Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine teams up with the pop-culture phenomenon Garbage Pail Kids for a first-ever GPK illustrated middle-grade series

R.L. Stine has more than 400 million English-language books in print, plus international editions in thirty-two languages, making him one of the most popular children’s authors of all time. Besides Goosebumps, he has written series including Fear Street, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, Dangerous Girls, and Just Beyond. Stine lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, an editor and publisher. The Topps Company, Inc., originator of Garbage Pail Kids, Mars Attacks, and Bazooka Joe brands, was founded in 1938 and is the preeminent creator and marketer of physical and digital trading cards, entertainment products, and distinctive confectionary.  More on the Garbage Pail Kids website.

The book is illustrated by Jeff Zapata and Joe Simko.  Jeff Zapata has worked on comic books and trading cards for more than twenty-five years, including thirteen gross, memorable ones as an editor, art director, and artist on Garbage Pail Kids and other brands at the Topps Company. Joe Simko is an artist known for his happy-horror style. He is one of the premiere Garbage Pail Kids illustrators for the Topps Company and lives in New York City with his wife, son, dog, and many, many boxes of cereal.

Welcome to the town of Smellville, where ten kids all live in a big tumbledown house and have as much fun as they possibly can. People may think that they’re gross and weird and strange, but they’re not bad kids—they just don’t know any better. In this hilarious new illustrated series from bestselling author R.L. Stine, the Garbage Pail Kids—from Adam Bomb to Brainy Janey—get into mischief at their middle school, all while battling bullies and their archenemies, Penny and Parker Perfect. These all-new illustrated stories are sure to amuse, entertain, and blow away readers of all ages. Bonus: includes four exclusive Garbage Pail Kids stickers!

Kitty Felde won more than a dozen Golden Mike Awards for her work covering baseball, politics, high profile trials, riots, earthquakes, and immigration. She was named “Journalist of the Year” three times in three years by the LA Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists. She hosted Southern California Public Radio KPCC’s afternoon talk show “Talk of the City” for nearly a decade. She covered Capitol Hill for half a dozen years. Her award-winning debut novel “Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza” was published in 2019 and has been adapted to an 8-part dramatic podcast The Fina Mendoza Mysteries available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.  Kitty is host and executive producer of the Book Club for Kids podcast – named one of the top 10 kidcasts in the world by The Times of London. She is also an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced worldwide. A commission, QUENTIN, is currently running as a tour of the White House neighborhood. Felde co-founded LA’s Theatre of NOTE and led the playwriting program at the HOLA Youth Theatre in Los Angeles.