It Came from Ohio!

It Came from Ohio! is the autobiography of R.L. Stine about how he came to be a writer. It talks about his childhood, his life in college, his early jobs, his wife, and how he came up with the ideas for Fear Street and Goosebumps.

It was originally published in 1998, with some versions featuring a holographic cover. The book was rereleased on April 28, 2015 as a tie-in to the film Goosebumps. It contained new information not seen in the original, such as three new chapters and the top 20 most asked questions being updated.

Blurb
Has He Had a HORRIFYING Life?
 * Was RL Stine a SCARY kid?
 * Did he have a WEIRD family?
 * Did his friends at school think he was STRANGE?
 * Why does he like to TERRIFY his readers?
 * Where does he get the frightening ideas for his stories?

All of your questions about best-selling your favorite author are answering in this STINE-TINGLING life story! For the first time ever, RL Stine reveals what he was like when he was YOUR age--and what his scary life is like TODAY!

PLUS: Private snapshots and photos from his family album!

US
The 1998 cover (illustrated by Tim Jacobus) features R.L. Stine sitting and typing at his computer. He is surrounded by Slappy, Cuddles the Hamster, Lawn Gnomes, Monster Blood, Amaz-O the rabbit, Curly the Skeleton, Drool, The Mummy, a Scarecrow, The Ghost of Harrison Sadler, The Swamp Monster, The Abominable Snowman, and The Shrunken Head. The 1997 hardcover book features this illustration as a lenticular image, switching between an image of R.L. Stine sitting by himself and the complete image with Stine surrounded by monsters. The 1998 cover features just the still image.

The 2015 cover (illustrated by Brandon Dorman) features R.L. Stine sitting at his computer writing, surrounded by Slappy, A lawn gnome, Fifi the Vampire Poodle, a mummy, a scarecrow, The Haunted Mask, Monster Blood, and the Abominable Snowman.

French
R.L. Stine is sitting in a large chair surrounding by a giant praying mantis, a Beast, a Mummy, Slappy, Sarabeth, The Blob, Amaz-O and Dr. Fritz Fredericks.

Trivia

 * Susan Lurie (who wrote the new chapters) is also the author of the Monster Survival Guide.
 * R.L. Stine also mentions that Jane Stine, his wife, and Joe Arthur helped in the making of this book - Jane being one of the editors.

References in other Goosebumps media

 * In Goosebumps: The Game, the achievement "It Came From Ohio" is unlocked after the player engages in their first conversation with R.L. Stine over the phone.