Time to break out the old Alvin Schwartz books again, because a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark sequel is on the way. As reported by THR, director André Øvredal is returning, along with screenwriters Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman. Guillermo Del Toro will once again write the screen story, but as of right now it’s unclear whether he will also return as a producer.

The original, an adaptation of Schwartz’ popular series of collected folk tales and urban legends, was a modest hit, grossing over $100 million worldwide against a budget of approximately $28 million. A sequel was almost a guarantee, and considering there’s dozens of stories in Schwartz’s books that didn’t appear in the first film, there’s a pretty vast pool of source material still left. (Put “The Viper” in it, you cowards.)

I didn’t care much for the 2019 film - Øvredal is a skilled horror director (look no further than his excellent 2016 movie The Autopsy of Jane Doe), and his talent comes through in several of the film’s sequences, in particular the infamous spider scene from the story “The Red Spot”. But the movie is jumbled and uneven, with an extremely forced premise and a ludicrous ending. But it had an undeniable visual style, owing to Øvredal’s direction and the adherence to the unique illustrations in Schwartz’s books. So while I wasn’t necessarily a fan of the first film, I have hopes for a sequel.