Top 5 Stories from ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ Books

In honor of the new horror flick, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark hitting theaters, we’ve put together a list of some of the best (and creepiest) stories in the books. 

You may have heard or even read these books as a kid. All three books are compilations of spooky stories. These books have one purpose: to scare people. Sure, the books were meant to be scary for children, but it can be a little creepy for the older crowd as well. Some stories are frightening and some are just down right creepy. 

Check out our list of the Top 5 Stories in The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Books: 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark #5 – The Babysitter 

A young woman was desperate for a job. She took a babysitting gig and it would be one she would never forget. The night of the job, everything seemed normal at first. Then, the babysitter started getting eerie phone calls from a mysterious man who kept asking if the girl has checked on the children. She thought nothing of it, thinking someone was pulling a prank on her. A couple minutes later, the phone rang again and it was the same person still asking the same question. Long story short, the police were called and the creepy man turned out to be calling from inside the house. 

You may recognize this story as it has been turned into movies in the past including the 2006 version of When a Stranger Calls starring Camilla Belle.

 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark # 4 – The Big Toe

One day, a boy finds a giant toe sticking out from the ground. He decides to rip it out of the ground and take it to his family. His mother decides that it would be a good addition to the soup they were going to have for dinner. The person that lost their toe is out for revenge. Moral of the story is, if you see a body part sticking out of the ground, run away and tell someone. 

#3 – The Dare

Legend has it that a woman who died a long time ago was a witch and if someone stood on her grave at midnight, she would pull you in. The main character of the story did not believe it one bit. A boy at her party told her to take a knife and stick it in the woman’s grave as proof that she actually went to the cemetery. A little party fun took a dark turn as the main character did not return to her group of friends. 

#2 – The White Gown

A young woman who had basically nothing was invited to a special party. Having very little money, she went to a small shop to hopefully find something inexpensive. It was her lucky day, a beautiful white dress fit her perfectly and it was in her price range. The woman couldn’t believe it. She bought the dress and took it straight home. The night of the party, the woman was having a great time. It wasn’t until she started dancing when she started to feel sick. The woman’s night went from good to bad in a short length of time.

#1 – High Beams

This particular story is by far the creepiest and it’s probably a story that we can tell off the top of our heads. A young woman was leaving an event late one night when she found herself on the road in the dark. She noticed that the person in the car behind her kept flashing their high beams. She couldn’t figure out why this person was doing this, but she was getting a little worried. Could this person be a harm to her or something in her car causing harm? 

The academy winning producer of the film, Guillermo Del Toro, admitted in a video posted to Twitter that this story was supposed to be in the film but was removed. It is kind of a bummer because this particular story is one of our favorites because of the creepiness and the ending we truly didn’t see coming. 

To see which short stories are in the film, be sure to check out Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, now in theaters.