Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Sequel to Embrace Original Iconic Artwork Even More

The original trilogy of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books weren’t only iconic for writer Alvin Schwartz’s interpretations of famous fables from folklore, but also for Stephen Gammell’s ghastly illustrations, with the director of last year’s movie adaptation André Øvredal teasing that the upcoming sequel will draw even more inspiration from Gammell for its visuals. An inherent challenge in such an effort is that the original illustrations were in black and white, with the movies being in full color, but it sounds as though Øvredal is open to the challenge of diving even deeper into the grotesque imagination of Gammell.

“I learned so much on Scary Stories, but also about Scary Stories and I do think that we’ll tap even more into Gammell’s visual world in the sequel than we did in the first movie,” Øvredal shared with Collider.

In the original 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 sequel was confirmed earlier this year, but with the coronavirus pandemic, virtually all movie and TV productions have been delayed or put on hold indefinitely. The filmmaker went on to note that, despite not actually heading into production imminently, the filmmakers have been able to spend more time crafting the sequel’s script.

“Production-wise we’re in a holding pattern, but not really because we’re just developing the story and the script, which is a time-consuming process because there’s no point in making a sequel to that movie unless it’s elevated and it’s great and it’s ideally better than the first movie,” Øvredal pointed out.

Whatever might be in store for the sequel, Øvredal also noted that he hopes to offer fans something wonderful.

“I mean, we’re actively working on it,” Øvredal recently shared with ComicBook.com. When asked about any possible sequel stories, the filmmaker clarified, “No, we can’t reveal that. I can’t, unfortunately. But no, we’re really playing with some new, wonderful stuff that I am very excited about where this sequel could go.”

Stay tuned for details on the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark sequel.

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