- - An everything bagel inspired R.L. Stine's new scary book. Read Chapter 1 now (Exclusive)

Clare Mulroy, USA TODAYFebruary 13, 2026 at 10:01 AM

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Between his own bibliography and a creepily decorated home office, R.L. Stine has enough spooky material for a lifetime of inspiration.

So why was it an everything bagel that led him to write his upcoming book, “Nightmare on Nightmare Street”? Like the delicious combination of salt, sesame seeds, onion and poppy seeds, Stine’s latest work has a little something for everyone – kids and adults alike.

“What if I wrote an Everything Book?” Stine writes in the book's introduction. “What if I wrote one of my scary novels and put in all the different kinds of scares my readers tell me they like? Not just two kids trapped in a haunted house. Or a family battling an evil monster. Or an after-school vampire attack. Or a doll coming to life. What if I mixed into a book all kinds of horrors at once? What if I concocted a story with new versions of the horrors I’ve created before? An Everything Scary Story.”

USA TODAY is revealing an exclusive excerpt of the first chapter of “Nightmare on Nightmare Street,” which Stine hopes will keep readers “guessing until the very last chapter.”

Read the first chapter of ‘Nightmare on Nightmare Street’ by R.L. Stine

"Nightmare on Nightmare Street" by R.L. Stine comes out next week. Read the first chapter now.

“Joe, you’ve seen too many scary movies,” Mr. Ferber said. “I know you’re a little freaked out your first night in this house.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “A little freaked out? Dad, don’t you hear the ghost children cackling on the

stairway? What about the words go home sprayed in blood on the kitchen wall? The walls are dripping with evil.”

Joe’s dad sighed. He ran a hand back through his thinning brown hair. “I’m going to take away your Netflix. Really. You’ve got to forget about those creepy movies you and Sadie watch when your mom and I go out.”

“You’ll be okay, Joe,” Sadie said. “Dad already put a night-light in your room.”

“Shut up, Sadie,” Joe snapped. “A night-light isn’t going to protect me from the Headless Beast from Behind the Garage.”

“Is that really a movie?” Mr. Ferber said. “You know this is all in your head, Joe.”

Sadie laughed. “Joe’s head has been invaded by alien creatures who came to eat his brain.”

“Shut up,” Joe grumbled. “You’re way not funny. I know you’re just as scared as I am to be in this house.”

Sadie was thirteen. Joe was twelve. She stood a foot shorter than Joe, but she was tough. She gave him a hard shove that sent him tumbling back against the staircase banister. “Am not scared!”

“You are, too!” Joe shot back.

“Am not!” Sadie shook her fist at Joe. Her curly copper hair bounced on her head, as if ready for a fight. Mr. Ferber stepped between them. “Give me a break, okay? Let’s not fight over who’s more scared.” He pushed Sadie’s fist down and squeezed her hand.

“We’ve already been through this,” he said. “It’s a creaky old house. It’s old and run-down, okay? But the house isn’t haunted. It isn’t cursed with evil. No curse. No ghosts. Just some weak, rotting floorboards and walls that need to be painted.”

“I’ll turn on your night-light for you,” Sadie told Joe. “And if you want, little baby, I’ll hold your hand till you fall asleep.” She burst out laughing.

Joe scowled at her. He didn’t think she was funny. “Dad, tell her to stop.”

“Both of you, stop,” Mr. Ferber said. “You’ll feel a lot better after your first night here.”Mrs. Ferber came down the stairs, carrying an empty carton in front of her. “I unpacked some of your things,” she said. She set the carton down and blew a strand of dark hair off her forehead. “Your pajamas are in your top dresser drawer.”

“We can’t stay here,” Joe said.

His mom squinted at him. “This again? Haven’t we been over this before?”

“Mom, listen to me—” Joe started.

But Mrs. Ferber raised a hand to stop him. “Joe, there are two kinds of houses in this world,” she said. “Old houses and new houses. We couldn’t afford a new house. So we bought an old house. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just old.”

“Not true,” Joe insisted. He turned to Sadie. “Show Mom and Dad the doll we found in the closet upstairs.”

Sadie picked up a doll from the back of the stairwell and held it up to her parents. It was a soft rag doll with tangled red hair, wearing a stained smock, torn across the front. The doll’s round black eyes were fixed in an intense stare.

Mrs. Ferber took the doll from Sadie and studied it. Then she raised her eyes to Sadie. “So? What’s so interesting? Someone left a doll behind when they moved out.”

“No,” Joe said. He grabbed the doll and raised it in front of him. “Look at this doll. Look at it. This doll has been in a hundred movies.”

His mom and dad exchanged glances. “Seriously?”

“The doll is cursed!” Joe exclaimed. “It’s totally evil. Look at the eyes. Look at that evil stare.” Joe’s voice rose to a shrill cry.

Mr. Ferber placed a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “Calm down,” he said softly. “Take a breath.”

Their mom shook her head. “I swear,” she said. “How can you be scared of a beat-up old rag doll?”

“But—but—haven’t you seen the movies?” Joe sputtered.

His dad took the doll and tossed it into the empty carton. “Enough,” he said. “We can continue this in the morning. After you’ve had a good night’s sleep in your new home.”

“Go on up to your rooms,” Mrs. Ferber said, motioning to the stairs. “Stop being silly.”

“Your rooms are right across the hall from one another,” Mr. Ferber said. “You can keep an eye on each other.”

“No way. I’m locking my door,” Joe said.

“The doors don’t have locks yet,” their mother said.

Joe sighed. “I’m doomed. We’re all doomed.”

“Goodnight. Get upstairs,” Mr. Ferber said.

Sadie started up the stairs. But Joe didn’t move.

“Listen, you two,” he said to his parents. “Were you in the basement? Did you see the gravestones down there? People are buried down there! Buried in our basement!”

His dad patted Joe’s shoulder again. “Joe,” he said, “I told you this place is a fixer-upper."

Spend Halloween with R.L. Stine: Inside 'Goosebumps' author's spooky New York home

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How R.L. Stine's new creepy book is inspired by an everything bagel

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