Here’s how the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie brought “The Big Toe” tale to life. Outside of directing Guillermo del Toro is a prolific producer, and has overseen the likes of Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark and Mama. He also produced 2019’s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, an adaptation of the cult series of children’s horror stories written by Alvin Schwartz. These books featured terrifying illustrations from artist Stephen Gammell too that brought the stories to gruesome life.
In fact, the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark books proved controversial among parents, who felt they were much too intense for younger readers. The movie version was directed by The Autopsy Of Jane Doe’s André Øvredal and it adapted tales like “The Jangly Man” and “The Red Spot,” with “The Pale Lady” sequence proving to be the film’s nightmarish highlight. While reviews were mixed the movie was a success, with Øvredal returning for a planned sequel.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark took a unique approach to bringing the books to life and instead of doing an anthology, it mixed and matched a bunch of tales into one narrative. The movie is set in 1968 and sees three young friends discover a book of scary stories, which then start coming true. This includes “The Big Toe,” which was actually the very first tale from the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark book.
In the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark book, “The Big Toe” sees a young boy find a toe sticking out of the ground in his back garden. He yanks on the toe until it snaps off, and he hears something scampering away. His mother later decides its a nice bit of meat and cooks it in a soup, which the family eats. Later that night the boy is in bed and hears a creature asking “Where is my big toe?” He hides under his covers until he hears it enter his bedroom and make its way towards him, declaring “YOU’VE GOT IT!“
The Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie adapts this into a segment where the character of Auggie (Gabriel Rush) is digging into a stew at home. His friends Stella and Ramón learn he’s the main character in a new story that’s suddenly appeared in the book titled “The Big Toe,” and they warn him not to eat anything. He eats regardless and eventually discovers he’s chewing on a big toe, and hear’s a voice asking “Who took my toe?” Auggie eventually hides under the bed in his room after catching a glimpse of a rotting zombie with a missing toe. He discovers – too late – the zombie is also under the bed, and it drags him screaming into the darkness. The Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie adaptation of this tale is somewhat loose, though the moral of the story is still there – don’t eat the big toe of a rotting monster.
