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| Courtesy of Wild Eye Releasing |
Essentially campfire tales and folklore repackaged for a new generation, the books became a sensation. School libraries around the country had long waiting lists to check them out and they were constantly ordering new copies – not only to keep up with demand, but because kids read them so much that they were literally falling apart.
Of course, because this was the “Satanic Panic” era (a time when Dungeons & Dragons and heavy metal also took a beating), Schwartz’s books kicked off a wave of controversial attempts to remove them from library shelves, sparking numerous school board hearings about censorship, the First Amendment, religion, literacy and education.
Scary Stories, a new documentary debuting next week, chronicles this phenomenon from a number of compelling perspectives. Director Cody Meirick spends quite a bit of time with Schwartz’s wife and son (the author died of lymphoma in 1992), so viewers learn about his writing process and home life. There are also interviews with a number of people who loved Gammell’s illustrations as kids and were inspired to become artists themselves.
As a nerdy English teacher, I adored the segments that dived into the cultural issues at the center of Schwartz’s tales, as well as the psychological benefits of kids confronting life’s horrors at a young age. One interviewee makes a solid point: children are eventually going to encounter terrible moments in life – it’s an inevitability. So these stories, in a way, provide a kind of immunization or coping mechanism to teach them how to handle awful circumstances when they arise.
Simply put, kids need a safe way to explore unsettling topics. That’s why I cackled when a librarian interviewed in Scary Stories recounts an angry mom storming up to her, complaining that her son was sneaking around with Schwartz’s book, reading it under a blanket with a flashlight. I love that mental image. A kid sneaking around? To read?! The horror!
But the most fascinating sections of the doc are when librarians and scholars discuss – often quite emotionally – the passion, anger and fear surrounding hearings to remove books from school libraries. Listening to them fiercely defend the right for children to read texts they can relate to and learn from, even if they contain material that makes parents and community leaders uncomfortable, is a vivid reminder of the importance of education.
Sadly, not everything works. The narrative momentum comes to a screeching halt at one point thanks to an awkward, stilted depiction of a mom (or is it a babysitter? It’s not really that clear…) telling some of the book’s stories to a couple of disinterested child actors. The doc eventually regains steam, but… oof. That’s a cringe-inducing few minutes. Still, overall, Scary Stories is definitely worth a watch – especially if you have a fond connection to the books.
Scary Stories is not rated, appropriate for most audiences. Available on VOD starting May 7 with a DVD release set for July 16.
Grade: B-
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