Robert Lawrence Stine (born January 8, 1943), better known as R. L. Stine, is an American writer. Born in Columbus, Ohio, he is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps series. The plots of his books usually involve naïve teenagers who fall into situations having to do with the supernatural and the occult. He is often called the Stephen King for young adults.

Stine is a 1965 graduate of The Ohio State University. During his years at Ohio State, he was renowned locally as "Jovial Bob" Stine, the editor of the campus humor magazine, The Sundial.

Under the "Jovial Bob" name, Stine has written a number of humor books for young readers, some of which are "instruction manuals" such as How to be Funny and Don't Stand in the Soup.

In addition to the "Goosebumps" books, he also created a line of books called "Fear Street", which was aimed at a more adult audience. He also created a Ghost of Fear Street series which was aimed more so at young teens as opposed to "Fear Street". Stine later published the "Mostly Ghostly " and "Nightmare Room " books, also targeted towards a younger audience. "Goosebumps" remains his most popular series.

Stine also wrote for Junior Scholastic Magazine and the Nickelodeon's Eureeka's Castle.

He currently resides in Manhattan.