If you were a child of the ’80s, you most likely owned the book Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Written in 1981 by author Alvin Schwartz, the book was an immediate hit, which ended up with two sequels. All the books were a delightful, horror-ific collection of terrifying short stories.
The movie based on this book, made in 2019 and directed by André Øverdal, received a 78% rating from Rotten Tomatoes, and 84% of viewers liked the film. The script is a blend of all the short stories from the book, and the result is a thrilling, terrifying view. As the title of this article suggests, I recommend you watch with the lights on!
Set in the small town of Mill Valley in the year 1968, the film is based around a group of kids who end up going to the local haunted house, which is the old dilapidated Bellows mansion, on Halloween night. The Bellows were a prominent family from the turn of the century, who helped found the town. For years, the family kept their daughter, Sarah, locked away. In turn, Sarah began to tell stories through the walls to the visitors who came to the abandoned home. Many children and teens who visited the home went missing, and the legend of Sarah Bellows grew to epic proportions.
It was believed that Sarah went crazy and committed suicide in the house. As legend was told, she would write scary stories in a book, in blood. She’d then tell these stories to the people who came to the mansion in search of a scare, and some were never heard of again.
This particular Halloween in 1968 follows a young writer named Stella and her two friends, Auggie and Chuck. They also meet up with a young draft dodger named Ràmon. It was Halloween night, so they head to the Bellows house for an adventurous scare. There they found more than they bargained for/ Taunted by teenagers, they are locked inside along with Chuck’s sister, Ruth. Despite being afraid out of their wits, they escaped; Stella grabbing Sarah’s book as they leave.
This is no ordinary book. Old, dusty, and worn, Stella is horrified to see a story start to write itself about one of the teenagers who has tormented them at the Bellows house. Entitled “Harold”, it describes a scarecrow coming to life and stabbing the taunting teen, Tommy, with a pitchfork. Later, the trio found a scarecrow dressed in Tommy’s clothes, but no one is yet convinced that what was happening is real.
Another story begins to appear in Sarah’s old book, entitled “The Big Toe”, with Auggie as the star character. The story is about a zombie searching for his missing toe, which just happens to be in a bowl of stew that Auggie is eating. Unfortunately for Auggie, the story isn’t written in his favor, and he disappears after the zombie drags him under his bed.
Stella, Rámon, and Chuck realize that the decades of horrifying legends are true, Sarah is real, the book is evil, and they are next. Attempting to destroy the book to save themselves, they try to burn the book, but it will not be destroyed.
Meanwhile, another story is being written, entitled “The Red Spot.” Unfortunately for Chuck’s sister Ruth, this is her story. A large rosy pimple on her face becomes a huge boil, finally bursting, not with pus but with thousands of baby spiders. Although the kids are able to save her and she lives, she loses her mind.
Time running out, Stella and her friends research into Sarah’s background, searching for a way to change their fate. They know that Sarah will not stop writing her horror stories and they can only hope to save themselves. Research at the local hospital provides them with information that it was Sarah’s own family who tortured her, and held her hostage: she knew the dirty family secret. It was her family’s mill that was poisoning the townspeople with mercury in the water. Subjected to electroshock and other atrocities at the hands of her own brother in an attempt to keep her from revealing the truth, Sarah becomes violently resentful and in turn, begins writing her horror stories.
At the hospital, Chuck is next. Stella and Ràmone are unable to save him from “The Pale Lady.” After admitting to Stella that Ràmone himself is a draft dodger because he fears coming home in pieces from the war as his brother did, Ràmone’s story starts to be written next. “The Jangly Man,” a horribly disgusting creature that was a campfire story he was scared of as a child, begins to go after him. He’s a creature straight out of the most horrid of nightmares.
Stella’s only hope is to convince Sarah to stop writing her tales of terror. She returns to the Bellows mansion, where Sarah shows herself, a maddeningly distorted spirit with a lust for vengeance, evil to the core after years of being trapped as a spirit in the Bellows mansion. Forcing Stella to relive the terrors she endured, Stella makes a promise to Sarah’s ghost that she will tell her true story if only she will stop the killings. Sarah forces Stella to write in the book with her own blood, thus saving Ràmone from The Jangly Man, and then finally, Sarah vanishing herself.
The terror finally over, the truth of Sarah’s torment and truth are finally revealed, as Stella keeps her promise to Sarah, ensuring that her truth of innocence is told. At long last, the killing is over. The nightmare of Sarah Bellows is over.
Ràmone goes away to war, after a tender goodbye to Stella. The ending leaves one wondering if a sequel may be in the works, as Stella, a recovered Ruth, and Stella’s father drive away after seeing Ràmone off. Stella believes that somehow, she will find a way to rescue Chuck and Auggie and bring them back.
I certainly hope a sequel is in the works. I don’t scare easily, and this movie literally had me sleeping with the lights on after I watched it. If you like a good scare and are one of the brave, then “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” is the movie for you. If you can handle it with the lights off, even better!
Written by Mandie Stevens
