Through the magic of Twitter, R.L. Stine's "Fear Street" series is making a comeback! What started out as a single tweet pleading for more teen tales of terror, a storm of 140 character fond memories and requests for more stories soon followed.In an interview with Big Thrill, Stine admits that he was initially shocked by the requests, but after some consideration, he decided that the time to revive the series was now. He began shopping the idea to publishers, however, despite the success of the "Fear Street" series, with over 100 stories and 80 million copies sold, no one was interested in returning to ShadySide High.
According to the author, publishers felt that the genre had changed too much and that younger readers had lost interest, almost making Stine give up on the idea. “One night on Twitter, I decided to be honest, I told my followers that I would love to do more FEAR STREET books, but it wasn’t going to happen. No publishers are interested in it,” he told Big Thrill. Not long after bruising the hearts of every 90s kid with the news that no one wanted to publish more "Fear Street," St. Martin's Press editor Kat Brzozowski, responded to Stine's tweet saying that she would love to help him out. After a lunch meeting, six new books were bought by the publisher.
Stine says that not much will have to change with the new installment, despite the new decade, “Basic fears don’t change [...] There are still the same monsters under the bed. People are still afraid of the dark. Readers have evolved and technology has changed, but the basics are still there. I just need to add a bit of intensity.”
Just don't expect him to add any zombies to the monster roster, as he finds them boring. "You can’t disguise them as humans. There’s really not much that can be done with them.”
Readers can expect the first batch of new stories to be released in hardcover in October 2014, beginning with "Party Games." The author also alludes to bringing back reader favorites, the ShadySide cheerleaders.
-Nowal Massari