Robert Lawrence Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1943. Stine was a rather shy and fearful child, but he did have a clever imagination. At the age of nine, Stine began typing up his own short stories and humor magazines such as Tales to Drive You Batty. He would then circulate these publications to friends during class. In high school, Stine wrote a humor column for the school newspaper called "Stine's Lines."