Everything we know about Guillermo del Toro’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Guillermo del Toro’s film adaptation of the popular children’s books, Scary Stories to tell in the Dark, is set to finish production this month and we’re all waiting impatiently for a release date

If you grew up in the 90’s like I had, then you probably read the “Scary Stories to tell in the Dark” books written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. There were three books in the series titled: “Scary Stories to tell in the Dark”, “More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”, and “Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones”.

Though first published in 1981, the books seemed to gain extreme popularity in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, where I came across them in elementary and middle school. There violent images and tales of macabre made them controversial and multiple parent groups worked to get them banned, which of course only made them more popular.

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Let me indulge myself with a nice slice of nostalgia for a moment and re-live the memory of reading these books behind the cafeteria, under the giant oak tree not 10 feet away from the woods, where at the moment I reached the climax of a story a squirrel chose to scare the daylights out of me. Everyone had a copy, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing someone holding one, reading one, or ripping the pages out of one.

The illustrations were sinister to the mind of an 11-year-old and the tales of urban legends like brides getting buried alive or decapitated cat heads in lunch bags stuck with me years after I left my teens.

Despite the controversy they first created, the books became a sensation and many of the grown children who had read them credit the trilogy for their love of horror, including myself. In 2016 Grayhouse Studios made a tribute short film dedicated to Stephen Gammell’s original illustrations and a documentary about the books called Scary Stories was released at Panic Fest in Kansas City this year.

Guillermo del Toro, the mind behind The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, both Hellboys, and Mimic is both the producer and writer of Schwartz’s books. Norwegian director, André Øvredal, who made the cult favorite Trollhunter and the surprise horror treasure of 2016 called The Autopsy of Jane Doe, will be directing the film.

It’s too early to say if the movie will be any good, but with these two men behind the wheel, I think we might have to take a moment to praise the movie Gods. A writer known for his monsters and a director who specializes in horror with dark supernatural themes, what more can we ask for.

Early reports of the film announced that it’ll take place on Halloween (which I hope means it’ll be released on Halloween) and stars Zoe Colletti as “the heart of the film”, a teenager named Stella Michaels who’s haunted by visions of her mother who died on Halloween night.

Years later, Stella and her friends are involved in a Halloween prank gone wrong. But they find out it might be the work of a female ghost who uses familiar “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” tales to come after the teens when they begin to investigate the disappearances of several children in town. The group must solve the mystery of the ghastly deaths and disappearances in their small town if they want to stop the ghost.

Another report (is every book fan ready?!) states that Harold the Scarecrow will make an appearance in the film. For those who haven’t read the books, Harold is an evil scarecrow who appears in the short story “Harold” and is the fan-favorite of the series. He was built by two empty-headed farmers who name him after a fellow farmer they hated and treat Harold cruelly. One day Harold comes to life and skins one of them! Keep in mind this was a children’s book.

Harold won’t be alone, another rumored monster to appear is a woman from the story “The Red Spot,” who has spider eggs hatching from inside her cheek. Harold and all the other monsters have been promised by del Toro to follow the original iconic illustrations made by Gammell.

If this is true then these are going to be some frightening monsters. The images alone can influence you to run around your house and flick on every light, so not one ounce of darkness can reach out to grab you. That and jumping on your bed in case there’s a hand underneath waiting to grab your foot. Has anyone ever done that? Run and jump so your feet won’t have to go near the edge? I can’t be the only one.

Michael Garza, Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint, Natalie Ganzhorn and Breaking Bad‘s Dean Norris have been added to the cast alongside Zoe Colletti.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is expected to be released in 2019.