History Film / ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark2019

''Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'' is a 2019 horror film directed by André Øvredal (''Film/TheAutopsyOfJaneDoe'', ''Film/TheTrollHunter'') and written by Dan & Kevin Hageman (''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie''), based on the series of children's' books by Alvin Schwartz & Stephen Gammell [[Literature/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark of the same name]]. Creator/GuillermoDelToro, who co-produced the film, also conceived the story.

The film follows a group of teenagers -- Stella, Chuck, Auggie and Ramon -- who take it upon themselves to solve a mystery of gruesome murders that have been happening in their small town.

In 2020 it was officially announced that a sequel is in development. While Del Toro, the original film's writers, and most of the cast (such as Colletti, Garza, Ganzhorn and Norris) have been confirmed to be returning, it is unclear if Øvredal will direct.

* AndIMustScream: With the exception of [[spoiler: Chief Turner, whose neck was snapped by the Jangly Man when he got in his way]], the fate of nearly every victim of Sarah's curse is left ambiguous. Stella thinks they are all still alive and can be brought back.
** [[spoiler: Tommy Milner was stabbed by his scarecrow Harold and was slowly turning into a scarecrow. The next day, the only trace of his is his jock-coat over Harold (which may or may not be a case of CloneByConversion).]]

* ArtisticLicenceBiology: Ruth has spider eggs laid under her skin despite that no species of spider lays eggs in humans. This is justified though since the parasitic spiders are supernatural monsters summoned by a ghost, not real ones.

** Shortly after intentionally locking his own date and four teenagers in the basement of an abandoned house, [[spoiler:Tommy gets impaled by a pitchfork and turned into a scarecrow by Harold.]]

* BigSisterInstinct: Ruth and Chuck fight like siblings tend to do, but when Tommy locks Chuck in the basement of the Bellows house, Ruth immediately tells him to let him go. She seems nervous to stand up to Tommy but insists that she has to help Chuck because he's her little brother. When Tommy doesn't listen to her she opens the door herself, which results in Tommy throwing her down to the basement and locking her in too. [[spoiler:The older sibling instinct returns at the end of the film, as Ruth teams up with Stella to find a way to bring Chuck and Auggie back from the dead.]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Stella manages to save herself and Ramón by promising to tell the world about how Sarah Bellows was not the monster that the stories about her painted her as, but rather a victim of her own family, with Sarah then stopping the stories from coming true. However, Ramón is drafted to Vietnam, but Stella promises to write him letters every day, Chief Turner is dead, and Auggie, Chuck, and presumably Tommy are still missing. The final scene has Stella, her father, and Ruth, who has since recovered from her attack, setting out to find a way to save them from their stories, with Stella still being in possession of Sarah’s book.]]

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Harold [[spoiler:turns Tommy into a scarecrow]] rather than skinning him alive and leaving it out to dry. Justified as a one to one adaptation would almost certainly have earned the film an R rating.

* DeadlyBook: Sarah Bellows' book of scary stories automatically fill in the pages, which then become true in reality.

* DirectLineToTheAuthor: An interesting case. The stories Stella writes in her spare time are very similar in tone to those which are in Sarah's own book, which in turn form the basis of the real life books the film is based on; Ramon blatantly outlines the ending of "Sam's New Pet" as one of Stella's creations. It can be inferred that Stella compiled both Sarah's and her own stories together to sell.

* DraftDodging: [[spoiler:Ramon is actively avoiding being sent to Vietnam, considering it a death trap with no hope of victory. He finally goes through with it at the end of the movie.]]

** Ramon mentions that [[spoiler:his brother came back from the Vietnam War in pieces. His designated monster is the Jangly Man, a rotting corpse formed from numerous severed limbs.]]

* GenreSavvy: Stella seems to be this, given that she writes and reads a lot of scary stories. As soon as Sarah's book starts to show its malevolence, Stella returns it to the Bellows house and apologizes for taking it. Unfortunately, it shows right back up in her room. Stella later tries to [[KillItWithFire burn it]], but it's impervious to fire.
* GreatestHitsAlbum: In a non-musical way, the film is something of a "best hits" of the ''Scary Stories'' books, with the characters each getting subjected to some of the most famous stories. Specifically, [[spoiler:"Harold", "The Big Toe", "The Red Spot", "The Dream", ""Me Tie Dough-ty Walker!" and "The Haunted House" are represented visually; lesser stories are briefly glimpsed in Sarah and Stella's works, such as "Sam's New Pet" and "The Wendigo". Aditionally, the melody of "The Hearse Song" is used various times during the film]].

