'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' to Get Sequel, Director Returns from First Film

Deadline reports that Andre Ovredal, the director of the first film, will return to direct the sequel, but will no longer be based on the short stories in the original novel.

The sequel will be adapted from a story written by Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim, The Shape of Water), and the details of the story are currently being kept secret. Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, the screenwriters of the first film, will return. del Toro was also a producer on the first film.

The budget of the movie "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" was $25 million, but it earned $105 million at the global box office. The movie received a 7-point rating from GameSpot.

"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" is based on Alvin Schwartz's bestselling children's horror book series, which was once banned because it would scare children. The film takes place on Halloween night in 1968 and the following days in a small town called Mill Valley, Pennsylvania. The protagonists of the story include aspiring writer Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti) and her two teenage friends Auggie (Gabriel Rush) and Chuck (Austin Zajur), who will play pranks on Tommy (Austin Abrams) at school. When an angry Tommy, who wants revenge, chases after them, the group hides in a haunted house that was occupied by one of the town's founding families many years ago.

There, they find a book of somewhat disturbing stories written by Sarah Bellows (Kathleen Pollard), who, depending on which historical account you believe, is either a psychopath and rage monster or a victim of brutal abuse at the hands of her own family. Shortly after the group escapes, Stella discovers that the book they took from the house seems to be writing new stories in blood.