Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Set in the week before Nixon’s election in 1968, Scary Stories takes place in the small town of Mill Valley. A group of teens kick off Halloween by getting retribution on the town bully and end up in the abandoned haunted mansion of the town’s founding family. They find the former dungeon bedroom of their daughter, along with the book of her scary stories. When one of the group, Stella (Zoe Colletti), takes the book from the bookcase, the nightmare begins for the teens as new stories begin to fill the pages. Stories about them.

I was not familiar with the books that this film is based on, but I love some of the director’s other movies. André Øvredal gave us both Trollhunter and The Autopsy of Jane Doe. And Guillermo del Toro produced, so that’s usually a good sign. But is it scary? It is. It is fun scary, like Creepshow. But I was never really frightened. The audience giggled, but didn’t scream. That being said, it was an enjoyable couple of hours.

[PG-13]