“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” puts scary twist on beloved books



   Adapted from Alvin Schwartz’s trilogy “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” was originally published in 1981 through 1991. They are stories that didn’t seem like they could do much harm to the imagination. While the illustrations may raise a few goosebumps, the stories are more interesting than frightening. 

    Libraries have made the threat before to remove them from their literature due to the “influence of satanism, cannibalism, and other remarks when they don’t realize that many enjoy the material. 

   Recently, a new movie came out based off the books with the same title but with a more gruesome approach to the visual effects, such as a terrifying creature that assembles itself to attack, and a large, oddly made creature of a woman that shuffles towards you with an ominous smile. 

    It begins with an awkward group of friends, Stella, Auggie, and Chuck, being chased on Halloween night by the local town bully and his loyal followers, where the three friends end up hopping into the car of Ramón to escape their tormentors when they are herded into the town’s drive-in movie theatre. 

   As the night goes on, they all end up at the local “haunted house,” where Stella tells Ramón the thrilling story behind why the whole place is locked up; a young woman called Sarah was locked away in her family’s basement for she had learned a secret that could ruin the family business. So there, in the darkness of the damp cellar, she told stories to children who listened to her from the other side of the wall, where they were free outside unlike her. But upon finding the secret basement where Sarah was kept, the main character opens a door to a different kind of messed up. 

    When Stella takes Sarah’s book of stories from her shelf though, after a scare from the local bully, stories begin to be written about their high school bully and the group. 

    One by one, each person mentioned in the story is taken, or killed, as no one knows if they still are alive, and are never heard from again. One exception, however, is Chuck’s sister, who is put into the local hospital for a “mental disturbance.”

   As Stella and her friends look for a way to stop what is happening while one by one, they are taken by the creatures from the stories, which are supposedly written in blood. 

    From a scarecrow that makes you one of his own to decaying body parts being formed to become the disturbing jangly man, this movie is something nobody should miss out on. 

   It brings on the suspense factor without horrifying someone to the point where they can’t sleep for days, and all in all is worth the time; nobody should miss out on this PG-13 flick that brings Schwartz’s stories to life right in front of your eyes.