R.L. Stine Refutes Report, Accuses Publisher of Editing ‘Goosebumps’ Books for Offensive Material Without His Involvement

Children’s horror author R.L. Stine accused his publisher of editing his popular Goosebumps series for potentially offensive material without his involvement.

The Times reported last week that Scholastic was reissuing Goosebumps books and changing references to weight, ethnicity, and more that could be deemed offensive. This followed publishers making edits to the works of other popular authors, including the late Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming.

The Times initially reported that Stine was working with Scholastic on the edits, but the author revealed on Twitter that he was in fact not involved.

Responding to a fan reacting with disappointment at the reports, Stine tweeted, “Lindsey, the stories aren’t true. I’ve never changed a word in Goosebumps. Any changes were never shown to me.”

More than 100 edits were reportedly made to the dozens of young adult books, edits including changing a word like “plump” into “cheerful.” Another removed a reference to a character’s six chins.

Scholastic defended the edits saying they made them to “keep the language current and avoid imagery that could negatively impact a young person’s view of themselves today, with a particular focus on mental health.”

The Times report on the Scholastic edits now reads: “Goosebumps books ‘sanitized’ without RL Stine’s permission.'”

There has been pushback to this overall shift in the publishing industry. After it was announced that entire sections of Dahl’s works were being rewritten to make them more inclusive, there was so much condemnation that the publisher announced that Dahl’s actual works will be collected into its own set, giving readers a choice.