CBS Films has released the official trailer forScary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the big-screen horror flick based on theAlvin Schwartzbook series that was banned in certain suburban corners of America in the 1990s. Oscar-winning filmmakerGuillermo del Toroproduced the project and conceived the story withPatrick Melton&Marcus Dunstan(Saw IV,V, andVI). The big-screen adaptation hasAndré Øvredal(The Autopsy of Jane Doe) in the director’s chair and a script byTrollhunterswritersDanand Kevin Hageman.
The story conceit here is that theScary Stories to Tell in the Darkbook exists in a haunted house, and a group of kids finds it and begins to discover that each story starts coming to life as they read it. That’s a pretty smart way of turning an anthology book like this into a cohesive film, and the frights are aplenty in this here trailer. What really grabs me, though, is how well the illustrations have been turned into living nightmares. Can’t wait.
Check out the newScary Stores to Tell in the Darktrailer below. The cast ofScary Stories to Tell in the DarkincludesZoe Colletti(Annie),Gabriel Rush(The Grand Budapest Hotel),Austin Abrams(The Americans),Austin Zajur(Kidding), andNatalie Ganzhorn(The Stanley Dynamic), withBreaking BadalumnusDean Norrison board alongside the horror icon-in-the-making,Javier Botet, who has played the Leper inIT, the title character inSlender Man, a Wight inGame of Thronesand much, much more.Scary Stories to Tell in the Darkhits theaters on August 9th.
Here’s the official synopsis forScary Stories to Tell in the Dark:
It’s 1968 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 home.
For more of our coverage ofScary Stories to Tell in the Dark, be sure to click on these links to recent write-ups … unless you’re too scared:
