Shuvrajit Das Biswas
‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ is an upcoming horror movie that has stemmed from the passion of Guillermo del Toro, a man who has spent most of his career mulling on the ramifications of horrors and monsters in everyday life. The film has finally released its trailer and promises to have plenty of scary creatures to give you sleepless nights.
The story, although based on a popular horror series of books of the same name, has been adapted for the film by del Toro, Marcus Dunstan, and Patrick Melton. The screenplay is by Kevin and Dan Hageman and del Toro personally handpicked André Øvredal of ‘Trollhunter’ and ‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe’ fame to helm the movie. The official synopsis of the film reads, “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 home.”
For those unaware about ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’, it is a series of books that were written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Steven Gammell, which kicked off in 1984 and includes three entries. The series became immensely popular and went on to sell more than seven million copies worldwide and cemented its place as one of the gateway series in the horror genre that would appeal to budding horror fans and ensure a lifelong devotion to the genre. The plot centers on the children who find the book belonging to Sarah, only to realize that the stories read the readers, and make the horrifying nightmares come true. Think of it as a hardcore horror film made with a similar premise as followed in ‘Goosebumps’. Ovredal has, however, opened up about the movie and said that the experience would not be like an anthology. Instead, “It is a cohesive, two-hour feature with one story, where everything is weaved together to be part of that story”. Guillermo del Toro also chipped in, saying, “It has a throwback, wholesome feeling but it’s also scary. It’s a ride, but there is a safety bar in it”. As someone who is strictly monitoring the creative side of the film, del Toro wanted the horror to be intense, but also be suitable for children since the original stories were, ultimately, intended to be so.
The cast of the film is extremely talented and includes Zoe Colletti, of ‘Annie’ and ‘Wildlife’ fame, Gabriel Rush, of ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ and ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel‘, Michael Garza, of ‘Wayward Pines’ fame, Austin Abrams of ‘The Americans’, Dean Norris from ‘Breaking Bad‘, Gil Bellows of ‘Patriot’, Lorraine Toussaint of ‘Into the Badlands’, Austin Zajur of ‘Fist Fight’, and Natalie Ganzhorn of ‘Wet Bum’. The film is set to release on August 9, 2019. You can check out the spooky trailer of ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ below.
