If you obsessed over the R.L Stine books as a pre-teen, prepare yourself because he’s back! Goosebumps author is getting set to publish a new middle-grade book series based on Garbage Pail Kids, those ugly-cool collectible stickers we had obsessed over, too. Here are all the details.

R.L. Stein has signed a 3-book deal for a trilogy series based on the trading cards and stickers of Topps’ Garbage Pail kids. The first book titled Welcome to Smellviille will be released this fall by Abrams’ Children’s Books.

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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.”

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The books will be set in a town called Smellville and follow 9 kid characters like Brainy Jane and Adam Bomb. These kids “all live in a big tumbledown house and have as much fun as they possibly can,” the Abrams description says. “People may think that they’re gross and weird and strange, but they’re not bad kids — they just don’t know any better.” The young protagonists get into all sorts of hijinks at their middle school “while battling bullies and their archenemies, Penny and Parker Perfect.”

Illustrations for the book are done by Jeff Zapata and the cover art by Joe Simko, original artists from the 1985 Garbage Pail Kids. And to keep things classic, the books will be packaged with four exclusive collectible sticker cards.

The first in the trilogy, Welcome to Smellville will go on sale on September 15, 2020, but you can pre-order a copy now.

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