In 1981 Alvin Schwartz released the first in a series of terrifying “kids” books called Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. These books were groundbreaking in the way that it was the first series of truly scary stories for kids, and the illustrations, done by Stephen Gammell, were truly gruesome.

Fast forward 38 years, and three books later, and we are finally getting a film adaptation! In 2013 CBS Films gained the rights to turn Alvin Schwartz’s tales of terrifying fiction into reality on the big screen, with the aid of Guillermo del Toro in the role of director.
In the new, first official trailer, we get our first glimpse of Harold the Scarecrow, and he is absolutely horrifying to behold. We also see a corpse that’s searching for it’s missing big toe, the Pale Lady, and the Jangly Man, all far more terrifying than I remember them being in the books.


The film is set to star a cast of fairly fresh faces and comes to theaters to scare us all on August 9th, 2019.