The Goosebumps Creator’s Next Horror Movie Remakes One Of His Best Stories

Published Oct 7, 2026, 12:15 PM EDT Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture. Sign in to your ScreenRant account One of Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine's scariest stories is set to appear on-screen in full film format in the next year. Though horror has a staggering number of talented creators within it, few are as well known or synonymous with the genre as R.L. Stine, and this is not without reason. While the horror genre tends to be a more adult-focused field - since the scariest horror media generally doesn't hold back when it comes to violence or other mature content - R.L. Stine earned his reputation by managing to craft stories that were scary but child-appropriate, with the Goosebumps collection kicking off the careers of many horror fans via providing them some suitable frights. Though it's been many years since the first Goosebumps stories started giving children new irrational fears, R.L. Stine's work is still inspiring plenty in the world of horror. In fact, one of the creator's best original horror stories is set to be honored in a major way in 2027, in the form of a movie adaptation that delves further into the framework and nightmarish potential the short story set up over the course of its narrative. R.L. Stine's Afraid Of Clowns Movie Is Releasing In 2027 Continuing a decades-long track record of spooking those who experience his stories, R.L. Stine's 1999 short story Afraid of Clowns - which was a part of Nightmare Hour, a short story collection that has been cited as one of Stine's most frightening works - is set to get its own loose movie adaptation that will debut 28 years after the narrative first released and terrified readers (as per Variety). Interestingly, the 2027 movie appears to be serving as a follow-up story of sorts, since the film doesn't follow the short story's central character Christopher, but appears to develop from the aftermath of the original story, as the official synopsis does promise that: “When Ringmaster Rollo and his mysterious clown troupe arrive in Redhaven, Frankie discovers their visit may be connected to a child who vanished years ago. Convinced they’ve now set their sights on her little brother, Frankie must convince her friends to help uncover the truth and stop the clowns before her brother disappears with them for good.” Given the original short story is potent enough to inspire a sense of fear around clowns - detailing the life of a boy who is terrified of clowns, and is then kidnapped and tortured into becoming a clown himself - it's safe to say the movie has a strong foundation when it comes to the horror moments sure to be within it, and should be a delight for long-term Stine fans as well. Afraid Of Clowns' Release Continues An Underrated Horror Movie Franchise One of the most exciting things about Afraid of Clowns' 2027 release is that it expands R.L. Stine's horror empire yet further still, and continues to bring it into a new age. Though R.L. Stine is best known for the Goosebumps series and its subsequent adaptations, the creator's works have had a resurgence of on-screen notoriety thanks to releases like the Fear Street movie series on Netflix, as the original stories that inspired the series were similarly penned by the author. With this in mind, releasing Afraid Of Clowns soon seems to be a wise choice, and is sure to enrich the wider R.L. Stine movie-verse of stories, providing a suitable level of scares as well as reminding viewers of just why they may or may not have developed a strong fear of clowns after partaking in some of the Goosebumps stories, or R.L. Stine's other works. TV Show(s) Goosebumps, Goosebumps Video Game(s) Goosebumps: Escape from HorrorLand, Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant, Goosebumps: The Game, Goosebumps: Night of Scares, Goosebumps: HorrorTown, Goosebumps: Dead of Night