If you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, even if you haven’t read it. The three-part collection of haunting short stories, featuring illustrations known for terrifying the bravest of young readers, has been a literary staple of many childhoods. And now, it’s a movie, in theaters Aug. 9, adapted by director André Øvredal and producer Guillermo del Toro.Tap and SwipeBut while the original series — written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell — has been traumatizing kids for decades, the movie adaptation leaves a scare factor to be desired. Maybe it’s the fact that the generation that originally devoured this nightmare fuel is now fully grown and not as affected by ghost stories. Maybe it’s that the movie is targeted toward a young audience and its filmmakers don’t want to inflict permanent trauma. But the most likely reason seems to be that our own imaginations often conjure up much more frightening imagery than anything that could be depicted on a screen.That’s not to say that the movie won’t scare younger viewers who have never read the three Scary Stories books: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981), More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1984) and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones (1991). The three Scary Stories books are comprised of folk tales and urban legends retold by Schwartz. In the books, many of these stories end on a cliffhanger, leaving readers to decide on their own what horrors befall the characters after the words on the page stop. The film, on the other hand, unites six of the original stories within an overarching plot that ends on a somewhat resolved note.In the movie, teenage protagonist Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti) steals the haunted notebook of the long-dead Sarah Bellows (Kathleen Pollard) — a young girl who, according to town legend, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories — from the basement of the Bellows’ old mansion on Halloween night. After that, everyone who was in the house with her begins to disappear, but not before a horrifying story detailing their final moments appears on the book’s pages scrawled in blood. Stella and her friends must then race against a ticking clock to find a way to end Sarah’s rampage of revenge.To understand why the adaptation doesn’t deliver scares quite like its terrifying source material, let’s break down how the six stories featured in the movie differ from their counterparts in the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books.“Harold”Scary Stories to Tell in the DarkA still from the new film 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'CBS FilmsThe story of Harold is widely considered a standout amongst Scary Stories fans — and for good reason. Who could forget the tale of the scarecrow who comes to life and psychologically torments the two farmers who created him before killing one of them and stretching out his “bloody skin to dry in the sun”?In the movie, Harold is still a scarecrow that’s used as a punching bag by his owners — mainly, their teenage son Tommy (Austin Abrams). Considering Tommy is the town bully and this is a horror movie, it’s no surprise that he becomes the first person to fall victim to Sarah Bellows’ book. But while Harold spends some time stalking Tommy around a corn field after his mother sends him to deliver eggs to their neighbors, the lead-up to Harold’s attack is tepid compared to the scene in the book in which he climbs up on the roof of the farmers’ hut and trots “back and forth like a horse on its hind legs” for an entire day and night.Harold’s movie storyline ends with him stabbing Tommy with a pitchfork that transforms Tommy into a scarecrow. A frightening conclusion for sure, but not quite so terrifying as a once-inanimate doll skinning someone alive.“The Big Toe”The premise of the “Big Toe” is simple. A boy finds a toe sticking out of the dirt in his family’s garden and brings it inside to his parents. His mom then cooks the toe in a soup before his dad cuts it into three pieces and they all eat one. Unfortunately for them, that night, the corpse to which the toe was attached comes to reclaim its missing digit. While lying in bed, the boy hears a voice calling out for the toe that keeps getting closer and closer. The story ends with the corpse standing next to the boy’s bed, screaming, “YOU’VE GOT IT!”We never find out what the corpse does to the boy to get its toe back, which is somehow all the more horrifying than seeing what happens to Auggie (Gabriel Rush) in the movie. As Stella and Ramón (Michael Garza) desperately try to warn Auggie what’s coming for him, he dines on a stew he thinks his mom made before going out of town for the weekend. Of course, it ends up being stew à la toe and it’s not long afterward that the corpse shows up.The decomposing body follows Auggie to his room and opens the door as he shuts his eyes in terror under his bed. When he opens them and doesn’t see

