Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Gets New Jangly Man Poster

For decades, the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books have been giving young readers nightmares, thanks not only to Alvin Schwartz’s terrifying tales but also Stephen Gammell’s ghastly imagery. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been working on ways to bring the books to life for years, ultimately tapping director Andre Ovredal to helm an adaptation, with del toro still remaining an integral component of the filmmaking team. While the upcoming film is set to deliver live-action interpretations of a number of iconic stories, the film will also debut an all-new monster with The Jangly Man, who just got his own poster.

In the film, 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.

The film officially earned a PG-13 rating, confirming that, while the audience of the original stories might have skewed slightly younger, the adaptation will honor the source material by aiming for a younger audience as opposed to being a full-blown R-rated affair.

“The real tragedy of horror is not to have your parents talk to you about it,” del Toro detailed about his goals with the film. “When you’re a kid, you’re curious about two things: sex and death. The rest you can figure out in a manual. A lot of parents shy away from those things. But we live in the real world. When we live in a great world, we can avoid these things. But we need to know the darkness to know the light.”

He continued, “It’s something to bond over. I wish my father and mother watched [horror] with me. The world is constantly telling you about everything great, as a kid — in yogurt and shampoo commercials, in movies where nobody looks like you. Horror movies tell you: ‘There is a dark side, don’t worry.’ I think that’s really important.”

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark lands in theaters on August 9th.

Does this new poster have you more excited for the upcoming film? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!