Last year, news came that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark would be getting the big screen treatment. Scary Stories is of course the infamous collection of short stories based on folklore and urban legends that has terrified school children since its original publication in the 80s. It also featured deeply unsettling, black and white illustrations from Stephen Gammell. The drawings have certainly made a lasting impression on all children that read Allan Schwartz’s stories.
This first official poster recreates one of Gammell’s images:
The image is a faithful recreation of this original scarecrow illustration from one of the short stories.
The film will follow a group of teens that set out to solve the mystery of a series of deaths occurring in their town, possibly tying in multiple stories from Schwartz’s books. Guillermo Del Toro is set to co-write and co-produce the film, alongside Daniel and Kevin Hageman, writers of The Lego Movie and Hotel Transylvania. Del Toro’s horror experience and the Hagemans’ work on children’s films is an appropriate match for the Scary Stories film. While the source material is appropriate for younger audiences, that doesn’t make it any less disturbing.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is set to release later this year on August 9, 2019.
