'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' Spoilers That Will Keep You up at Night

Gina Vaynshteyn - Author
By

Updated Aug. 9 2019, 8:12 p.m. ET

scary stories featured

If you were born in the '80s or '90s, you probably grew up reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark under the covers or with friends during recess. The stories (written by Alvin Schwartz), accompanied by the terrifyingly melt-y illustrations (by Stephen Gammell), was the true stuff of nightmares. One that *still* haunts me is "The Red Dot," which is about a girl who wakes up with a bump on her cheek that her mom insists is just a spider bite. When the girl goes to take a bath, the bump pops, and out crawl like, a hundred baby spiders! Turns out, a spider LAID ITS EGGS IN HER CHEEK. The thing about Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, was that the stories were kinda...plausible. With the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie coming out Friday, a part of us (maybe just me?) want to relive the scariest moments that will come up in the film adaptation. 

Here are all the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark spoilers we could find.

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1. It's already getting stellar reviews.

First of all, if you're unsure whether you should see it or not, know that Rotten Tomatoes has already given the movie an 80 percent, and it has a ton of great reviews. The movie, which is produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by André Øvredal, is said to be gross, funny, and satisfying. It *is* PG-13, so you won't have to shield your eyes from too much gore or gratuitous blood and guts. 

2. Richard Nixon is somehow involved.

richard nixon

According to Datebook, Scary Stories reference Richard Nixon's election. Is this maybe a subtle nod to the upcoming 2020 election? Whether or not this homage to presidential history works (apparently the TVs in the background show reports from the campaign or about the Vietnam War), it does tell the audience that the story is definitely set in 1968, and real-life scary stories are happening all around us.

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3. The effects are awesome.

scary stories

The LA Times says the monsters look just as scary as they do in the book. Stephen Gammell's signature art comes to life on the screen, and it's both beautiful and terrifying. You can already tell from the trailer that the monsters are going to be creepy (the corpse looking for her missing toe!), but rest assured, the entire movie really feels like the book.


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4. The monsters are familiar.

monsters

Even though Guillermo del Toro and André Øvredal created an actual storyline (a bunch of teenagers go to a haunted house and find a haunted book which contains stories written about them by a dead girl! So meta!) you'll see a lot of the monsters that kept you up at night. This includes The Pale Lady, Harold, The Jangly Man, and yes, all of those spiders in that girl's cheek.

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5. The haunted book the teens find is written by Sarah Bellows.

Sarah Bellows (played by Kathleen Pollard) is seeking revenge on the town of Mill Valley by writing scary stories that come to life, terrorizing teenagers. Sarah was a miller's heiress who was (falsely) accused of doing some bad things, so she's really pissed. It sounds like in order to defeat the book, the teenagers need to defeat Sarah. Yikes.

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6. Is there a post-credits scene?

Fans are wondering if there's a post-credits scene at the end of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark because it seems like the perfect movie for one. Unfortunately, there isn't one. Booo! Hissss! 

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