#michael garza

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“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” (2019)

Dir. André Øvredal

I was too scared to actually check out the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books as a kid, but of course I knew about them. Friends would show me the grotesque drawings and recount how some unlucky character had met a violent end. I understood the terrifying power of those books, and steered clear.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) turns these stories into a book written by a local legend. Sarah Bellows was locked in a cellar where no one ever saw her face, she murdered children, she hung herself in the house. So the stories say. If you visit the abandoned house, Sarah will read you a story. It will be the last one you hear, because it will happen to you. 

It’s well-worn territory, but I am a sucker for films about the power of stories. The ones in Scary Stories are weird and frightening in a very core, childish way. They’re not common or plausible fears, but so strange that you can’t help but be frightened that something similar could happen to you. The sheer weirdness of this film makes it stand out and appeal to me.

The characters are a Stranger Things -esque team of misfits, but I felt drawn to the protagonist, Stella. She’s a writer, a horror fan, and an only child who blames herself for her mother’s absence. Her narrative was the heart of this film for me. It’s also a film that doesn’t shy away from social commentary, being anti-cop, anti-military, and anti-capitalist.