Much like most people my age, the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark series had a profound effect on my childhood. I remember the first time I cracked open the original volume in the series, and was absolutely terrified by its contents. Alvin Schwartz’s collection of folk tales, combined with Stephen Gammel’s horrific illustrations, stuck with me long after I closed the book, and followed me into my nightmares.

I can trace a lot of my love of all things scary back to these books, and have always very had a dark place in my heart for them. In fact, a few years back, when my son’s school was having a book fair, I saw a new edition of them for sale and quickly snatched them up for him. When we began to read them, and saw that the illustrations were changed, I had a meltdown, and marched back to the school the next day to return them. I called my parents shortly thereafter, and had them send me my originals, so he could have the same experience with them.

For almost two years, I have been following Cody Meirick’s documentary on the books, SCARY STORIES. I was very excited when I first heard about it, and followed his updates on social media as it came to fruition. I was mad I wasn’t near any of the film festivals it was playing at, but as soon as a distribution deal was struck, I knew it was only a matter of time before I got a chance to see it. Last night, I was finally able to sit down with it, and let me tell you: it was worth the wait.

SCARY STORIES was going to be a fascinating watch regardless, but I think what I appreciated most about it was that it went a route I did not expect it to. Honestly, I was thinking it was going to be a lot of fans, just being talking heads, going on about their nostalgia. And while, yes, it did have a bit of that, I was pleasantly surprised to see Meirick focus on the history of the books themselves, and Schwartz’s meticulous research process, along with hearing from his family about the impact it had on them as well.

During the heyday of the books, there was a dearth of other “scary story” books that followed in their wake, and it was great to see some other book covers from the past that I coveted, along with hearing from the authors of those books about the impact Schwartz’s stories had on them.
But one of the most fascinating aspects of the film was hearing about the censorship problems the books had. I’m not stranger to that, as I remember a lot of parents tried to get the books banned from my school growing up.

But, the fact that Meirick went out of his way to tell this story a little more, especially allowing Sandy Vrabel tell her side of the story while she tried to get them banned, was incredible. She’s not painted in a negative light at all, which was actually great to see, and it was kind of interesting to see how Meirick framed her part of the story.

We also get to hear a bit from Peter Schwartz, the author’s estranged son, and learn more about his dad. It was incredible, and quite sad, to hear how strained their relationship was when his father was still alive, but it seems that Peter does wish things had been different for them. His genuine love for his father, and his work, shines through in his segments.

I really did love how the film highlighted Schwartz’s research as well, reminding readers that these stories often came from unlikely origin points. Schwartz’s many hours in the Princeton University library helped pay respect to the original tales, something that not many authors had done at the time. Some of the more popular stories from the series are highlighted, with their sources and origins explained, which was captivating.

Gammel’s artwork also gets the spotlight, and while the artist is notoriously private, a bit about his process is explained. It would have been great to hear from him directly, but I know he likes to keep to himself. However, the impact of his work is definitely seen in the film, and what we do learn about his process is pretty cool.

The film moves along at a quick clip, with visually stunning animation (reminiscent of Gammel’s drawings) detailing some sections. It was a nice touch and brought it all together. That said, there was a time or two where the film dragged a bit, especially with the final “confrontation” between Schwartz’s son and Vrabel. That said, these are minor quibbles compared to the overall film.

For fans of the original series, this documentary is definitely a must-see. These books defined a generation of children (now adults), and it’s a shame that Schwartz did not get to see the full impact of them. The film loving plays on our nostalgia but goes deep into what makes the books so great. As strange as it may sound, it definitely gave me a nice feeling watching it, and I picked up the books from my shelf as soon as it was over.

SCARY STORIES arrives on VOD on May 7th, and will be released on DVD on July 16th. For more information, visit http://www.scarystoriesdoc.com/