I was a little older than the target market for Goosebumps, so they weren’t an integral part of my horror childhood. But my writing partner and I are tackling some middle-grade horror, so I dipped my toe into the R.L. Stine pond.

I find them really charming books, delivering just the right mix of creepiness and chuckles to ease a kid into horror. The stories are sturdy and the characters are relatable.

I wonder what my writing trajectory would have been had I been a Goosebumps kid.