Net Worth Ranker
What Is R.L. Stine’s Net Worth?
R.L. Stine, an American author, screenwriter, and producer, has amassed a significant net worth estimated at $200 million. This financial success is largely attributable to his prolific career as a writer of children’s and young adult horror fiction, most notably the “Goosebumps” and “Fear Street” series. With over 330 books published, Stine has sold more than 400 million copies worldwide, establishing him as one of the best-selling authors of recent decades.
R.L. Stine’s Career Highlights and Earnings
Stine’s career began in earnest after moving to New York City in 1967. Initially, he contributed to Scholastic school magazines before transitioning to humor books for children under the pseudonym Jovial Bob Stine. In 1975, he launched the humor magazine “Bananas,” which he edited and wrote for until 1984. His first foray into horror came in 1986 with the novel “Blind Date.”
The “Fear Street” series, launched in 1989 with “The New Girl,” marked a turning point in Stine’s career. He has since written over 100 books in this series. Concurrently, he co-created and served as head writer for the Nickelodeon series “Eureeka’s Castle,” which aired from 1989 to 1995. In 1992, he launched the “Goosebumps” book series, which further cemented his status as a leading author of children’s horror.
The “Goosebumps” franchise expanded beyond books, with a television series airing on Fox Kids and YTV from 1995 to 1998. Video games such as “Attack of the Mutant,” “Escape from HorrorLand,” and “Goosebumps HorrorLand” followed. A film adaptation, “Goosebumps,” starring Jack Black as R.L. Stine, was released in 2015 and grossed $158.3 million. Its sequel, “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween,” released in 2018, earned $93.3 million at the box office.
In 1995, Stine ventured into adult fiction with the novel “Superstitious,” followed by “The Sitter” (2003), “Eye Candy” (2004), and “Red Rain” (2012). From 2000 to 2010, he continued writing for the “Fear Street” and “Goosebumps Horrorland” series, in addition to the “Mostly Ghostly,” “The Nightmare Room,” and “Rotten School” series, and two stand-alone vampire novels, “Dangerous Girls” (2003) and “The Taste of Night” (2004). In August 2020, it was announced that three “Fear Street” films would be coming to Netflix in the summer of 2021.
Stine has writing credits on over 100 film and television projects. He also served as a producer on “The Nightmare Room” (2001–2002), “The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It” (2007), “Mostly Ghostly” (2008), “Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?” (2014), “R.L. Stine’s Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls” (2015), “Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House” (2016), and “Just Beyond” (2021). Theme parks, including SeaWorld San Diego and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, featured the short 4D movie “R. L. Stine’s Haunted Lighthouse” beginning in 2003. In 2019, Stine lent his voice to the “Fright Night” episode of the animated “Arthur” TV series, and in 2021, he appeared as himself in an episode of the HBO Max series “Search Party.” He has also had cameos in both “Goosebumps” films, and he hosted season one of the “Goosebumps” TV series. In 2020, Stine began publishing the illustrated “Garbage Pail Kids” series.
R.L. Stine’s Awards and Recognition Contributing to His Net Worth
Stine’s literary success has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades. In the 1990s, “USA Today” named him America’s best-selling author for three consecutive years. He received the Free Public Library of Philadelphia’s Champion of Reading Award in 2002. In 2003, the Guinness Book of World Records named him the best-selling children’s book series author of all time, and in 2011, they recognized him as the “Most Prolific Author of Children’s Horror Fiction Novels.”
He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association in 2014, and he was honored with a Silver Bullet Award from the Thriller Writers of America in 2007. Stine was presented with an Inkpot Award at Comic-Con International in 2017, and he has also received three “Disney Adventures” Kids’ Choice Awards for Best Book-Mystery/Horror and three Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. These accolades, along with the substantial revenue generated from his book sales, film adaptations, and television projects, have contributed significantly to R.L. Stine’s impressive net worth.
