Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

When I was a kid, I regularly sneaked into a specific aisle of my local library to pull out one of Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books. It felt like a forbidden entity at that age, as it was something that scared me tremendously and seemed almost wrong to be reading. Stories about severed toes being cooked into a stew, tales about disembodied heads falling through chimneys, and ghoulish yarns about otherworldly beings; the writing was simple, but did its job in provoking genuine emotions of fear, especially when accompanied by the disturbing illustrations by Stephen Gammell.

Later in life, I realize that these books were indubitably written for children daring enough to read them and pre-teens still searching for a good literary spook. Nevertheless, they were flawlessly fear-inducing for people in that age range, and you can express similar sentiments when discussing the new film adaptation of Schwartz's stories. "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" is a PG-13 scare-fest that will please the same age range today as it once did in its textual form. Like the books, it builds its screenplay on an unpretentious, approachable mindset that appeals directly to its intended audience. Also, like the books, the film uses uneasy imagery in its monstrous creations that add more bite to the "boo!"

That's the best part about "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark," which was directed by Andr� �vredal and produced by Guillermo del Toro. It does a fantastic job of startling its audience visually. From a creepy scarecrow to a distorted creature that looks as if someone put the Green Goblin in a microwave, "Scary Stories" is at its best when it's crafting chilling creatures inspired by the original writings. Its first "kill" (as the film holds true to a rigid slasher film structure) is a wild ride that immediately reveals that the movie isn't messing around. It may be for teens (a more mature "Goosebumps," if you will), but there are still some images in the film that will be hard to shake for some time. Let's just say, it'll be a while before I want someone to hug me again.

Another interesting aspect is the film's setting, as it takes place in 1968, on the brink of Vietnam drafts and the election of Tricky Dick Nixon. Pepper in some undertones of Mexican-related prejudice, and �vredal has crafted something that inevitably speaks to the times we're living in today. The film reminds us that the true scary stories are the ones unfolding right in front of us; the happenings that seem far too real (because they are) and feel out of our control. It mixes well with the film's fun approach to scaring the pants off its audience, as it never quite hits you over the head with its allegory. It's just there, in the background, serving merely as the skeleton for the film's thick-skinned thrills.