Guillermo del Toro Will Bring Back Your Childhood Terrors With 'Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark' Movie

By Kristy Puchko | Industry | January 14, 2016 |

We didn’t win the Powerball Jackpot, and yet we win!

Guillermo del Toro took to Twitter today to unleash some frightfully thrilling news:

I start development on a film based on a favorite book of youth: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! pic.twitter.com/yu31FkCz4K
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) January 14, 2016

In a press release that followed, we learned that del Toro will be producing the adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s twisted horror anthologies for kids, and he might even direct!

Just in case you forgot what a big damn deal those creepy books were, the release reminds us:

Alvin Schwartz’s trilogy of short story collections have sold more than seven million copies worldwide, resulting in at least as many nightmares. From the moment the first book was published in 1984, the SCARY STORIES series was one of the most banned from placement by the American Library Association, as the collections were considered to be too scary for children. The ensuing controversy only helped to fuel sales, and the trilogy has remained a cultural phenomenon ever since.

John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Frankenweenie) penned the screenplay, but no details are being released about its plot “so as to not remind people how badly “The Red Spot,” “Harold” and “The Wendigo” traumatized them as children.”

Ha! Yeah right. Like telling kids on the verge of puberty that a red blemish on your face might be filled with baby spiders is something we might ever forget.

Kristy Puchko remembers so many tendrils of these stories she’ll be having residual nightmares tonight.

Kristy Puchko is the managing editor of Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter.

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Guillermo del Toro Will Bring Back Your Childhood Terrors With 'Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark' Movie

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