Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is the Darkest Horror Series for Children

 

Credit to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: a film about the classic horror kids book - Boing Boing

I have read many book series when I was a young kid. I was a huge fan of a lot of horror series (obviously), but I felt that very few franchises were way too disturbing for kids. One particular horror series that messed with my head was Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. 

The book series was written by Alvin Schwartz, and the terrifying imagery was illustrated by Stephen Gammell. The first time I discovered these stories was when I was in 5th grade. 

I was in the horror section of the library, feeling both excited and scared I finally got to explore such a forbidden section. I was searching for a thrill, something that I missed back when I was first introduced to R.L. Stine's Goosebumps. What caught my attention was not surprisingly; the disturbing cover of book one to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I couldn't keep my eyes off the cover, I was literally hypnotized by how strange the book cover was. 

Once I began to flick through the book pages, I was impressed and scared at the same time. 

The same thrill I was searching for shot through my chest. 

I instantly knew this book series was going to ruin my mind, giving me a brand-new perspective on horror. 

After I was done reading the entire trilogy of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, I couldn't believe this series was made for kids like me. The stories were gory, raw, and littered with themes of death. The illustrations were the icing on the cake, making this series so much worse for children to read. The images are literal nightmare fuel, and I can't imagine how many kids were traumatized by those pictures. 

The illustrations resemble what I think it would feel like to find an actual dead body in real life. It's super absurd to even compare the images to something like that, but I felt it was the only comparison that actually makes sense! 

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn