‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark’ Teasers: Guillermo Del Toro Brings The Classic Children’s Horror To Life

If you were a child of the ’80s and ’90s you probably remember Alvin Schwartz’s creepy Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark novels. The distinct imagery by artist Stephen Gammell was horrifying and unforgettable, which is why Guillermo Del Toro has long sought to bring it to the big screen.

Well now we’re getting our first footage in a couple of mini-trailers. The first is an adaptation of “The Big Toe”, while the latter is from a new story titled “The Jangly Man”. Meanwhile “Harold” the scarecrow is the subject of the official poster,  looking every bit as horrifying as he does on the page. Don’t fuck with Harold or your skin will end up flayed on the roof. Just sayin’, that Schwartz guy was seriously messed up.

Two more were added later in the night. The first is clearly based on “The Dream”, which you’ll recall from this iconic image from the book.  And a rather disgusting one for “Red Spot”, about a girl who gets what appears to be a spider bite on her face. Blergh.

The film will be directed by André Øvredal (Trollhunters) with Del Toro producing. The cast includes Zoe Colletti, Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint, and Natalie Ganzhorn. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark opens August 9th.