire spooking young readers, but he takes his inspiration from an unexpected source ー comedy. "Being scary was never my idea," he told Cheddar Thursday. "I was always funny." A background in humor helped Stine execute his spooky narratives. "Humor and horror is very close. It's the very same visceral reaction. If you sneak up on somebody and you go, 'Boo!' First they gasp, and then they laugh. It's totally connected. And writing it is pretty similar," he said. As Stine tells it, he was writing for humor magazines when his editor approached him about penning a teen horror book. He obliged. "She gave me the title and everything," Stine said. "Everything that ever happened to me was an accident," he joked. That book, "Blind Date," became a best-seller and launched Stine's storied career. Today, he is ranked with other wildly-popular children's authors, like J.K. Rowling and Madeleine L'Engle. He's sold as many as 400 million copies of books, many of which have inspired film adaptations, including his latest movie, "Goosebumps 2,” is out now on Digital and coming to 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 15. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/goosebumps-author-shares-the-secret-to-creating-a-terrifying-empire).

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