Now Stine has turned his hand to adult fiction with his debut adult horror novel, Red Rain.
In an interview with Huffington Post, Stine said that he decided to write the book after 20- and 30-somethings (the grown-up kids from the ’80s and ’90s) reached out to him through Twitter and asked if he would write a book for adults. While the idea is reminiscent of his children’s books (evil twins who set out to frame their adoptive father for murder and in general just do very evil things), he said the writing process was very different:
It’s like running a race. It’s like if you’re used to running a sprint, like I am, and then running a marathon. It’s a totally different process. You have to change everything. When I write for kids, I have to make sure they know what can’t happen. They have to know it’s a fantasy. But when I write for adults, they have to think it’s real. Every detail has to be real or they won’t buy it.
Stine has made appearances in the adult genre before, as the ThrillerMaster at ThrillerFest in 2011. So far the reviews of his foray into adult fiction aren’t all that great, but transitioning to a different genre or even a different reading level is very hard. After all look at the poor reception of J.K. Rowling’s first adult effort, The Casual Vacancy. Whichever way either author ends up settling I’ll likely follow and give their adult efforts a try.
What about you, will you give R.L. Stine’s Red Rain a read?
Hat tip: Huffington Post