'Goosebumps' Author To Debut New Works At Park Slope Horror Night

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — It may just have been chance that brought a pre-Halloween horror reading with one of the genre's most popular authors to Puppetworks on Sixth Avenue — the organizers are cousins of the marionette theater's chief puppeteer.

But really, the hosts said, the coincidence is a stroke of spook-inducing luck.

"At night it gets a little creepy — and they like playing up that aspect of it," Nicholas Negron, the chief puppeteer said. "It works thematically...We are taking the horror part very seriously."

The puppet workshop and venue, which has been putting on shows on the corner of Fourth Street for decades, plans to put aside its kid-friendly line-up for the night on Saturday, Oct. 26 for a horror reading event called "you are not alone."

The night of scary stories will feature a two-hour docket of horror writers sharing their original stories, including none other than the author once called the "Stephen King of children's literature," R.L. Stine.

Stine — who is known for his creepy young adult series like "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" — will bring his own new material to the puppet venue, although even the organizers will have to wait and see exactly what it includes.

"As far as I know he said he will be reading his 'most shameful story,'" Negron said. "We don't know what that means, but...it will be original, unpublished material."

And although Stine is known for his younger audiences, Negron said organizers are setting up the horror reading to be largely adults-only. The hope is that parents who bring their kids to the puppet venue will want to stop by for a night of less family-friendly content.

The Halloween show is the second time the puppeteers have hosted the horror reading at their venue. The first event, back in March, brought in a few dozen people, but Negron said this time the theater is prepared for an even bigger audience.

Those who buy tickets online or at the door can grab first-come first-serve seating on bleachers or the floor. The event is BYOB and will start at 9 p.m.

The theater will also turn the lights down to bring up the scare-factor, Negron said.

"We are trying to set up a camp fire-type environment," he said. "The readers will have light...but the rest of the theater will be much darker. We are trying very specifically to be scary."