A new Scary Stories trailer unleashes the ghouls, ghosts and demons within

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

A new and frightfully good trailer for Guillermo del Toro and director André Øvredal's SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK has crept out of the shadows, giving us our best look yet at some of the film's featured foes of tales both terrifying and timeless.

When viewing the trailer, it's easy to see why many would be questioning the likelihood of the project receiving an anticipated rating of PG-13. After all, have you seen this thing? The film's haunting atmosphere, grotesque visuals, and nightmare creatures alone should be bumping this sucker up to an R-rating, though I'm sure that CBS Studios, Lionsgate, and Entertainment One (internationally) are hoping to score a piece of the millennial pie with this one.

Here's the official synopsis for SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK:

“It’s 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind…but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time—stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying tome."

Based on the children's book series of the same name by author Alvin Schwartz with illustrations by Stephen Gammell, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK stars  Zoe Colletti (ANNIE, RUBICON) as Stella Nicholls, Michael Garza (WAYWARD PINES, TIMELESS) as Ramón Morales, Austin Abrams (PAPER TOWNS, GANGSTER SQUAD) as Tommy Milner, Gabriel Rush (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, LITTLE BOXES) as Auggie Hilderbrandt, Austin Zajur (KIDDING, FIST FIGHT) as Chuck Steinberg, and Natalie Ganzhorn (WET BUM, MAKE IT POP) as Ruth, with Dean Norris as Roy Nicholls, Gil Bellows as Police Chief Turner, Lorraine Toussaint as Lou Lou, and Javier Botet as the Toe Monster.

For now, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK is at the top of my personal must-watch list for August's theatrical releases. I've been a superfan of the series ever since I was old enough to read on my own, and I think that Harold the Scarecrow and all of his creature co-horts look stunning in the upcoming adaptation. My body is ready, and I'm looking forward to Øvredal's film bringing the scares when it opens in theaters on August 9, 2018.