Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

On Halloween night in 1968, in the fictional Pennsylvania town of Mill Valley, teenagers Stella, Auggie and Chuck visit the supposedly haunted home of the Bellows family, accompanied by newcomer Ramón. Inside a secret room, they find a book of horror stories written by Sarah Bellows, the family's daughter. Ostracized for her albinism and accused of witchcraft when the town's children began to die mysteriously, she allegedly committed suicide in 1898. The local bully, Tommy, locks the group inside Sarah's room along with Ruth, Chuck's sister. After Tommy leaves, the lock is mysteriously opened, and Stella takes Sarah's storybook home.

Back home, Stella finds a new story called "Harold", written in blood, on previously blank pages. In a nearby cornfield, an inebriated Tommy is stalked by the titular Harold—his family's scarecrow. Harold stabs Tommy in the back with a pitchfork, causing him to vomit hay and undergo a violent transformation. The next day, Tommy is reported missing. Stella and Ramon find Harold dressed in Tommy's clothes.