Wild Eye Releasing, with sales and distribution
support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has scored a very cool —
horror-themed — documentary for release to the DVD marketplace this coming July
16.
Titled Scary Stories,
documentary filmmaker Cody Meirick takes a look at the history, the controversy
and the success of Alvin Schwartz’s three — yes, just three — books in the “Scary
Stories to Tell in the Dark” series.
Illustrated by the reclusive Stephen Gammell, the three books — “Scary
Stories to Tell in the Dark” (published in 1981), “More Scary Stories to Tell
in the Dark” (this followed in 1984) and “Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill
Your Bones” (arrived in 1991) — each contained some two-dozen (plus) short
horror tales and over 7 million copies were sold.
Kids loved them and they had an ally in librarians,
but certain parent groups and some stick-in-the-mud “educators” condemned them,
especially for the graphic drawings that Gammell included with Schwartz’s
tales.
So why has Wild Eye Releasing, one of the premiere
home entertainment purveyors of horror and sci-fi films, elected to release a
documentary on Alvin Schwartz’s “Scary Stories?” Simple, Wild Eye Releasing is smart and is
taking full advantage of the big-budget Guillermo del Toro production of the Scary
Stories to Tell in the Dark theatrical release that
will be hitting theatres nationwide on Aug. 9.
If you are a fan of the series — and have all three
books in the series (7 million copies!!!) — this DVD is targeted just for
you. Bonus goodies include commentary
from filmmaker Cody Meirick and some twenty minutes worth of bonus footage.
