EXCLUSIVE: ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ Movie Will Address Controversial New Illustrations

With a feature film based on Goosebumps out in theaters this Halloween season, nostalgia once again seems to reign supreme. But there’s another classic children’s book series that gave everybody nightmare, and it too has a feature film adaptation on the horizon. We haven’t heard any news about this lately, but a lot of people want to know… what is going on with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?

The movie version of Alvin Schwartz’s books – which featured iconic and utterly horrifying illustrations by Stephen Gammell – was set in motion several years ago, with Saw sequel screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan working on the adaptation. Last year, those duties passed to veteran screenwriter John August (Big Fish), with whom Crave caught up this week at a Writer’s Guild of America Q&A for a full interview (coming soon) and an update on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

“I am still working on it, yeah,“ John August confirmed to Crave, adding that, even though the film is based on a children’s book he thinks it is going to be “quite scary.” Which makes sense, given that the source material was a bunch of scary stories to tell in the dark.

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“As a screenwriter I have no fortunetelling ability to know whether the movie is going to [go into production] or if the movie is going to be good,“ August continued. “But I can say that I’m really excited with what we’ve been able to do so far and if we are able to make the movie I kind of hope we’ll be able to make, it’s going to be something great, and a very unique movie that we haven’t seen before.”

That’s all well and good, but how will the film tackle Stephen Gammell’s horrifying illustrations, which many have argued are just as important to the books’ popularity – if not more so – than the actual stories themselves? And which are so terribly scary that recent editions of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books now feature new, toned down artwork from  A Series of Unfortunate Events illustrator Brett Hequist?

“Without spoiling things I will say that the illustrations are an incredibly crucial part of the book and they are an incredibly crucial part of the movie,“ August added. Surprisingly, when asked about the new illustrations, August also confirmed that this recent development will actually be addressed.

“Again,“ August concluded. “Without sort of spoiling things about the movie, I will say that the difference between those original illustrations and the second set of illustrations are an important aspect of the movie experience.”

One can only speculate on exactly what August means by this – perhaps a genie in the bottle storyline, in which the original illustrations are keeping the horrors in check, not unlike Wes Craven’s New Nightmare perhaps? – but the legions of fans of Stephen Gammell’s work may rest a little easier this Halloween, knowing that the people behind the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie care about those drawings just as much as we do.

Illustrations: Stephen Gammell 

William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.