2019 feels like it was decades ago, but I do remember that Mark and I were quite keen to watch Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark when it was released but, for one reason or another, we never got round to it but when it got randomly pulled out of our lucky dip box I’d actually forgotten what the film was actually about and as a result my expectations were nonexistent. I’m not sure if that was a good thing or not because we wound up being rather disappointed.

Inspired by the Alvin Schwartz anthology series of folklore inspired short stories from the 1980’s, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark has a Goosebumps-meets-IT-meets-Stranger Things vibe that is annoying, distracting and ultimately ruins any potential that the film may have had. And with Guillermo Del Toro as part of the writing team, there was a whole lot of potential.

The film follows Stella and her two friends, Chuck and Auggie, as they celebrate their last Halloween before graduation and their last chance to get back at the school bully, Tommy. After pulling their prank, they flee from his wrath and wind up at the local drive-in theater. Straight into the car of drifter Ramon, who protects them against Tommy and his gang of followers. As something of a thank you, Stella suggests they take Ramon to see a haunted house – it is Halloween after all – and she tells him the local legend of Sarah Bellows, the tortured and isolated daughter of the wealthy Bellows family. Legend has it, that Sarah has turned her pain and suffering into a series of short stories that she whispers through the walls to children, before they mysteriously disappear never to be seen again.

Stella, a writer herself, find Sarah’s book in a hidden room and brings it home but after Tommy disappears and a new blood-curdling tale appears in the book, Stella realises that Sarah is still writing stories, she races to stop her murderous rampage before Sarah takes them all.

With an age-rating of 15 years, I think it’s fair to say that there was a lot of potential to push the envelope a little in terms of story, suspense and scareability. And although the first half of the film delivers in this respect, director André Øvredal fails to maintain the momentum and the overall style of the film soon fades into a slightly more juvenile tone à la Goosebumps.

Similarly, the pacing, which starts off well begins to feel rushed in the final third, and the film’s climax is pretty anticlimactic. Now, I could probably forgive a little lazy story writing as long as the entertainment value is there but I didn’t appreciate the uninspired and rather forceful “We’ll find a way to get them back” line to set up the sequel, which is currently in development.

Another bone of contention that I had with the film, was the decision not to expand more on the actual stories themselves. We typically hear the title and the opening line but very little else, and, yes, I know that we see the events unfold on the screen but we don’t really know what the tale is about. Where did the Jangly Man come from? What does he want? What the f**k was the creepy Spirited Away No-Face thing about?

Like with the story itself, the central group of friends had a distinct air of It meets Stranger Things but without the same level of charisma and memorability portrayed by the likes of Millie Bobby Brown or Finn Wolfhard (who, incidentally, is in both franchises). To be fair to Zoe Colletti (Stella) and Michael Garza (Ramon), they do carry the story as best they can and they have a good chemistry that is innocent, believable and pleasant to watch.

The film’s comedic relief comes in the form of Austin Zajur’s Chuck and he delivers a performance that is likeable but ultimately unmemorable, as was Gabriel Rush’s turn as Auggie, who I wanted to like but his only noteworthy contribution to the overall viewing experience was his choice of costume for Halloween. As for the remaining supporting characters, with the exception of Dean Norris who was grossly under used as Stella’s dad Roy, none of them really delivered anything worth the time it takes to write it up.

I know that I may have been a little harsh here but I need to be honest in my review, otherwise what’s the point.

Now fans of the genre may disagree with me, horror is not exactly my go-to, but overall Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark fails to deliver on the potential of the source material and doesn’t bring anything new, different or exciting to the game. If the concept appeals to you, then I would probably recommend the 2017 film Ghost Stories instead.