** Tommy Milner is the DomesticAbuser of Ruth Steinberg. He tries to get revenge on Stella, Chuck, and Auggie over a prank and locks them and his own girlfriend in a secret room at the Bellows estate. He calls Ramon a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain "wetback"]] before vandalizing his car and abuses the scarecrow Harold whom he often vents his rage out on.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: [[spoiler:All four of the characters who get killed onscreen are male, with Sarah Bellows having died offscreen years ago and her female victims only referenced as names in the book. Ruth survives with a scarred face and Stella survives with minor injury, with Ramon as the only male targeted by the book to survive - but even then, of course, being forcibly drafted to the military during wartime because of his gender.]]

** Ramon and Stella are clearly attracted to each other and form a close bond [[FireForgedFriends over the course of the movie]]. Despite some hints, however, they never do more than hug and Ramon is [[spoiler: drafted into the Vietnam War before their relationship can develop more. Stella promises to write him as much as she can, however.]]
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:In the original "Me Tie Dough-ty Walker!", the dog dies of fright after the bloody head lands next to it. In this film, it runs away before they can meet.]]

* TimeTravel: [[spoiler:Sarah's story for Stella, "The Haunted House", sends her back in time to the Bellows family.]]
* TorsoWithAView: Harold's torso has a large hole in it in the movie. It doesn't seem to hinder him getting around, though.

The film stars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Abrams, Creator/GabrielRush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Lorraine Toussaint, Karen Glave, Javier Botet, Gil Bellows and Creator/DeanNorris.

* BalefulPolymorph: Almost literally, in this case, when [[spoiler:Tommy is forcibly turned into a scarecrow after being stabbed by Harold. Being stuffed with straw, he is literally a 'bale'ful polymorph.]]

* DomesticAbuser: Tommy is heavily {{implied}} to abuse Ruth.

* KarmicDeath: Each of Sarah's victims is faced with a situation that is an amped up version of something they fear:
** Tommy's hate and disgust for Harold are immediately evident at the start of the movie. [[spoiler: The scarecrow comes alive and kills him.]]
** Chuck is very resistant to being hugged by his mother (of course, he was trying to hide something behind his back at the time) and frowns on other displays of affection throughout the film. [[spoiler: He is smothered by the Pale Lady.]]
** Auggie has a lot of anxiety about contaminants lurking in food. [[spoiler: Dinner comes looking for him after he pulls its toe out of his mouth.]]
** Ruth panics when a spider lands on her shortly after being locked into Sarah's basement. [[spoiler: One spider becomes thousands after it implants eggs that later explode out of her face.]]
** Ramon [[spoiler: is avoiding conscription, fearing being sent to his death in Viet Nam]], but aside from this initial panic he is among the bravest of the kids. He does however worry that Stella [[spoiler: will see him as a coward. His nemesis is an implacable predator that constantly screams, "COWARD!!" at the top of its lungs.]]
** Stella doesn't receive the same treatment as the rest, [[spoiler: but she has been a lifelong victim of town gossip, much like Sarah. Her punishment is being forced to relive Sarah's treatment at the hands of her own family.]]

* BastardBoyfriend: Tommy is ''heavily'' implied to abuse Ruth.

** Tommy Milner is the BastardBoyfriend of Ruth Steinberg who tried to get revenge on Stella, Chuck, and Auggie over a prank and locks them and his own girlfriend in a secret room at the Bellows estate. He calls Ramon a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain "wetback"]] before vandalizing his car and abuses the scarecrow Harold whom he often vents his rage out on.

The film stars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Lorraine Toussaint, Karen Glave, Javier Botet, Gil Bellows and Creator/DeanNorris.

