Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Big Toe – Screen Rant

One of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark's most iconic tales is "The Big Toe;" what do readers and viewers not about it, though?

The Big Toe is a classic tale from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, an acclaimed collection of horror short stories aimed for younger kids written by Alvin Schwartz. The story revolves around a boy who chances upon a piece of flesh on the ground. He plucks it out without realizing that it was a toe belonging to a monster resting below. While his family sees it as a piece of meat and makes a nice meal out of it, the monster comes back to seek vengeance.

RELATED: 10 Campy Horror Movies To Watch If You Loved Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Over the years, The Big Toe has acquired cult status amongst and was prominently featured in the 2019 film adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Alvin Schwartz has relied on characters from old American folklore as well as urban legends to write many of his stories. These characters range from the Wendigo to Bigfoot. The Big Toe is also no exception. The original story was referred to as The Hairy Toe as well as The Skinny Toe. The basic storyline is virtually the same, the only difference being an elderly lady as the protagonist instead of a child.

And then, of course, the description of each toe changes depending on the version that one reads.

In the film by contemporary horror director Andr vredal, the role of the Monster is played by Javier Botet. A Spanish actor, Bortet has played several supernatural creatures in big-budget horror films. His filmography includes playing the titular character in Mama, the Crooked Man in The Conjuring 2, various characters in the It series, and Slender Man in the film of the same name.

He also was diagnosed with a condition called Marfan syndrome; most of the people with this condition tend to be tall and skinny with long limbs. But Botet has successfully established himself as a character actor despite this medical case.

Most of Shwartzs scary stories have open-ended conclusions that merely imply violence or a tragic end. The Big Toe ends on a similar note as the monster climbs up to the childs room demanding his toe back.

However, the author had written an alternate ending that paints a somewhat scarier picture. The monster comes down the chimney this time and its physical features are described in detail, including its sharp teeth. The alternate version ends with the monster saying that he would eat up the kid as revenge.

Considering that stories like The Big Toe are quick reads, the most sensible way of a Scary Stories adaptation would be to turn it into an anthology film. However, producer Guillermo del Toro (who also shares story credits) vouched for an approach that shows the various stories while being linked to a common plot.

RELATED: Every Guillermo Del Toro Movie, Ranked

As del Toro explained in the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, a plot point in Pans Labyrinth helped him to arrive at this conclusion. I remembered in Pans Labyrinth, I created a book called The Book of Crossroads. I thought it could be great if we had a book that reads you, and it writes what youre most afraid of. Then the theme became stories we tell each other.

All the lead characters in the horror moviehave their own particular scary story that pertains to their deepest fears. For instance, Tommy (Austin Abrams) hates scarecrows and its Harold, the scarecrow who ends up killing him.

As for Auggie, he has always shown a concern for being fully aware of what his foods ingredients are. But in an ironic plot twist, its Auggie (Gabriel Rush) who eats the Big Toe Monsters toe after it falls into a stew.

In a blink-and-miss moment from the film, theres a slight goof that viewers would notice if they have an eye for detail. Schwartzs original story starts with the line, One day, a boy was digging in his garden, when he saw a big toe sticking out of the ground.

However, in the film, when Ruth reads the story to Ramon and Auggie, the opening paragraph reads, A mother was digging at the edge of the garden. The second paragraph then reads, The boy took the toe into the kitchen and showed it to his mother.

Alvin Schwartzs creative partner in all the stories was Stephen Gammell. It was Gammells morbid-looking characters that added to the overall horror of the anthology and were even deemed to be inappropriate by elementary school teachers in the 1990s. In cases like The Big Toe, the illustrations didnt even have any graphic depictions of violence but its just the general ominousness that thrilled younger readers.

Before Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Gammell was known for illustrating Song and Dance Man, a renowned childrens picture book of a lighter tone compared to his magnum opus.

To celebrate the books 30th anniversary in 2011, Harper Collins re-released editions of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, removing Gammells illustrations and new sketches by Brett Helquist. Helquist is an illustrator with his own share of popularity, having illustrated all books in the Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events series.

RELATED: A Series of Unfortunate Events: The 10 Best Episodes, Ranked (According To IMDb)

Even though Helquists style has been grim and morbid too, his illustrations for stories like The Big Toe turned out to be a tad bit too childish. Fans were extremely disappointed with Helquists work finding it to be totally inconsistent with the stories. The books were re-published in their original format in 2017.

The film has been noted for its reliance on practical special effects to create its spooky ghouls and monsters. Makeup effects company Spectral Motion was behind the character designs and effects, having worked in several other sci-fi and fantasy titles like Hellboy 2, Looper, and Stranger Things.

For creating the Big Toe Monster, Ganot was in practical makeup to play the toe-less old lady. The make-up for the character was directly taken from a Haunted House drawing by Stephen Gammell.

This year, The Big Toe received another adaptation in the form of a seven-minute-long short film. The stop-motion animated film directed and animated by Neil OBryan and Chad Thurman is titled Toe and features puppets made by Demi Kay Schlehofer.

RELATED: 10 Of The Creepiest Short Horror Films On YouTube

Unlike the PG-13 feature film, Toe is more gnarly and darker in its tone shot in black-and-white much like the original illustrations. The sound effects with the cawing crows and the strobe lights add to the overall haunting ambiance of the short.

NEXT: 15 Best PG-13 Horror Movies, Ranked

Next 15 Most Memorable Quotes From The Dark Knight Trilogy

Based in Delhi, India, Shaurya Thapa is a Third World boy writing on First World pop culture. He's into freelance journalism, hip-hop, and engaging in critical analyses over films and TV of varied genres.

Continued here:
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Big Toe - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero