From Three Books to One Story
Rather than adapting one specific tale, the film draws monsters and situations from Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories trilogy and connects them through an original narrative about a group of teenagers.
Movie
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
They're not just stories anymore.
Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, Halloween night, 1968. After playing a joke on a school bully, Stella and her friends decide to sneak into a supposedly haunted house that once belonged to the powerful Bellows family, unleashing dark forces that they will be unable to control.
Why it's in the Vault
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark feels almost tailor-made for a late-night Halloween screening. It never needs to become relentlessly terrifying: its strength lies in letting us experience the fear alongside a group of teenagers who slowly realize that the stories haunting their town are becoming frighteningly real. The creature designs are striking, the autumnal atmosphere is wonderfully inviting and sinister at once, and the film understands the particular pleasure of being scared without turning the experience into an ordeal. Exactly the kind of modern horror gem worth saving for October 31, when the lights are off and midnight is getting close.
— Matty, Curator of the Vault
Atmosphere
Autumnal, creepy, adventurous, macabre, immersive
Creature horror
Creeping dread
Teen adventure
Macabre fairytale
Contains disturbing creatures, body horror, supernatural deaths, bullying, racial harassment, wartime references and sustained threat involving teenagers.
Dans les coulisses
Ce qu'on ne voit pas à l'écran
Gammell's Nightmares Brought to Life
The filmmakers treated Stephen Gammell's famously disturbing illustrations as a crucial visual reference when translating creatures such as the Pale Lady and Harold to the screen.
Real Creatures in Front of the Camera
Creature performers, prosthetics and practical make-up played an important role in giving the monsters a physical presence rather than relying entirely on digital creations.
A Darker Harold Was Filmed
Director André Øvredal confirmed that a more gruesome version of Harold's sequence, closer to the brutality of the original story, was actually shot before the final film settled on its less graphic transformation.
Guillermo del Toro Behind the Monsters
Del Toro served as producer and co-writer of the screen story, bringing his longstanding fascination with monsters and dark fairy tales to Øvredal's film.
Aux origines
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
The film draws from Schwartz's three collections of American folklore and urban legends, whose unsettling stories became inseparable from Stephen Gammell's famously nightmarish illustrations.
Palette
Les couleurs du film
Autumn Amber#B5793E
Night Blue#394653
Pale Lady Ivory#C8C0AC
Blood Red#7E3D35
Cornfield Brown#796044
Shadow Black#292B2C
Images
