FINDING JUSTICE FOR A SILENCED WRITER IN "SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK".

Based on the children's anthology book series by Alvin Schwartz. First published in 1981, the first book of what became a three-book series (it was followed by "More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and "Scary Stories 3

Studio : CBS Films
Release date : August 9, 2019
Director : André Øvredal
MPAA Rating : PG-13
Screenwriters : Kevin Hageman, Dan Hageman, Guillermo del Toro
Starring : Zoe Colletti, Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint
Genre : Thriller, Horror

Indeed, this is not a film for the faint of heart or a weak stomach. The horror of these short stories come to life in a grotesque way. Yet, beneath the moments that made me gag, there is a tragic story that squeezed my heart and boiled my blood. The angry ghost of Sarah Bellows comes to life to victimize Stella Nicholls and her friends for meddling with her most precious possession, a book of her original stories. However, like any good story not is as it seems.

As terror looms over each new person, Stella's motivation becomes stronger to defeat the angry ghost determined to kill everyone she loves. She searches for the truth behind the myth of the Bellows family, and she finds that Sarah is no monster. She becomes the victim of monsters, because her voice is a threat to the family's sinister secrets. Still, Sarah finds a way to express herself in another way, through horror stories based on the people who wrong her. Until her untimely death.

She comes to life on a fateful night that Stella and her friends break into her home and find her book. Does she simply come to life to terrorize a group of unsuspecting teenagers? No. Instead, she finds an opportunity in the curious girl who shares her love for writing story. Like her, Stella is bullied and abandoned. She uses her despair to create. Stella becomes her opportunity to discover the truth and restore her reputation.

The act of silencing a writer can happen in many forms. Stella is silenced through self-doubt caused by bullying. Sarah is silenced in a much more violent way through imprisonment and torture. Sometimes, it can be an indirect method: causing such a toxic and noisy environment that the writer's creative flow is blocked indefinitely. All of these methods are despicable. For who are you to tell another child of God what his/her purpose can or cannot be.

This movie is a reminder that evil should never silence those that are born to tell stories. A true writer is never silenced. The harder one tries, the more devastating the repercussions. One way or another, the truth comes out.