Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark being Adapted by Big Fish Screenwriter

by Ben Apatoff

Get ready for nightmares. Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series is heading to the big screen, set to be adapted by BAFTA nominee and frequent Tim Burton collaborator John August (Go, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie). CBS films will be overseeing the production, and a director has not yet been announced.

The series, which kicked off in 1981 and has sold over 7 millions copies worldwide, famously adapted a number of horror folk tales and urban legends, complete with artist Stephen Gammell’s unsettling illustrations. The film version has been in works for years, with Saw scribes Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan originally in talks to write. The film does not have a scheduled release date yet, but if it’s anything like the books it will terrify an entire generation of grade schoolers.

(If you love Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, authors Matt Bell and Anne Valente revisited the books for Electric Literature last month.)