No matter how nightmare-inducing and traumatizing the realm of horror can be, children are inextricably drawn to the genre’s enticing, dark narratives. After all, traditional horror stories at their best are simply fairy-tales, only elevated, matured, and much more cruel. A seminal work that continues to disturb children to this day is Alvin Schwartz’s “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark,” an anthology of urban folklore and surreal, affecting imagery. CBS Films and Guillermo Del Toro aim to expand its mythology on the big screen this summer with the very first adaptation of Schwartz’s touchstone.
The first trailer gave us a look at some of the approaches to specific significant, well-known stories of Schwartz’s like “The Red Spot” and “The Pale Lady.” However, there appears to be much more new material added to fit the cinematic medium. Del Toro and director Andre Ovredal (“Trollhunter”, “The Autopsy of Jane Doe”) have turned Schwartz’ anthology into a linear narrative in a small town à la last year’s “It” that will tie together a string of Schwartz’s stories, a diversion from recent horror anthologies like “V/H/S” or “The ABCs of Death.”
The film’s synopsis evokes their new approach:
“It’s 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind…but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time—stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying to me.”
Since the name of the film is so recognizable to the eyes of eager children, it will be interesting to see who the film caters to in terms of its audience. The film’s rating is to be determined, and while the trailer promises scare to match the power of Schwartz’s work, nothing yet indicates that the film will venture into hard horror with an R-rating. Like the books, this will be a film to both terrify and tantalize the youth in the early stages of their storytelling perception.
“Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark” is set to be released on August 9, 2019.