When we think of chilling children's stories, two book series tend to come to mind: Goosebumps or, for mature readers, Alvin Schwartz’s "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark." Released during the 1980s and ‘90s, these three books pulled from folklore and urban legends to terrify young readers with visions of creatures that go bump in the night.
Now, a new movie will awaken those fears in a new generation of families as Lionsgate and producer Guillermo del Toro bring SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK to life on the big screen.
There are three books worth of material to pull from, but the trailers for SCARY STORIES single out specific narratives that will have audiences quivering in their seats. Take a look at this footage before we break down the monsters that will be on screen in August.
Needless to say, there are plenty of monsters that director André Øvredal could have conjured for this feature — and you know that if this movie does well with audiences, there will be sequels filled with more spine-tingling tales. But for now, here are the threats that will be lurking in AMC theatres come August 9.
The Toe Monster
A corpse goes on the lookout for her missing toe. Seems simple enough, right? But in the hands of SCARY STORIES, that puts one of the main kids in extreme danger. This was the first story in the first book, so including “The Big Toe” is a tremendous nod to fans of the novels.
The Pale Lady
Readers of the third "Scary Stories" book will know this terrifying vision from the short story “The Dream.” She appears to a young girl named Lexi in a nightmare, only to later materialize in real life, causing all sorts of mayhem by pretending to be a landlady. We can’t wait to see how Øvredal uses this menacing figure in his new movie.
Harold the Scarecrow
No real trick here. Harold is a creepy-looking scarecrow who serves his time in a corn field — until the moment he’s “bullied” by a baseball-bat-wielding teenager and decides to come down off his perch and exact revenge. Word of advice? Leave scarecrows alone, and they likely won’t come back to haunt you.
The Jangly Man
The trailer above saves the Jangly Man for the finale, and we wonder if he’ll be a “final boss” that the kids in the movie have to defeat to bring the threat of the books to an end. From what we recall, this is a new creature that isn’t present in the books, so maybe the Jangly Man was invented by the movie’s creative team as a surprise?
Buckle in for SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, which will terrify crowds the minute it opens on August 9.
