As much as the genre has been defined by blood and guts for its entire existence, there’s no rule that says audiences can be left quaking in their boots by a PG-13 horror movie, with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark one of the most prominent examples.
Sure, mountains of gore and entrails strewn all over the screen are good for a quick fix and adrenaline rush, but it’s arguably more difficult to create an atmosphere of pure terror without having the crutch of claret to rely on. Thankfully, the dream team of The Autopsy of Jane Doe director André Øvredal and famed lover of all thinks spooky Guillermo del Toro’s team-up delivered the goods.
A small town story with a twist, the 1968-set exercise in unrelentingly foreboding fear finds a group of teenagers making the age-old mistake of venturing into the cavernous mansion with a bad reputation, where they find a book written by former resident Sarah Bellows – one that more than lives up to the title of the film as increasingly macabre events begin to unfold.
Roundly praised by critics and a smash hit at the box office after recouping the $25 million budget four times over and then some, the biggest downside surrounding Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is that we haven’t got a sequel yet. It was announced in April 2020, but it’s been a while since we’ve heard any concrete updates on what could be a massively successful and long-running franchise.
Until then, though, fans are free to revisit what’s hopefully only the first chapter of many to come on streaming, with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark having been captivating a whole new set of supporters on-demand. Per FlixPatrol, the spine-tingling flick has exploded in popularity to become one of Prime Video’s top-viewed titles, but we could definitely do with seeing more.
