Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The Origins

Jack: The thing about Fear Street was, they'd trick you into buying them by having some sexy looking evil girl on the front showing a bunch of cleavage.
So@24: Bantam Books totally got me with subliminal messaging. Where do you think my love of boobs came from?














Thank you, RL Stine.

44 comments:

villageidiot said...

Face it, all guys like boobs. and I've never read that guy....

poodlegoose said...

And that just goes to show the difference. I read those books all the time, and I never saw the boobs or the girls on the front. No wonder my mom didn't really approve. . .

It would take like 45 minutes, and I'd be done with one. And about 4 points stupider ;)

Lyla Lou said...

The Evil Cheerleader storyline was the worst. But had some pretty slutty covers.

dmb5_libra said...

Oh man, RL Stine sucked.

Christopher Pike was where it was at. I was all about him in sixth grade.

LBluca77 said...

Those covers are almost as bad as when the hot slutty girl falls down when being chased in scary movies.

JB said...

Wow. I don't remember the covers being that racy at all! And they were marketed to youth! I much prefered the Fear Street series to the child-version series, Goosebumps. I was a voracious Fear Street reader. I don't have a thing for boobies, though.

ÄsK AliCë said...

I never really noticed the steamy shots wither - what's next R.L Stine - a shower scene?!

With naked men?

Ok, fine, I'll read it.

ÄsK AliCë said...

Um ya, and by wither I mean Either

shorty said...

how is the internet dating going?

Deutlich said...

I was OBSESSED with R.L. Stine books.

He even wrote one for adults that was OFF the hook.. wonder if he ever did more of those..

Oh and DMB is totally wrong. Christopher Pike was lame.

Your Ill-fitting Overcoat said...

Whoa! I didn't remember that about those covers at all! Way to start young girls feeling sexualized super early, Bantam Books!

Paula said...

hold on a minute, the covers never looked like that in the uk!!! yours look more like sweet valley high covers, I'm sure we had SCARY covers here.

Marie said...

What is it with men and boobs? I still don't get it.

Lauren said...

Hmm. Maybe that's why I was more of Christopher Pike fan.

20-Something said...

OH MY GOD - R.L. Stine books were the BEST! I practically read every one of them in junior high.

And I didn't even realize the boobalicious covers until now, so thanks for that, So@24! ;)

longredcape said...

I read Party Summer and The Prom Queen . . . I must have missed The New Girl. But I always remember thinking the cover shots with women were kinda gratuitously sexual.

Katelin said...

i was sort of obsessed with the fear street books. but it wasn't for the boobs, haha.

saratogajean said...

Mind meld! I picked a book off of the "Bargain Books" shelf at Barnes and Noble yesterday because I thought I recognized the author. Christopher Pike is now writing adult fiction. Not that kind of adult fiction. But maybe he always did and I'm just a little behind the times.

I used to eat those books up in junior high. I read them so fast, my mom didn't have time to take them away from me.

EP said...

Oh, wow. I completely forgot about those books. I loved them, and I totally did not notice the boob-age on the covers. Hrm.

unMuse said...

my mom hated when I read those and the V.C. Andrews books.

(Un)popular said...

I would bone R.L Stine. Wait, is R.L. Stine a guy or a girl?

JB said...

(Un)popular: R.L. Stine is a really creepy looking dude. Google him. Retract your wishes to bone him.

Chicago Girl said...

it was all about the evil cheerleaders!

JenBun said...

Hahaha, I read SO many of those back in tha day!!

Wait... does that mean *I* like boobs?!? (I do like mine!) ;)

Julie said...

I freaking love those books, but my mom threw them all away when we left for college. I've been meaning to go to a random bookstore somewhere and buy all of them and have a good ol' time reminiscing.

jenn said...

The RL Stine books never had so many boobs over here! But they were still awesome.

Not as good as Christopher Pike though!

Rachel said...

I seriously got a literature boner when I saw those book covers.

If you had posted Christopher Pike ones...well you would have had a mess to clean up

logorrheic. said...

was this a few steps before playboy?

a wishful thinker said...

Hmm.

I guess that's the difference between most guys and girls.

I read Fear Street, as a kid, and yeah, never really noticed the scantily clad girls until I read your post. Great, yeah, I've got just one more person to blame for my ridiculous insecurities. Ha!

heatherdc said...

Ahh! I was completely hooked to Fear Street. Well, not due to the front cover cleavage. I think I felt "brave" for reading them. Because the show "Are you afraid of the dark" scared the shit out of me. Probably still would...dangit.

Trixie Firecracker said...

How else do you get little boys to read mystery books anyway?

Dolce said...

I had to google Bantam Books...that's pretty sad, but I'm glad we have other similar interests...

*~Dani~* said...

Guys love boobs, it's a fact.

@unMuse - I totally loved the V.C. Andrews books. My mom and I would share them. Not sure if that is wrong or not. If it is, don't tell me.

bianca said...

Holy Crap...I was the BIGGEST R.L. Stine fan back in the day. That pic you included of "The Prom Queen". I totally rented that from the public library and lost it and had to pay $20 to replace it. They also had "Fear Street: Cheerleaders" that I was way into. Wow, what a flashback :)

Ali said...

So...the fact that I loved RL Stine books was all because of the cleavage on the covers?
Huh.
And all this time I thought I was straight... ;)

sid said...

Hmmm, if I ever make it as an author I'm sure to put plenty of semi-naked chicks on the cover.

michelle said...

I don't remember the cleavage and thigh-action either. Go R.L.

Passionista said...

I loved Fear Street.. But I read it for the articles.

PrincessB said...

Christopher Pike was soo much better! I agree with dmb5_libra

Caden said...

I LOVED the Fear Street Books.

unMuse said...

@ dani - nah, I think your mom was just a little less uptight than mine :-)

chasinglibby said...

mr. stine sure knew how to get boys to pick up his books!!

PhoenixHearse said...

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Angela said...

I always thought that RL Stine was a chick-horror lit or something like it. Leave it to guys to notice the steamy shots. :D