Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie coming...

Based on the books by Alvin Schwartz from the 80s and early 90s which were banned from school libraries for a time with crazy horrific artwork by Stephen Gammell. Kids used to go nuts for these books. The poster for the movie is out. They used the pic from the story "Harold" for the poster. Movie releases on August 9 by LionsGate.

 

Cheers, Hanz. Never heard o’ these stories but looking forward tae finding oot aboot ‘em.

 

So I assume it’s going to be a film of a few short stories ala Creep Show.

 

No idea. I heard it's various stories interwoven into a single film. Just a guess.

 

The first book was released in '81. The second book was released in '84. And the third and final was released in '91. They were huge with children growing up in the 80s and 90s and even today are extremely popular. Although many school libraries banned them because it was scaring many kids. But the books have been republished several times and re-released.

 

Nope.
Never heard of these books.
No-one else I know has heard of them either.


So...I think the word 'cult' needs to be applied here...similar to the books written by Terry Pratchett...read/liked by nerds, social-outcasts and all-round adolescent fuck-ups.

 

You're too old to remember them, fool. By the time you left school is when the books became popular.

 

Super Bowl TV Spots just came out.

 

They're staying faithful to the illustrations in the books.

 

Directed by André Øvredal and written by Daniel Hageman, Kevin Hageman, and Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro, Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark follows a group of young teens who must solve the mystery surrounding sudden and macabre deaths in their small town. The film stars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, and Dean Norris, among others.

Here’s the full official synopsis that should add more context:

It’s l968 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 tome.

The film hits theaters on August 9th.

 

Wait. So these books were 'school-only'?
That explains it.

I was a book-geek in the 1980s snd would spend hours in bookshops....that explains why I've never heard of or seen them.

 

Depends on when you left primary school for secondary. These books were huge with kids in North America from ages 7 to 12 or so. But the books weren't carried in high school. And the books became popular closer to the very late 80s to early 90s when book number 3 came around. And the books maintained their popularity long after. It wasn't so much the stories but the illustrations that made the series so popular with kids. The drawings were so f*cked up and there were complaints about the nature of the content being too horrific for young kids. That's why for a time the books were removed from schools and public libraries.

 

Some stills from the movie...

"The Big Toe"


"Jangly Man"

 

looks cool

the director also did the autopsy of jane doe..i cant remember whether or not it was good, probably was ok

 

So popular in USA....bit like the NFL, NBA then...

 

Looks cool.

 

When he left school that was when the very first book, the bible, was printed.

 

Parents Hated The Books!

By the time the Scary Stories series reached the height of its popularity in the early '90s, the book was condemned by parents nationwide. "There's no moral to [the stories]," former elementary school teacher and mother Sandy Vanderburg told the Chicago Tribune. "The bad guys always win. And they make light of death. There's a story called 'Just Delicious' about a woman who goes to a mortuary, steals another woman's liver, and feeds it to her husband. What the f**k is that!?!?"

One parent even made a connection between Schwartz’s book and a serial killer, citing the story “Wonderful Sausage,” about a butcher who puts people through his sausage grinder and sells the meat to his patrons. “Right away I thought of Jeffrey Dahmer," Jean Jaworski, then the mother of a fifth grader, told The Argus-Press in 1995. "It's just not appropriate for children." She asked the school board to remove the book from the library, but a special committee voted unanimously to keep the books, and the school turned down an appeal.

 

You seem really excited for this Hanz. I hope it's a well done movie and you have a good time watching it in theaters.

 

I'm not keeping my hopes up. More often than not, nothing ever lives up to the hype. But it's fun to wonder if it will do the books justice. I hope it will be rated R. Although it's highly unlikely.

 

Someone sounds super-hyped for a movie about a bunch of kids' books that
• were only popular or even fuckin heard of in the USA
• only popular for a few years in the late 80s/early 90s
• and if the thread-starter is anything to go by, are probably shit

 

Actually, the real stories were for adults from a collection of old-age books that had been shortened specifically for these kids' books. It was a retelling for a much younger audience. The books are available everywhere in just about every country. It caught on more so in the U.S and Canada in the late 80s and early 90s.
The stories won't be truly scary to anyone over the age of 13 or so.

 

Sounds like it should have been a Netflix series rather than a one off feature film. It could have played like that one 80’s style series that has the kids in it that everyone is crazy about and who’s name escapes me.

Hanz did they ever make short after school like shows off any of these. I remember seeing a couple shows before that sound similar. I remember in one these kids were in a rollercoaster and they had to answer a bunch of questions to survive. They kept advancing in the questions and just when you thought they were going to get away I assume they got a question wrong because they just disappeared and the show ended like that.

 

I don't recall any kids' shows related to this type of genre. I know there are shows like GooseBumps and stuff but that's all cheesy stuff. The stories in Scary Stories are more for adults but written in short versions for kids. Stories where a butcher is killing people, putting them through a meat grinder and serving parts of their corpses to customers isn't stuff that will make it onto any after-school kids' series. LOL
I agree that Scary Stories would be ideal for a Netflix series. Maybe there will be in time depending on the success of the film. After all, so many people have never heard of these books but as the movie draws closer, the books will see a lot of publicity and sales will soar as many people will be checking them out because of the hype. Kids especially.

 

I like his excitement. It's contagious. I've never heard of these books either but I'll see the movie in theaters, because of Hanzy. :)

 

Mustard is just pissed because he thought he married a Zumba instructor when really she was a brothel worker.

 

Really? I sure wouldn't.

Not about to take movie recommendations from someone obsessed with wrestling and pakistani/indian porn.

 

And furthermore, he knows next-to-nothing about movies/movie-making and the one he recommends he admits is for 12-18 yr olds.


You guys are so fuckin dumb, it's actually funny.

 

Who are you again? 56 messages and little over a year since you joined. Don't think I know you.

 

Why all the hate? Besides, I'm not recommending anything. I just made a thread about a movie in the works based on children's books. I haven't seen the movie and have no idea if it will be good or a complete dud.
Also, I've never seen your list of all-time favourite movies.