Guillermo del Toro's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie adaptation has gotten an official poster that recreates an iconic illustration from the books. Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories books were published from 1981-91 and have since gone on to terrorize/traumatize multiple generations of kids who've read them. All three books are composed of short stories inspired by various urban legends and folklore that Schwartz researched over the course of writing. Of course, Stephen Gammell's original illustrations for the series are perhaps as famous and nightmare-inducing as the stories themselves.
Some of Gammell's most memorable (and horrifying) illustrations include those for stories like "The Red Spot" and "The Wonderful Sausage", in addition to his artwork for the books' actual covers. However, of all the images that Gammell crafted, one of the more famous (if not the most famous) is that of a scarecrow named Harold. That makes it all the more fitting that the poster for del Toro's Scary Stories adaptation brings the not-so-friendly bird scarer to life in live-action.
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CBS Films released the official Scary Stories movie poster online around the same time that del Toro tweeted it out from his official Twitter account (see below). CBS Films also tweeted out the message "This Sunday will be Scary", which suggests the movie's first trailer will arrive either just before, after, or during Super Bowl LIII this weekend.
The story "Harold" was featured in Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones and tells the tale of two cow farmers who make a scarecrow modeled after Harold (a farmer they both hate) and proceed to be mean to it... which turns out to be a terrible idea, once the scarecrow starts coming to life. It's nice to see the Scary Stories film paying homage to its source material in such a reverent fashion here. The live-action Harold certainly looks as creepy and spooky as the version drawn by Gammell all those years ago. All the same, it's worth mentioning that del Toro's movie isn't strictly based on the story "Harold" or any particular collection of stories by Alvarez.
According to its synopsis, Scary Stories follows a group of young teenagers as they try and solve the mystery behind a series of "macabre" murders in their hometown. The film's script, which del Toro wrote with the Hageman brothers (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia), is expected to feature multiple monsters from Alvarez's stories, Harold included. Presumably, the murderous scarecrow is somehow connected to the deaths in the movie's narrative. With del Toro as a writer and André Øvredal - director of the acclaimed horror-thriller The Autopsy of Jane Doe - calling the shots on Scary Stories, it's a good bet Harold will be just as freaky on the big screen as he was on the printed page.
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Be sure and check back on Screen Rant this Sunday for the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trailer!
Source: CBS Films
