Syfy Insider Exclusive

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!

Sign Up For Free to View
SYFY WIRE Scary Stories to tell in the dark

First full trailer for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark reveals the terrifying Jangly Man

By Don Kaye
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

We've been seeing teasers for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark since earlier this year, but now the first full trailer for the movie has arrived and it's, well, scary!

Produced by Guillermo del Toro (who also co-wrote the screen story) and directed by André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is based on the classic series of children's books by Alvin Schwartz, which collected some 82 different creepy tales for kids, many of them based on folklore and urban legends.

For the movie, set in 1968, the filmmakers have taken elements of some of the most popular stories and rolled them into one central plot, about a group of teens who stumble upon a book of scary stories while exploring an abandoned house. After they remove the book from the house, the stories start to come to life — and come after them.

Take a look:

As previous clips and a teaser trailer have shown, certain classic stories from the books — such as "The Big Toe," "The Dream" and "The Red Spot" — are represented, while other images, like the frightening Jangly Man who emerges near the end, are either combinations of monsters from different stories or original creations inspired by the books.

The well-worn trope of the stories coming to life was also used in the recent movies based on the Goosebumps novels, but whereas those films were somewhat more comedic in nature, we suspect that Del Toro and Øvredal are going to give the concept a far more nightmarish spin with this film.

Starring Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint, Austin Zajur and Natalie Ganzhorn, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark opens Aug. 9.