Generations of readers have been spooked by Stephen Gammell's illustrations and haunted by Alvin Schwartz's words from the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book trilogy, and now Guillermo del Toro is looking to bring these timeless tales to life on the big screen.
Del Toro shared word of the adaptation on Twitter, writing, "I start development on a film based on a favorite book of youth: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!" Proving his love of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, the tweet is accompanied by a photo of del Toro with framed drawings by Gammell (see below).
While the full extent of del Toro's involvement with the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark adaptation has not been revealed, The Hollywood Reporter mentions that he could end up in the director's chair for the project.
What is known right now is that del Toro will produce the adaptation with Sean Daniel, Jason Brown, and Elizabeth Grave for CBS Films. The movie is being developed from a screenplay by John August (Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie), who worked on the project after CBS Films bought an initial pitch by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (The Collector films, the Feast films, final four Saw movies) back in 2013.
For those unfamiliar with these books, the first was released in 1981, with two additional books released in 1984 and 1991. Each book featured a collection of creepy tales accompanied by even creepier images. Below, we have a look at the cover art for each book, as well as del Toro's tweet. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more details.
From Twitter:
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