Aharsi, the big Bengal tiger, was having a good think. It was winter and he was still getting used to the feeling of ice on the pads of his paws. He shivered a little, missing the warm ooze of mangrove mud.Aharsi was missing lots of things. He missed the way the sun made his coat glow a regal orange, or how the glare of midday brightness made his black stripes look so bold and striking like black lightning bolts. He missed dozing in the evening heat and catching the last shafts of sunlight as they cut through the jungle vines. He wondered if he would ever again hear Doyel birds chattering in the trees, or catch the scent of ripe mangoes on the breeze. It was these fleeting, poignant moments that the Bengal tiger was trying so hard to picture in his mind. Aharsi missed his home.His whiskers bristled as he let out a big sigh, sending the starlings that had been pecking at the frozen ground scattering up into the grey sky. Three hours had passed, and even though he thought very hard, all the tiger had managed to remember was some vague half images of mangoes and mangroves. He was worried that he was forgetting all about his old home altogether.When Aharsi first arrived at the zoo in England with his mother and father, everything was so exciting. He lapped it all up; his amber eyes burned with curiosity as he jumped from tree to tree or smelled each flower or pawed at each tiny insect.‘Now just calm down, Aharsi,’ his mother would say. ‘You have come a long way. There is plenty of time to explore; now you must rest.’But the young tiger was too busy to rest. There were new animals to meet, new trees to climb. There was so much to learn about his new home. Before the sun went down on that first day, Aharsi had bounded around all of the animals’ cages, asking them question after question, absorbing the strange exotic colours of the paradise birds and smelling the sweet and unfamiliar smell of the hay in the rhino stalls. But the more he explored, the more Aharsi realised how different his new home was to where he’d come from. And now the young tiger was worried that he’d lost all of the precious memories he had of his homeland. He was worried that he'd forgotten all about being a Bengal tiger.*Aharsi squeezed his eyes closed and flicked his tail purposefully from side to side. ‘Remember,’ he told himself. ‘Try to think harder!’Hours passed, the day grew dimmer and the rest of the animals started to settle down in the twilight. After a while, Aharsi felt someone looking at him. He opened one eye, keen to stay as focused as he could; trying to remember, just trying to remember. It was Zody the Leopard.‘What are yooouuu doing?’ came the deep, purring voice.‘I’m remembering,’ Aharsi answered. ‘Now if you don’t mind…’ Aharsi closed his eye once more and tried to concentrate even harder.‘Reeemembering?’ asked Zody.‘Yes. I’ve forgotten all about being a Bengal tiger, and where I’ve come from, so I’m trying to remember it before it’s all gone forever. Now if you don’t mind…’Once again Aharsi squeezed his eyes shut and tried to summon images from his homeland.‘You won’t get faaar with your eeeyes closed,’ said Zody.Aharsi opened his eyes wide and looked quite annoyed. ‘I won’t get anywhere unless you leave me alone to think!’ he said. ‘You wouldn’t understand anyway, you’re not even a tiger, let alone a Bengal tiger! You’re a leopard!’‘You silly animal!’ said Zody, rattling with laughter. ‘Look there!’ She pointed to a shiny slick patch of ice on the hard ground.Aharsi stared back at Zody in some confusion. ‘I think you may have gone a bit bonkers, Zody,’ he said, and just then he almost wanted to laugh himself.‘If you want to remeeember how to be a tiiiger,’ said Zody in a kind voice, ‘just look!’‘Fine, if you’ll leave me alone then I’ll look.’*Aharsi bent his neck a little and peered into the glassy ice mirror on the ground. Zody purred over his shoulder.‘What beauuutiful stripes you have,’ she said. ‘When I look into the mirror I see myyy spots. Nobody else has spots quite like mine. My mother had spots, and my mother’s mother, and my mother’s mother’s mother… all the way back to when my great-great-great grandma prowled the grasses of South Africa!’Aharsi noticed Zody’s eyes getting brighter as she pictured the sun-baked savanna and lush green jungles of her home. ‘When I see my spots,’ she continued, ‘I see my whole history. And I will always have my spots.’ She winked at Aharsi. ‘After all,’ she said, ‘a leopard never changes its spots!’‘But don’t you ever get homesick or sad?’ the young tiger asked in a slight mewl. ‘Everything is so different here.’‘We all get homesick,’ Zody replied while pawing at the ice, ‘but look here at our reflections. We are not sooo very different. You are from Bengal and I am from Africa, but see how we have the same whiskers. And see here…’ Zody cut an impressive jagged line in the ice with her sharp claws and then raised them up so that. and this is real story in real life thanks for