Based on the short story collections from Alvin Schwartz, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark follows a group of teenagers who inadvertently release a vengeful spirit after taking a storybook from a haunted house.
Classification Issues
- Threat and horror
- Scary stories come to life and teenagers are pursued by horrific creatures. This includes a scene in which a teenager is followed by a scarecrow and another scene in which a teenager attempts to hide from a female zombie.
- Additional issues
- A scene of brief violence shows a boy being stabbed through the chest with a pitchfork. There are also moderate sex references including a reference to one of the teenagers "losing a stiffy". There are undetailed references to a woman hanging herself, and use of mild bad language ('shit', 'ass', 'pissed', 'asshole', 'freaking', 'douchebag').
Key classification issue: horror
Despite the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book series having address and appeal to young teens, Horror content often involves groups of teens being terrorised by supernatural entities. There are similar elements in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, but despite the source material having appeal to young teens, our research has shown that an emphasis on intense and prolonged scary scenes in films and series can be too impactful for young audiences at 12A/12.
For example, in one sequence, a teenager is menaced and attacked by a scarecrow which has come to life. In others, teens are pursued by a zombie-like creature and spiders burst from a bite on a girl’s body. At 12A/12 there is room for some horror content as long as it is not frequent or sustained. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’s horror is pervasive and prolonged. Despite containing elements of humour, this does not provide sufficient relief from the scary sequences to allow the film at a lower age rating. The prolonged focus on victims’ fear gives the film an intensity that led us to classify the film 15 for scenes of sustained horror.
We tested the film when we consulted audiences on our Classification Guidelines in 2019 and found that participants supported the established 15 rating, ultimately feeling that the horror was too intense to be rated 12A/12 and could scare and disturb young audiences.
