Jack Black to star in ‘Goosebumps’ film adaptation due in 2016

If you’ve raised kids in the last 15 years or so, you’ve probably taken a trip or two into the scary (but not overwhelmingly so) mind of the writer R.L. Stine.

Stine’s “Goosebumps� series is a collection of ghost and horror stories for young children. Since Stine published the first “Goosebumps� in 1992, it’s become the first book series many parents purchase for their kids. Now “Goosebumps� is set for the silver screen, with Jack Black starring and a March 2016 release date.

Black, beloved by young audiences for his performances in “School of Rock,� “Kung Fu Panda� and other movies, will play the role of Stine for the Sony Pictures production.

The film will co-star Dylan Minnette as a teenager who moves to a small town in Maryland and discovers that his next-door neighbor is the writer Stine. “When all the many demons of Stine’s mind are set free by a demonic ventriloquist’s dummy,� Variety writes, “it’s up to Minnette’s character and Stine’s niece Hannah to deal with all the evil.�

Stine published 62 books in the series between 1992 and 1997, beginning with “Welcome to Dead House.� At one point in the 1990s, Stine’s monthly sales were in the millions. The books were of less-than-stellar literary quality, however, and many parents considered them too graphic. “Goosebumps� was, for a time, the book that parents most often requested be removed from public libraries.

“Goosebumps� was also adapted into a short-lived television series in the late 1990s.

Rob Letterman, who worked with Black in “Gulliver’s Travels,� will direct the film.

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