It’s painful to hear stories. But, stories have the power to heal. And if you repeat them often enough, they take on a life of their own.
In the dark and unsettling horror film ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,’ André Øvredal of ‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe’ fame conjures hell via the power of storytelling.
In the process of escaping a bully gang, Chuck, Auggie, and Stella meet a mystery charmer named Ramon. They wind up at a spooky house, where the mystery begins to unravel.
The ending, however, may be perplexing due to the nuanced nature of the plot. So, let us put an end to your questions if you’re still scratching your head.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.
Plot Synopsis for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
With the Vietnam War burning in far-flung frontiers, it’s a hazardous period. Chuck, Auggie, and Stella, lifelong friends from Mill Valley, are getting ready for this year’s Halloween.
Meanwhile, they seek vengeance on Tommy Milner and his two sidekicks, who lead a bully group.
Stella is adamant about not going out on Halloween, but Chuck and Auggie persuade her otherwise.
Tommy (Austin Abrams) may not be back in town the following year, so this is their last chance to settle their differences.
The trio discovers Tommy’s automobile after trick-or-treating. Tommy and the group steal their prize, only to discover stale underpants like they do every year. Chuck, Stella, and Auggie begin throwing eggs at each other.
They turn to impromptu Molotov cocktails when that isn’t enough. Tommy’s automobile collides with a fence, and Chuck’s sister Ruth is out on a date with Tommy, much to Chuck’s chagrin.
Chuck, Auggie, and Stella flee to a drive-in theatre while they are pursued by the bully gang.
They climb into Ramon’s automobile. Stella and Ramon bond over ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ while Chuck is a little too nosy.
The bully gang catches up, but they are forced to flee due to Ramon’s frigid hatred and the fury of the other theatregoers.
Stella leads the group to a spooky mansion that should have been well-lit for Halloween, but the authorities have erected a massive fence around the property due to the disappearance of some children.
Sarah, a little girl, lived in the house, which is said to be haunted. Apart from her penchant for macabre tales, little is known about Sarah.
As they search for the legendary book, a chain of tragic occurrences unfolds, with stories writing themselves.
Ending of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Did Sarah Kill the Children? What Will Become of Sarah’s Book?
The companions slip past the gate and into the haunted mansion early in the story. The house belonged to the Bellows, one of the town’s earliest families to arrive in the late 1800s.
Their paper mill helped to establish the town and may have given it its name. They quickly get access to the building thanks to Ramon’s lock-picking skills.
Sarah Bellows was the Bellows’ only child, and she never left the house.
Since her family removed her from all photographs, little is known about her. Chuck is terrified after seeing a dog and a woman dressed in a black gown.
Tommy locks them in, but Stella discovers Sarah Bellows’ book. Sarah’s ghost agrees to tell her a narrative, but nothing occurs for the time being.
Finally, the door opens by itself, and they discover Tommy and his crew had smashed Ramon’s car on their way out.
Ramon is offered a spot in the basement by Stella. Ramon examines Stella’s collection of frightening publications.
In the meantime, the book begins work on a story titled ‘Harold.’ Tommy’s encounter with a walking scarecrow, the same one Tommy was hitting before, is the subject of the story.
Unfortunately, Tommy goes missing the following day, and Ramon is subjected to police profiling.
Stella encounters the scarecrow Harold wearing Tommy’s baseball jacket while investigating the crime site.
The pals get together after Auggie goes missing and attempt to burn the book. The book, on the other hand, appears to be indestructible.
So they go to the Mill Valley Gazette headquarters to look through the archives. Slaves Sylvie Baptiste and her daughter Lou Lou were sacked by the Bellows family for supposedly teaching Sarah black magic.
Sarah committed herself in 1898, and the rest of the family inexplicably vanished after that.
Deodat Bellows, the family’s father, fled without selling the paper mill, and another son, Ephraim Bellows, also vanished.
Sarah has written novels about her family members, which has led to their deaths, Stella discovers. While Lou Lou admits Sarah’s existence, she is powerless to do much about it.
They travel to Pennhurst Hospital in search of further information. Unfortunately, they don’t have the time to process the classified material, which would take six weeks.
Stella and Ramon break into the R.E.D. Room in search of Sarah’s paperwork. Ramon comes across a wax cylinder, which helps to clarify the image.
Sarah suffered from achromasia albinism (a lack of melatonin that causes pale complexion), but no mental illness or handicap is mentioned.
They discover that Ephraim Bellows, Sarah’s brother, was also the doctor working on the case when they dig deeper.
Sarah, it turns out, did not murder the children. Instead, Sarah’s family contaminated the water with mill mercury.
The children perished in this manner, and Sarah’s relatives needed to silence her since she was noisy. Sarah, like Auggie and Chuck, provides Stella a peek of her life in the dark, and after bringing Stella into her confinement chamber, Sarah wants to end Stella.
Stella, on the other hand, assures her that she will reveal the truth to the rest of the world. Sarah hands Stella her fountain pen and instructs her to write in blood.
As Stella reveals the truth behind the legend, Sarah may make atonement for past wrongdoings.
Sarah withers after a demonic scream, while Stella presumably leaves the diary at the haunting mansion.
Stella is shown writing on her typewriter in the next shot, giving the impression that she has abandoned her journal.
Is Stella and Ramon alive or dead? What Happens to Auggie and Chuck?
Tommy is the protagonist of the first narrative, ‘Harold.’ Sarah’s pals realise that no one reads her book.
Instead, the book reads individuals. Auggie runs into a bucket of toe stew in the next chapter, ‘The Big Toe,’ which leads to a horrific apparition, searching for its lost toe.
Auggie vanishes from the picture after the story becomes true. Chuck is next in line. The diary begins writing another story, ‘The Red Spot,’ as they are searching through newspaper archives.
Despite Chuck’s fear about the sauce stain on his shirt, the protagonist of the story is his sister Ruth. Before the show, Ruth notices a lump on her cheek and goes to the restroom.
Spiders begin to emerge from the swelling, much to her dismay, but happily, the trio arrives and takes care of the matter.
In the restroom, Stella notices Sarah’s ghost. While Stella, Chuck, and Ramon search for Lou Lou, Ruth is brought to the hospital.
They pay a visit to her residence at 220 Goldshire Road.
Lou Lou isn’t much assistance, although she does suggest that Ramon looks into the patient records.
Meanwhile, Chuck has a nightmare about being confined in a crimson room with a terrible fat woman.
The old records are preserved at the R.E.D. Room, according to the lady at the hospital reception.
The R.E.D. Stands for Research and Evaluation Department, but Chuck isn’t fooled by the play on words.
He splits up with Stella and Ramon, only to reappear in a real red chamber. Four eerie spectres surround him, and one of them absorbs Chuck into its body.
Auggie and Chuck do not return in the end. Stella and Ramon, on the other hand, survive the nightmare after making apologies to Sarah’s ghost.
