Here's how the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie adaptation of "Harold" differs from the book. Produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by André Øvredal (The Autopsy Of Jane Doe), 2019's Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is an adaptation of the classic children's horror book series of the same name. Written by the late Alvin Schwartz and featuring truly nightmarish illustrations by Stephen Gammell, these books proved controversial among parents but are beloved by a generation of genre fans.
Instead of taking the anthology approach, the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie merges several of the most popular stories into one narrative. The plot itself revolves around a book that brings these tales to life, with stories such as "The Red Spot," "The Big Toe" or "The Pale Lady" being woven together. In certain cases, the original narratives had to be tweaked to work in the movie's context.
This was the case with "Harold," which first appeared in Scary Stories 3: More Tales To Chill Your Bones. In the book, "Harold" revolves around two farmers named Alfred and Thomas, who to break up the monotony of their work built a scarecrow they dub Harold, named for another farmer they hate. They mistreat poor Harold too, punching and kicking it or calling him names. This escalates to smearing food on his face, but they back off when they hear him grunt. Over time they notice him growing bigger too until one morning he just stands up as they eat breakfast and he proceeds to walk back and forth on the roof of their hut.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark's original "Harold" story ends with the two wisely fleeing the farm with their cows, only for Thomas to head back to pick something up. Alfred later looks back to see Harold drying Thomas' skin in the sun. The movie adapts the story to see Harold as a scarecrow in a field that belongs to the family of local bully Tommy, who beats him with a bat, calls him names, and is generally a douche. Later in the story, a drunk Tommy is forced to do a chore in the field, only to find himself being chased by Harold, who in the movie has a prominent hole in his stomach.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark's "Harold" adaptation ends with the titular scarecrow catching Tommy and stuffing him with hay, turning him into a scarecrow too. While the movie doesn't feature any flaying, a scene like this was filmed but later trimmed.
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