Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark review

A group of friends, Halloween night and a Haunted House where inside a young woman was tortured to the point of suicide. Sounds pretty normal right?? well Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark's setup is pretty bog standard. Group of friends who are pretty much outcasts at their school decide to get together on their final Halloween together to get revenge on the bullies who made their lives extra difficult in High School. While out and dressed in Halloween get up they get the better of the bullies until they are forced into a car park which also just so happens to be showing Night of the Living Dead in it's drive-thru. With the help of a new friend they escape the bullies but before heading home they come across the house of The Bellows family. A high upper class family who all vanished from their town. And it is inside where the suicide of one Sarah Bellows took place many, many years ago. Upon exploring the house a secret entrance to a room below is found. Deep down into the bowls of the house lays the room where Sarah Bellows wept and told her stories to anyone who would listen or even if they wouldn't. Of course the main character just so happens to stumble upon Sarah's book of scary stories and it is from here really where the movie kicks into gear. 

So as you can see it's a simple set-up and for the most part it works really well. All the main characters are really likable and play off one another well. It does take a bit longer than needed be to really get going but once it does it's all full sail ahead as scary stories began to be written..literally. Given that this movie is produced by Guillermo Del Toro you would be right to think that the variety of monsters on showcase here is stellar and creepy and you would be absolutely right to think so. There's a walking scarecrow that when it impales someone they too turn into a Scarecrow. A corpse looking for her missing toe, a giant spider infested zit and the most oddly shaped walking creature I've seen in movie of this type. It's not all terrifying unfortunately. Some scenes are tension filled but for the most part the movie relies too heavily on jump scares instead of straight out creepiness. When it does the creepy aspect however it does it right. 

As a whole Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark isn't perfect by any means but it is certainly enjoyable. It has engaging characters who you will find yourself really liking as the movie goes on and on. It's monsters are just creepy enough to suffice and it's ending while predictable does leave things open for a possible sequel. I can't really say if this movie is better than any of the books it's based on because I haven't read any of them but as a movie solely standing on it's own two feet it's a perfect movie for Halloween. It's funny, creepy when it needs to be and will thoroughly entertain you. It is worth your time in that sense.

★★★