The legendary author behind Goosebumps and Fear Street will next publish a middle-grade series based on The Topps Company’s pop-culture phenomenon Garbage Pail Kids, EW can announce exclusively. The author reached a three-book deal with publisher Abrams’ Children’s Books, beginning with Welcome to Smellville, which will hit shelves this fall.

Garbage Pail Kids first launched in 1985 as collectible sticker cards and has since grown to include merchandise such as T-shirts, toys, mobile and board games, and more. In Stine’s vision, the Garbage Pail Kids are gross and weird and strange, but they’re not bad kids — they just don’t know any better. Welcome to Smellville introduces Adam Bomb, Brainy Janie, Junkfood John, and Nervous Rex as they get into mischief, battling bullies and their archenemies, the Perfects.

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“The Garbage Pail Kids are ghastly, loud, messy, out of control . . . out of their minds. In other words, MY kind of kids!” Stine said in a statement. “I’m hoping to create a book series that captures all the loopy slapstick fun of these uniquely awful characters, to get all middle-grade kids reading — and laughing.”

The books will feature cover art by Joe Simko and interior illustrations by Jeff Zapata, both mainstay artists for the Garbage Pail Kids brand, and will be packaged with four exclusive, collectible sticker cards.

EW can exclusively debut Simko’s cover art as well as a preview sticker card for Welcome to Smellville, the latter of which introduces a rather uncanny R.L. Slime.

Check the sticker out below, and be sure to see the cover at the top of this post. Garbage Pail Kids #1: Welcome to Smellville publishes Oct. 6. It’s available for pre-order.

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