Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Is there more to Sarah Bellows’ family than meets the eye?

If you recently watched Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, then you know all about Sarah Bellows. But what about her family?

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a film adaptation of the popular children’s books of the same name created by Alvin Schwartz. The books were, for many of us, our first introduction to horror.

André Øvredal directs the film with Guillermo del Toro as producer and writer. You can easily see del Toro’s impact with the incredible monster designs throughout the movie. Speaking of the monsters, what if there was more to them than we initially believed?

Spoiler warning: Do not read any further if you haven’t seen the movie.

In Scary Stories, we find out the reason teens are being abducted is due to Sarah Bellows, the original owner of the book from which the stories come forth. She is full of rage due to the way her family treated her.

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Despite Sarah being the central antagonist, it is her family that are the real monsters in the film, potentially in more ways than one.

Let’s start with the obvious. Sarah’s family tormented her because she discovered that the family mill was poisoning the town’s water supply with mercury, killing many people in the process.

Unwilling to be silenced, Sarah was terrorized by her family as they tried to force her to forget what she’d seen and take the blame for the murders. It’s understandable why her ghost would be so full of rage towards her family.

The monsters in the story are created from Sarah’s pen. What if the creatures we see in the film, such as Harold the scarecrow, the Pale Lady, and the Jangly Man, are all based on Sarah’s family members?

Perhaps the most persuasive evidence supporting this theory is that Harold the scarecrow shares his name with Harold Bellows, at least, according to the Wikipedia page for the film. As we all know, Wikipedia is not always an accurate source, but it does create an interesting theory.

What if Ephraim Bellows was the Jangly Man? As a doctor, the Jangly Man could represent the horrific torturous endeavors Sarah endured.

The Pale Lady may be representative of her mother, someone who looks benign, is meant to be nurturing and loving, and yet has a hideous soul inside. We saw the Pale Lady essentially swallow Chuck whole after going in for a hug, what is more representative of a toxic mother than that?

If this theory holds water, it makes one wonder what we could see from the sequel, if there is one. Will the next crop of monsters be from the Bellows family? Could they be variations on the missing kids like Augie, Chuck, or Tommy?

What do you think about the possibility of the monsters in Scary Stories being based on Sarah’s family? Do you hope the movie gets a sequel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is now playing in theaters.