Scary Stories sequel will use more of the iconic book illustrations

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It was announced earlier this year that Paramount Pictures and Entertainment One were developing a SCARY STORIES sequel with director André Øvredal, writers Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, and producer Guillermo del Toro all back for more. The sequel will once again be drawing upon Alvin Schwartz‘s "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark," the children's horror series which featured terrifying illustrations by Stephen Gammell, and Øvredal told Collider that they will be tapping even more into Gammell's illustrations this time around.

I learned so much on Scary Stories, but also about Scary Stories and I do think that we’ll tap even more into [illustrator Stephen] Gammell’s visual world in the sequel than we did in the first movie.

As many of us are still haunted by those black and white images we first saw as children, that's probably not a bad idea. André Øvredal added that they're currently in a "holding pattern" as they develop the story and script. SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK revolved around a young girl who transforms her tortured life into a series of scary stories, but when a group of teenagers stumbled upon her home at the edge of town, they discover that the horrors are all too real. The novels on which the film was based contains plenty of horror tales, so the team definitely has a lot of stories to adapt.

I haven't had the chance to check out the film for myself yet (I know, it's been over a year), but our own JimmyO was a fan of the film upon its release, saying that in his review that SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK "manages to create a sense of doom in the midst of a young adult minded horror feature. Even with a PG-13 rating, it’s a fun, twisted ride that will haunt you for weeks. Especially if you were raised on these frights." Are you folks down for a sequel? What stories from the original novels do you hope they'll adapt?