* AdultFear:
** The fear of the Vietnam war and Nixon's election is a backdrop to the film, especially when it's revealed [[spoiler:Ramon is a draft-dodger, who ran away because his older brother went to 'Nam and died over there]].
** Tommy's parents have to deal with [[spoiler:their son vanishing without a trace]].
** [[spoiler:Auggie and Chuck's parents have similar problems, with Auggie disappearing while his mom and stepdad were out of town, leaving only scratch marks on his floor behind, and Chuck disappearing after sneaking into a mental hospital with his friends.]]
** [[spoiler:Chuck's parents also have a daughter who has to be institutionalized after a traumatic, inexplicable incident.]]
** Stella's poor father has been through a lot. His wife left him and his daughter, and since this is an era before divorce is socially acceptable, the family had to contend with a lot of malicious gossip. He works long hours to put food on the table, and doesn't see Stella as much as he'd like to. The disappearances clearly have him worried for her safety, and he asks her to get home before dark so he can rest easy. [[spoiler:Then, one night, after two of her friends have gone missing and another has seemingly gone insane, she calls him, sobbing and telling him how much she loves him, and asking him to believe that when she disappears, she did ''not'' leave of her own volition. When he tries to comfort her and ask what's going on, she says she can't tell him, and hangs up. One can only imagine what nightmare scenarios were running through his head -- and the truth is probably just as bad as anything he came up with.]]

* ClinglyMacGuffin: Sarah's book always returns to Stella and can't be destroyed.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:Stella reveals the truth about Sarah Bellows to the world. While people praise her writing, only a few people believe her -- everyone else assumes she made the whole thing up. The real story ''is'' out there, but Sarah is still remembered as a villain by the world. Given that this is what the public record has been saying for a hundred years, this isn't too surprising.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: The Pale Lady from "The Dream". In the original story, she warns the protagonist that the apartment she's staying in is evil. In the film, [[spoiler: she stalks Chuck through the hospital and eventually pulls him inside her body]].

** The [[FantasticRacism racist]], {{Jerkass}} DirtyCop Chief Turner gets his neck snapped by the Jangly Man.

* RealityEnsues:
** Ramon isn't too keen on going to the cops, because he figures they'll look at him, a Hispanic teenager, and see a criminal, not a victim. Unfortunately, he's right.
** [[spoiler:Stella reveals the truth about Sarah Bellows to the world. While people praise her writing, only a few people believe her -- everyone else assumes she made the whole thing up. The real story ''is'' out there, but Sarah is still remembered as a villain by the world. Given that this is what the public record has been saying for a hundred years, this isn't too surprising.]]

* AssholeVictim: Shortly after intentionally locking his own date and four teenagers in the basement of an abandoned house, [[spoiler:Tommy gets impaled by a pitchfork and turned into a scarecrow by Harold.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: While the book targets sympathetic characters for victims as well, [[spoiler: Tommy and Chief Turner are both racist and antagonistic to the teenagers, and Tommy is particularly loathsome. Tommy ends up stabbed in the chest with a pitchfork before he is transformed by Harold and Chief Turner being the only victim who is straight-up ''murdered'', via NeckSnap. And while we never see their deaths, we see by the story written by Sarah that her father and brother ended up dying via [[IAmHumanitarian the Wendigo]].]]

* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Auggie, Chuck, Tommy, and Chief Turner are all still dead by the end of the film. However, the film ends with Stella, her dad, and Ruth [[SequelHook teaming up to find a way]] to bring Chuck and Auggie back.]]

* AndIMustScream: With the exception of [[spoiler: Chief Turner, who's neck was snapped by the Jangly Man when he got in his way]], the fate of nearly every victim of Sarah's curse is left ambiguous. Stella thinks they are all still alive and can be brought back.

** Ramone [[spoiler: is avoiding conscription, fearing being sent to his death in Viet Nam]], but aside from this initial panic he is among the bravest of the kids. He does however worry that Stella [[spoiler: will see him as a coward. His nemesis is an implacable predator that constantly screams, "COWARD!!" at the top of its lungs.]]

** Stella doesn't receive the same treatment as the rest, [[but she has been a lifelong victim of town gossip, much like Sarah. Her punishment is being forced to relive Sarah's treatment at the hands of her own family.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: While the book targets sympathetic characters for victims as well, [[spoiler: Tommy and Chief Turner are both racist and antagonistic to the teenagers, and Tommy is particularly loathsome. Both get more violent (at least onscreen) deaths than Auggie or Chuck, with Tommy stabbed in the chest with a pitchfork before he is transformed by Harold and Chief Turner being the only victim who is straight-up ''murdered'', via NeckSnap. And while we never see their deaths, we see by the story written by Sarah that her father and brother ended up dying via [[IAmHumanitarian the Wendigo]].]]

** [[spoiler: After Tommy is stabbed by Harold the scarecrow, he is slowly, painfully transformed into a scarecrow himself. We see straw coming out of his mouth and even his stab wounds.]]