[2] Stine wrote the teenage horror fiction series Fear Street, which has sold over 80 million copies and has been adapted into a trilogy of films.

Stine began writing at age nine, when he found a typewriter in his attic, subsequently beginning to type stories and joke books.

[6] Bananas was written for teenagers and published by Scholastic Press for 72 issues between 1975 and 1984, plus various "Yearbooks" and paperback books.

Stine was editor and responsible for much of the writing (other contributors included writers Robert Leighton, Suzanne Lord and Jane Samuels and artists Sam Viviano, Samuel B. Whitehead, Bob K. Taylor, Bryan Hendrix, Bill Basso, and Howard Cruse).

[6] He was also the co-creator and head writer for the Nickelodeon children's television series Eureeka's Castle,[12] original episodes of which aired as part of the Nick Jr. programming block during the 1989–1995 seasons.

In the first decade of the 21st century, Stine 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).

Starring Emily Osment, the film was released by Universal Home Entertainment on September 4, 2007[19] and was successful enough to spawn a spin-off, anthology, TV series R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour.

In the episode, Bob is shown to moonlight as a writer of scary stories, alluding to his real-life career as the author of the Goosebumps series.

[21] 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.

In three consecutive years during the 1990s, USA Today named Stine as America's number one best-selling author.

[29] On June 22, 1969, Stine married Jane Waldhorn, an editor and writer[10] who later co-founded Parachute Press in 1983.