A surprisingly good horror is screaming up the Netflix charts

The horror genre has a bad rap for its trashy storytelling and obvious jump scares, but Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark doesn’t sacrifice plot for the sake of an easy scream. That might why the movie finds itself as one of Netflix’s ten most-watched titles in the United States, as per FlixPatrol.

Set in 1968, a group of teenagers explore an abandoned house rumored to be haunted. In the house, they stumble upon a journal of stories written by a young girl who used to live there, but what starts off as some fun stories soon becomes more real than they could ever imagine.

Released in 2019, the film was well-received by critics and audiences alike scoring 77% and 72% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and audiences respectively. In typical modern Hollywood style, the success of the film has resulted in a sequel being green lit.

Currently in pre-production, it could be a while before the sequel sees the light of day due to numerous industry delays caused by the pandemic. These setbacks have affected projects big and small, including huge blockbusters like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which had fans fuming.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was developed by Guillermo del Toro, who is well known for working on projects such as Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and Hellboy. More recently he wrote the thriller Nightmare Alley starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett, which was met with praise from fans.