Not bad but not great. This is the perfect middle ground for pre teens looking for horror. There were a few decent scares but nothing over the top with gore.

This movie was honestly better than expected. It had a strong storyline, believable characters, and some decent suspense thrown in. (Which is a reminder that you don't need gore to have a decent Halloween horror story.)

Think the movie Goosebumps, except the way they adapted these books is more clever and creepier. With the stories from the first book of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, coming to life.

Dare I say this is better than It: Chapter 2?
YES

My Review of ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ in 3 Sentences:

1. I wasn’t fully satisfied, but I wasn’t bored - thanks to some solid spooky visuals.

2. The Bellows family story - the source of the action - felt rushed and incomplete.

3. One major downside is that several character fates will never be revealed by a sequel that’ll never happen.

Never particularly scary, but there is imagination to spare here, and a few neat visuals that enhance the macabre atmosphere. Perfect Halloween fare for the entire family - well, perhaps not Aunt Maude if her ticker isn't up to loud noises and jump moments.

scary stories really does wonders in making all people equals in that the pale woman could justifiably haunt anyones nightmares, and I admire it for that :relieved:

A horror movie doesn’t always need to have a disgusting amount of gore and freakish imagery. I really liked this nice little movie because it had very good pacing and it was pretty atmospheric and suspenseful.

A horror movie doesn’t always need to have a disgusting amount of gore and freakish imagery. I really liked this nice little movie because it had very good pacing and it was pretty atmospheric and suspenseful.

This isn't horror. It's a mediocre thriller for tweens.

good movie - lost a point because they used practical effects and mucked it up with poorly done postproduction cgi

I liked how the script was written: showing us several horror stories in a book

I have no idea why I was expecting an anthology before I started watching this film. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. While I dislike the increasingly high number of horror films which take place in 1960s/70s/80s nowadays, I still enjoyed watching this one.

Surprisingly, each scary scene in the film is better than the one before, which makes the film better as you keep watching it.

Would I watch it again? Yes. Would I make my friends watch it? Why not?

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a mediocre horror film from Guillermo del Toro. Based on the popular book series, a group of misfit teenagers explore a haunted house where they find a book belonging to a witch that begins to write stories in blood foretelling each of their deaths. The script is pretty formulaic and the creatures are rather tame (kind of what you’d expect from a kids book series). Still, the sets and costumes are well done and set the right tone and feel for the time period. And there’s a powerful message about the power of storytelling. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has its problems, but it’s entertaining and delivers a few chills.

not the worst adaptation but not the best. especially coming off of the fear street trilogy, this just makes my 10 year old self mildly disappointed. i think the way the monsters were rendered could've been done differently to emulate the illustrations more effectively while still blending into reality, and most importantly, i don't really understand the decision to set the movie in the 60s. given the peak cult popularity of the series in the late 80s to early 2000s in school libraries, i think an 80s setting at the earliest would've been better. maybe it would've been harder to connect with people who knew sarah but still, that was literally just one character connection?

i also get that this was made to appeal to a new generation of younger horror fans but i don't know... fear street clearly was too, but it also had enough flavor and nostalgia to keep millennial viewers engaged. i think this missed the mark in trying to be accessible to younger audiences, because the emphasis on the storyline and hero's journey type of plot made the best part of the books fade into the background—aka, the scary stories themselves.

Fun movie to watch; family-friendly, some spooky/creepy/jump moments but no excessive gore. This was a fun Halloween movie, great fun. Don't expect Oscar-winning acting or storylines; just grab the popcorn and have fun with this one.

Slow to start, but picked up after that. I was mostly interested for the monsters, which didn't disappoint me. I don't have any familiarity with the book (I was scared of EVERYTHING as a child, so my mom wisely kept books like this away from me), but I love monster horror now, and had seen a making-of video while looking at stuff about Javier Botet. I think this movie could've worked better as an anthology movie, without trying to tie all the creatures together with an overarching plot, but it did alright as it is. I'm also not sure about the choice of time period, and all the real world stuff about Nixon and the Vietnam War being included; none of it was needed, or explained anything relevant to the characters. If I'd watched this as a teen or a kid, I probably would've been scared, but nothing got me (even though the movie was running a few minutes ahead of the subtitles from wheresthejump.com), and mostly I just liked the monsters, especially [spoiler]the fat pale lady[/spoiler].