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Legendary author R.L. Stine has revealed his latest project. The Goosebumps writer has partnered with Topps for a series of books based on the Garbage Pail Kids. Stine is no stranger to the bizarre, as he's handled horror aimed at younger readers for most of his career. Now, he's taking a strange trip to a place called Smellville for his first book in the series, which is part of a larger, three-book deal.

Welcome to Smellville is set to arrive this fall and is aimed at middle-grade readers. But there's no reason those who are feeling nostalgic for the 80s icons can't enjoy the book as well. The R.L. Stine take on Garbage Pail Kids is said to be "gross and weird and strange." The book will center on Adam Bomb, Brainy Janie, Junkfood John, and Nervous Rex as the group gets themselves into mischief while squaring off against bullies and their archenemies,...

Joseph Baxter Feb 21, 2020

Goosebumps author R.L. Stine is tackling the generation-defining Garbage Pail Kids cards as a series of twisted books.

Garbage Pail Kids may be best known as a purposefully-puke-inducing trading card parody of a specific moment of mid-1980s ennui in the aftermath of the Cabbage Patch Kids toy phenomenon (notably the 1983 holiday retail riots it caused), but the franchise is still kicking in 2020. Moreover, this ‘80s icon is about to be tackled by a mainstay of 1990s culture, Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, for a new book series.

The Topps Company, perennial producers of the classic crude sticker cards, is teaming with author R.L. Stine for a three-book deal with the children’s division of publisher Abrams Books to produce a middle-grade-aimed series of books based on the Garbage Pail Kids, as EW reveals. The first of the initial trio, Welcome to Smellville, is already set...

I loved collecting Garbage Pail Kids cards when I was growing up. I had so many of them! My parents hated them, but that didn't stop me from sneaking off to the corner shop to buy them. I thought they were freakin' hilarious and I still do. I even still have a few of the original cards.

Today I have a trailer for a great looking documentary for you to check out called 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story. The doc explores how the Garbage Pail Kids cards came into existence and what happened after they became a huge success. As a fan of these counter-culture cards, something like this doc is fascinating to me. 

In the 1980s a bunch of underground cartoonists parodied a popular doll. The resulting commercial product tapped into the international kid zeitgeist. That young generation felt that this product spoke to the revulsion...