Pittsburgh could be the home for a series of DVDs and videotapes based on a horror anthology by R.L. Stine, the best-selling "Goosebumps" author.

Allegheny County is backing a potentially profitable and job-rich plan by Steeltown Entertainment Project to lure The Hatchery LLC, a Los Angeles entertainment production and marketing firm, here for three or more movies.

Universal Home Entertainment would release the first, under the "R.L. Stine Presents" banner, in 2007, but it could get an NBC airing before.

The movies, the first of which is budgeted at $3 million, would be based on Stine's "The Haunting Hour" and "The Nightmare Hour," with the author bookending the scary stories. The initial one, however, may be written by Dan Angel and Billy Brown, who shared the producing Emmy for the made-for-TV movie "Door to Door."

"We have fallen in love with Pittsburgh," Hatchery co-founder Margaret Loesch said yesterday. Her father was from Meadville, and she was aware of the city's long association with Fred Rogers.

"We can see Pittsburgh creating an ongoing opportunity for production," given its diversified look. Financing is still being worked out, but Loesch said Universal has been notified of the intention to come here.

Steeltown, a nonprofit that organized an entertainment summit in October 2003 and co-sponsored June's "Land of the Dead" premiere, is taking legal steps to serve as a conduit for the Hatchery and other projects.

The Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County voted this week to give a $150,000 recoverable grant to the project. "That will be matched, we hope, with anywhere from $350,000 to $500,000 of state dollars," Bob Hurley, deputy director for development and business development of Allegheny County, said yesterday.

The movies would provide up to 120 local jobs, pump money into the economy, return the county's investment (to seed future projects) and build on the city's reputation as film-friendly. Hurley sees this as a complement to the work of the Pittsburgh Film Office, Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center and others.

Allen Kukovich, director of the Governor's Southwest Regional Office, said yesterday, "We've worked with the county to put in an application to the Department of Community and Economic Development. ... We're talking about an ongoing presence and a chance to anchor an entertainment industry."

Steeltown has obtained a $200,000 grant from the Pittsburgh-based Colcom Foundation for the Stine movies. It also has received grants of $50,000 each from the Laurel and Grable foundations for its operating expenses. And it is developing details of its screenwriting competition.