The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books became a beloved series of spooky stories in the ’80s and ’90s, with its macabre black and white images searing themselves into many developing young brains. Guillermo del Toro is producing a live-action adaptation based on the series, with new details about the plot reportedly being revealed.
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The film’s official synopsis reads, “Inspired by one of the most terrifying book series of all time, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark follows a group of teens who must solve the mystery surrounding a wave of spectacularly horrific deaths in their small town.
With actress Zoe Colletti being the first announced cast member of the ensemble as “Stella,” Collider claims they have new details about the plot. The site claims the character is “a young girl still haunted by her mother’s disappearance on Halloween night — an incident that she suspects her father knows more about than he lets on. Years later, Stella and her friends are involved in a Halloween prank gone wrong. But are they really at fault, or was it the work of a vengeful spirit — a female ghost who uses her scary stories to come after the teens when they begin to investigate the disappearance of several children?”
In addition to these plot details, Collider‘s sources noted that the script features multiple references to memorable stories from the series, including a human scarecrow from the short story “Harold” and the girl who had a pimple on her face that ended up being the result of a spider laying eggs in her cheek from the story “The Red Spot.”
Del Toro was initially attached to direct the project from a script he helped adapt, though André Øvredal has stepped in to take on directorial duties.
The trilogy of books was comprised of short horror stories aimed at children, written by Alvin Schwartz. Originally published in 1984, the books have sold more than 7 million copies. In addition to Schwartz’s stories causing nightmares, the iconic series also frightened and fascinated young readers with Steven Gammell’s macabre and grotesque illustrations.
This adaptation is only the latest project to explore young kids handling horrifying situations that were inspired by properties from the ’80s and ’90s.
Last year, an adaptation of Stephen King’s IT went on to earn more than $700 million worldwide. Hitting theaters later this year is Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, the sequel to the 2015 Goosebumps movie based on R.L. Stine’s series of horror novels. An adaptation of the TV series Are You Afraid of the Dark? is currently being adapted by IT screenwriter Gary Dauberman.
Stay tuned for details on the development of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark adaptation.
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[H/T Collider]
