--- description: Here's how the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie sets up a possible sequel. title: How Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Sets Up a Possible Sequel image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26752af22dcd114c/698a00c5b3fce3d2c10c5515/scary-stories-ss_05759_v1_f_7_rgb.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How the Ending of _Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark_ Sets Up a Possible Sequel  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Aug 9, 2019 12:00 PM CUT  Austin Zajur in 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' Austin Zajur in 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'George Kraychy—CBS Films  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Aug 9, 2019 12:00 PM CUT **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for _Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark_. Nearly 30 years after the first _Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark_ book hit shelves, a film adaptation of the haunting [horror](https://time.com/5601438/best-horror-movies-netflix/ "undefined") anthology has finally arrived. Helmed by director André Øvredal and produced by Oscar winner [Guillermo del Toro](https://time.com/5520554/guillermo-del-toro-radical-optimism/ "undefined"), the movie unites six of the tales from author Alvin Schwartz and illustrator Stephen Gammell’s 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) — within an overarching plot. The movie begins with teenage protagonist Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti) and her friends Auggie (Gabriel Rush), Chuck (Austin Zajur) and Ramón (Michael Garza) sneaking into the Bellows family’s abandoned mansion on Halloween night. They’re later joined by town bully Tommy (Austin Abrams) and Chuck’s older sister Ruth (Natalie Ganzhorn), who are both there when Stella decides to steal the haunted notebook of Sarah Bellows (Kathleen Pollard) — a young girl who, according to town legend, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories — from the house’s basement. It’s only a few hours later that Tommy is attacked by the newly-animated Harold the scarecrow and becomes the first victim of the book’s dark magic. As more stories appear in the book, written in blood, Stella’s friends begin to get picked off one by one in ways that mirror the fates of characters in the book stories “The Big Toe,” “The Red Spot” and “The Dream.”  A still from the new film 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' CBS Films With time running out to save herself and Ramón, Stella heads to the Bellows house once again to try to speak to Sarah directly. But it’s only after she’s transported back in time, mistaken for Sarah and dragged down to the basement that she’s able to talk to Sarah’s ghost. By promising to tell the truth about Sarah’s life, Stella finally convinces her to end her rampage of revenge and everything goes back to normal. The movie ends with Stella, her dad (Dean Norris) and Ruth — who has made a full recovery from a terrifying spider incident — driving away from Mill Valley while Stella delivers a voiceover about how they intend to find Auggie and Chuck and bring them back.  Michael Garza, Zoe Collette, Austin Zajur and Gabriel Rush in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. George Kraychyk—2018 CBS Films Inc./eOne Features LLC. It’s a more comforting resolution than the books offer. But considering there are plenty more stories to choose from in the three _Scary Stories_ books, and add to that Stella’s stated mission to recover the vanished boys, the somewhat open-ended conclusion definitely seems to hint that a sequel could be on the way. _Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark_ is now in theaters. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5646688/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-ending/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5646688/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-ending/"},"headline":"How the Ending of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Sets Up a Possible Sequel","datePublished":"2019-08-09T12:00:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:56:46.837Z","description":"Spoilers ahead!","url":"https://time.com/5646688/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-ending/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26752af22dcd114c/698a00c5b3fce3d2c10c5515/scary-stories-ss_05759_v1_f_7_rgb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26752af22dcd114c/698a00c5b3fce3d2c10c5515/scary-stories-ss_05759_v1_f_7_rgb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Austin Zajur in 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'","caption":"Austin Zajur in 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'","creditText":"George Kraychy—CBS Films","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5646688/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-ending/","name":"How the Ending of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Sets Up a Possible Sequel"}}]}] ```