If you were a child growing up in the 80s and 90s there was a chance someone read to you a scary story from Alvin Schwatz’s, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” The spooky thriller not only brings to life childhood hauntings from decades past but fresh haunts to a new generation.

I was introduced to “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” in my youth by my mother would cleverly read a story from the novel during the Halloween season. I recall the playful retelling of ‘Just Delicious’, just one of the many chilling stories from the series. André Øvredal captivates the audience with his retelling of these scary stories from the perspective of ill-fated friends Auggie, Chuck, and Stella.

After a night of Halloween pranks and mischievousness in the Bellows haunted house. The trio finds themselves in the infamous Sarah Bellows room. The room where children were told scary stories through the wall by Sarh herself, only after hearing the stories the children went missing, never to be seen again. Stella (a horror genre junkie) discovers Sarah’s scary stories and takes the book with her home. Beckoning Sarah to tell her a story to see if all the urban legends were true.

Something that Stella would soon regret as the book begins to write new stories, threatening the lives of those she knows and those around her. Knowing that she will fall victim to Sarah’s book, Stella decides to confront Sarah herself. I was left on the edge of my seat in the final act and pleasantly surprised that the film was left open to become a franchise. Leaving more stories to be told and perhaps those easter eggs about the disappearances resolved.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is one of the best horror/thriller films since 2013’s Conjuring. Easily becoming an instant cult classic just like the novel counterpart.