Scary Stories is a documentary about the legacy of Alvin Schwartz’ Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. These beloved collections of horror stories became a sensation for a number of reasons, including controversy over their content, the perfect timing in the publishing industry, and the visual presentation of the books. 

Many of the subjects interviewed in Scary Stories are artists. These are writers, photographers, sculptors, and musicians producing their own horror. Some are recreating the signature Stephen Gammell illustrations of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books in their own style. Others are willing to talk about their admiration for the books.  

Scary Stories does, briefly, go into the creation of the Scary Stories…books. That is not a problem. Alvin Schwartz was a career writer who published many books as his primary source of income. He’d heavily research a topic, write the book, and move onto the next one. His most popular series is very well written adaptations of folklore for children. 

There’s a montage of books in this bizarre recurring animated sequence that explains so much about my childhood. I recognized every single cover of every book they held up and started to reminisce in the middle of a documentary. I can’t quite explain why I was drawn to horror at such a young age, but the realization that I was born at a time where literary horror for young audiences was peaking at a previously unprecedented level probably has something to do with it. 

I also remember the hysteria about trying to ban all these books. This is where Scary Stories shines. The documentary actually interviews a number of people involved in one of the more high profile banned book cases of the time. This includes the PTA member who led the charge and even admits that she got in over her heard. Perhaps the greatest achievement in this documentary is making it clear how easy it is for one person to challenge a book for any reason regardless of validity. 

The documentary, overall, is very unfocused. Director Cody Meirick covers a lot of fascinating information. Scene to scene, it’s well produced. The scenes just jump around a lot. There are a variety of different contrasting styles—animation, interviews surrounded by creepy rubble, pan and scan shots of the actual illustrations, and more traditional sit down interviews. The information presented is great, but the visuals are so busy that it becomes tiring. 

Scary Stories is an informative documentary about the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. It’s not quite the smoothest documentary ever, but it does have a voice and important information to share.  

Scary Stories is streaming on Amazon Prime. 

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