Horror Report

Tag: scary stories to tell in the dark

  • Turkey day terrors! Old artwork from SCARY STORIES artist is still haunting after all these years

    Turkey day terrors! Old artwork from SCARY STORIES artist is still haunting after all these years

    One of the best and most famous horror artistry came thanks to Stephen Gammell and his work in the SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK series. Some of the most haunting drawings and imagery inspired an entire generation to try to do what he did.

    Well, little do so many know, Gammell actually added his talent to Thanksgiving, as well!

    Introduce yourself to Thanksgiving Poems by Myra Livingston..
    Illustrated by Stephen Gammell!

    Let's Be Thankful Stephen Gammell Illustrated a Thanksgiving Poems Book

    The book was  a collection of 16 poems and songs from various storytellers’ including musical excerpts from the Osage and Navajo nations. The book is only 32-pages and the poems discuss trees, turkeys, families, and food; giving thanks, what happens when families congregate during thanksgiving, and the history of thanksgiving ..

    And some amazing haunting artwork by Gammell!

    Things like these:

    A native American with a baby.. The interesting way that the baby is black and white while the colors begin to ensemble as the pictures edges closer to the right hand side.. And the baby’s stare: Just that haunting glare..

    This poem was called Joy of an Immigrant .. but the imagery below it is lonely and sad.. Almost perhaps as lonely as one may be when they first come to America, not knowing what daunting pressures they will face when trying to capture the rewards of a new nation..

    Gobbedly-gobble! How they laughed!
    And how those frightening turkeys looked like they were about to turn into zombies!

    Pilgrims meeting the natives never looked so frightening. It looks more like a ghostly appearance of both sides for the first Thanksgiving rather than the real event.

    This art is great! It looks like a freakish family where dad is intoxicated and mom just nervously grins as she brings in more “cheer,” and the kids just want to leave the scene. The best part of this drawing is that it could have easily appeared in SCARY STORIES just as easy as it did in this Thanksgiving poetry book.

    Come Ye Thankful People Come ..
    Come into the blinding wilderness during a snowstorm. A lonely scene where the chill is deep in the air.. What a haunting image!!

    Will you ever want to eat turkey again after you see this horrific cartoon version of one dressed in a suit and ugly giant tie? I think not!

    And saving the best for last:

    No, this is NOT the picture for THE BIG TOE, though it could certainly be mistaken for that. This is just a quaint little happy brother and sister picking pumpkins on a dull and dreary day. With that empty rocking chair outside. This imagery reflects a lonely and sad scene.. The two children depicted are devoid of emotions, instead they are drawn to just stare deep in your soul..

    AND WITH THAT… HAPPY HAUNTING THANKSGIVING 2020

  • SCARY STORIES TO BAN IN THE DARK

    SCARY STORIES TO BAN IN THE DARK

    Given history, I suppose it’s amazing I even got the chance to read SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK when I was a kid in the 90s. I was doing more reading on the upcoming documentary being made on this and learned something I never quite knew previously: This was among the most banned book of the 1990s..

    Cody Meireck describes it best, 

    The interesting thing that I have been encountering as I begin to talk about this documentary is the question of how I can “bill” the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. It is listed as the most banned book between 1990-1999 and remained at #7 in 2000-2009. It was #1 on the list for several years in the 1990s. In the 21st Century there are a number of other books that have taken the mantel for most frequently banned… Harry Potter is often up there, and recently the bookAnd Tango Makes Three is often high on the list because of the presence of a homosexual couple (animals though they may be). So although Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is no longer top on the list, for the last 25 years that the American Library Association has been compiling a list, it has been a major title on the list. The original books are over 20 years old at this point, and yet they still show up on the lists amongst more widespread and known books such as Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn. That says something.

    I remember the moment I got my first SCARY STORIES book.. it was during grade school when a book fair truck came and set up in the school gym.. I found this black book with a skull on it and somehow was attracted to the concept and stories.. It became a treasure for me and then, with each new one, I would buy them up for the collection.

    The most amazing part, given history of book bans, is that I bought my SCARY STORIES book at a Catholic school book fair!  The same Catholic school that suspended me for a day for bringing a fake Freddy Kreuger glove to class in fourth grade for our field trip..

    I suppose the school’s nuns couldn’t be aware of every book that was sold. And even more, I ponder if the book seller was secretly trying to fight the pop culture movement at the time to hide these books from kids.

    If it wasn’t for the SCARY STORIES books, my appreciation of the paranormal and even love of drawing perhaps would never have blossomed. I bet there’s a lot of 90s kids in the same boat as me because of this series..