As is usually the case with all the rest of you fellow 90’s kids out there, I’m all but required to be a fan ofGoosebumpsandFear Streetauthor R.L. Stine. Let alone the fact that I’m an utter horror movie geek and it could be argued that my love of all things horror started back in the pages of these two young adult book series. But all the same, yes, I am a Stine fanatic and so I’m very excited to pass along word that it looks like HBO’s much-ballyhooed upcoming streaming service HBO Max has an all-new horror anthology series headed our way based on Stine’sPoint Horrornovels.
Thehorror anthology series, which is headed our way from Picturestart and Lionsgate Television, is being described as a show that will expose the horrors of being a teenager. Go figure. More interesting though is the fact that the plan is for each episode to be inspired by - you guessed it - one of R.L. Stine’s books from the hit young adult book series and told for today’s audiences but with a nostalgic nod to the 1990s. But I think all of that kind of went without saying.
Now as strange as it may sound, the powers that be behind the scenes of HBO Max’sPoint Horrorseries have approached director Jon M. Chu to helm the series and executive produce. Who is Jon M. Chu, you might ask? Well, the man sure has some hit films under his belt, but he isn’t exactly a filmmaker who screams young adult horror. In fact with a resume that includes films such asG.I. Joe: Retaliation,Now You See Me 2, andCrazy Rich Asians, I can’t help but scratch my head a bit wondering whyHBO Maxchose him as the right man for the job. But whatever, ten years ago did any of us think Jordan Peele was a modern master of horror? Nah. Masters of the macabre hide in all kinds of strange places.
Anyhow, Chu is said to merely be in negotiations to take on the role of director and executive producer of this HBO Max teen horror anthology series so maybe it won’t even matter in the end if he passes up the job. That said, if Chu does feel likePoint Horroris the next stop on his career path, he would be sharing executive producer credit with not only author R.L. Stine himself, but Yvonne M. Bernard as well.
For those of you out there that aren’t immediately familiar with thePoint Horrorbooks from the ’90s, let me give you a quick crash course.Point Horrorwas a series of young adult horror fiction books launched by Scholastic Inc back in 1991. Worth noting is that Stine was by no means the only writer to pen books under the banner. Other notable authors include Diane Hoh, Richie Tankersley Cusick, Caroline B. Cooney, and the infamous Christopher Pike. Notable StinePoint Horrorbooks includeThe BabysitterQuadrilogy,The Boyfriend,The Girlfriend,The Dead Girlfriend,The Snowman,The Hitchhiker, andThe Witness. I’m sensing a pattern there. This story comes to us viaVariety.
