I expected a lot more when I clicked on this to watch on Halloween Eve. I thought that they might go in to the stories, and tell them, but they just had a bunch of talking heads express their concerns about the graphic pictures which elementary kids must have seen. They didn't really cover anything about the books, only what people thought was good or bad about it.
The entire production could have been done in 20 minutes and they dragged it over 84 minutes. Boring.
They needed to read more from the book, show the pictures, and have it narrated by some one with a sinister voice to spice things up a bit.
Scary Stories
2018
Action / Documentary
Scary Stories
2018
Action / Documentary
77% - Critics
66% - Audience
6.0Plot summary
Explore the history of one of the most controversial works of modern children's literature: The best selling teen classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which scared a generation of young readers and became one of the most banned books of modern times. Scary Stories creates both the ultimate celebration and dissertation of this iconic piece of horror literature. Scary Stories features more than 40 interviews, from family members of author Alvin Schwartz, to fellow children's book horror authors like R.L Stine "Goosebumps" and Q.L. Pearce, to folklorists, artists and fans discussing the impact that the books have had on both themselves as well as the culture at large. The documentary also explores the various times in which the books were banned or targeted by parent and religious groups as 'satanic' or otherwise too macabre for its targeted teen scholastic audience.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 779.56 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Terrible job
Reviewed by
Extremely Well Done
Comprised of several interviews (including R.L. Stine),old news footage, and archived audio interviews of the late author Alvin Schwartz, Scary Stories is a wonderful, nostalgic, and immersive telling of the storied history of the classic children books. Loaded with interesting facts and information, it's fun watching former teachers and librarians or kids at the time look back discussing the book and actually look at them again for the first time. Part of the fun brilliance of the documentary is the illustrated recreated scenes drawn in the style of the famed artwork in the books as people tell their stories and memories of the books. Another thing the film does very well is explore and explain the subtle genius behind the seemingly simplistic writing style. It looks at the historical and cultural significance of several stories and the lessons they teach and the cultural and regional context in which they are told. There is a very compelling segment in the film showing footage from the time of parents and people making the case to ban a book. It's fascinating to watch and the topic is thoroughly explored and given proper time to look at both sides of the argument. Scary Stories is extremely well done and I would definitely recommend it to anybody, but it is especially recommended to anyone with fond memories of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books.
Reviewed by
Very Informative
I grew up a big fan of these books and was excited to see this documentary available on demand. This was much for informative about the books and author than I anticipated. It also presents a good contrast of viewpoints of how the books can be perceived by the public. I highly recommend for fans of the books and (soon-to-Be) fans of the 2019 film.