"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" watered down

Scythemantis · 2012-01-04 02:29:36

So the children's books of legendary nightmare fuel status have been reprinted for 2011 with entirely different artwork.

Yes, the original art was HARDCORE horrifying, the kind of horror art that would normally be aimed squarely at adults, often truly terrifying and sickening children for years at a time. Exactly why those same children grew up to LOVE these books, or at least love reminiscing about how much the art affected them.

These books are timeless classics for how disturbing the artwork is. Nobody really remembers or cares about the stories half as much as Gammel's drawings.

Waltzy · 2012-01-04 06:22:08

...Oh wow, my friend actually got the reprinted one and I remember him begging me to read it to him last summer. Weird.

I think one or two of the new pictures personally scare me more than the originals, but otherwise wtf mate.

snowbull · 2012-01-04 11:19:07

Aw man, those books were the scariest thing back when I was in elementary. I don't think I was ever able to finish looking through one back in grade 2.

ClockworkUniverse · 2012-01-04 11:24:52

I couldn't ever read the actual stories, because the art was so terrifying >.>

All Nines · 2012-01-04 13:08:13

I remember being pretty creeped out at those, but not to the point where I couldn't read them.

Hatter · 2012-01-04 13:22:57

WHAT?

BLASPHEMY

How are we going to traumatize our own children when the time comes?

Nyktos · 2012-01-04 16:35:21

Neither the stories nor the art were ever actually scary.

Radd · 2012-01-04 16:39:00

I like the style in the second ones more.

randomtropeloser · 2012-01-04 21:19:56

I was kind of sick as a kid and would keep the books checked out for months at a time just to look at the illustrations.

Firebert · 2012-01-04 21:26:14

I wish they'd kept the original art.

dmboogie · 2012-01-05 16:53:51

The only one that really scared me was the "Killer Inside the House" story, and that's only because the appendix or whatever said that the various kids were found with their throats cut in bed in a different version.

Them · 2012-01-06 16:43:10

I haven't seen the art. Links?

Firebert · 2012-01-06 17:32:13

First post, or here.

Them · 2012-01-06 18:01:44

...I missed the link in the first post. Sorry.

ClockworkUniverse · 2012-01-06 18:12:14

IMO, the new art is very well done, it's the content that's lacking, relatively speaking.

So I'll blame not the new artist, but whoever was paying him.

Myrmidon · 2012-01-06 18:40:54

http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/2011/12/18/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-gammell-vs-helquist/

This article is a pretty well-done take on why the new illustrations compare poorly to the old ones.

Myrmidon · 2012-01-06 19:28:34

The solution is clear: Stephen Gammel must illustrate A Series Of Unfortunate Events

Hatter · 2012-01-06 19:41:18

I don't hate children THAT much.

Honestly, Brett Helquist is a good illustrator. He's got a consistent, likable style that served A Series of Unfortunate Events well, and pretty much defined those books for me. But he doesn't have the same kind of surreal, horrifying style that made the original books so terrifying for a child.

Icalasari · 2012-01-06 20:51:04

...So, time to find a torrent with Gammel's version and have my little sister read it

snowbull · 2012-01-07 13:13:17

Wow, I still can't look at those things. These things are more unsettling than any horror movie I've ever seen.

captainbrass · 2012-01-07 13:48:15

This book is new to me. If it's ever been published in the UK, it certainly wasn't around when I was at primary school. However, the original illustrations certainly seem superior to the new ones - I can't see them scaring many people. The old ones are still pretty creepy.

Forzare · 2012-01-07 13:50:52

I've never heard of this before now, but I'm gonna agree with Hatter. I loved his work on A Series of Unfortunate Events, but his style is very different from what people are used to with this book.

Not bad, just not too scary.

dmboogie · 2012-01-07 14:20:53

...Why did I look at that article? That Haunted House thing is creepy...

Firebert · 2012-01-07 14:57:36

Well yeah, it's not "Mild Stories to Tell at Noon"

Nyktos · 2012-01-07 15:02:18

I dunno, I looked at that article, and the spider one was really gross (but not actually scary) and the rest weren't really anything.

I read through all those books multiple times when I was nine or so and was never scared by them.

...I really don't know how I ever convinced myself that I was easily frightened.

Icalasari · 2012-01-07 18:45:51

^ To be fair, they never scared me either. However, the old pictures clearly do the job better

gentlemanorcus · 2012-01-07 20:32:24

This one always scared me the most.

Extra .gif included.

All Nines · 2012-01-07 20:59:49

^ Guh. Me too. Well, there are some that aren't on Scythemantis's page that I think were worse, but out of what I remember, that one you have is the worst.

Well, it's not as bad as that one screamer I saw a while ago (anyone remember that one? The one that started with the little girl dancing in the hallway). Or the Korean comic.

EDIT: Oh man. Found the one with the long-faced woman with spiders crawling out of her cheek. And the tremendous clown head that's part of the ground. And the giant big-headed thing with the long arm poking some dude. Yeesh.

Scythemantis · 2012-01-07 23:47:06

All you "meh, it's not that scary" guys are no fun at all. I'm sure you can at least tell why they would be more disturbing than other art typically aimed at children.

Nyktos · 2012-01-07 23:51:38

I'm sure you can at least tell though your TUFF GUIZE personas why they
would be more disturbing than other art typically aimed at children.

Nice strawman you got there. And sure, I can see how they're more disturbing, but there's such a thing as trying too hard.

Note that my level of caring about the change in art is approximately zero; it's not like I prefer the new art or anything, and I can completely see why changing it would have a negative reaction. Hell, I'll even go as far as to say that reading those books with any other art would just seem wrong. I still don't find the old art scary.

Scythemantis · 2012-01-08 03:52:02

I'm just teasing, because more than one post consists solely of "eh, they don't scare me!!!"

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"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" watered down

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