Every child of the '90s grew up with nightmares inspired by the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. A collection of folk stories and urban legends compiled by writer Alvin Schwartz, the series was truly defined by Stephen Gammell's surreal and terrifying art, which feels more like something out of a David Lynch film than a kid's book. So when we hear that the film adaptation of this book series has found a new writer, we're not imagining any particular story coming to life. Oh, no. We imagine those drawings come to life...and that's enough to traumatize our inner child all over again.

According to a report over at Deadline, John August has been hired by CBS Films to pen the screenplay. The last time we heard from this production, Saw writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton were writing a draft, but things apparently didn't work out. Their version of the movie has been completely thrown out and August is starting from scratch. Deadline notes that August is "going back to the source material" for his script, which makes us very curious about how he plans to shape a trilogy of short stories into a feature film with an ongoing narrative. Could he be penning a horror anthology? Or will he find a way to combine several of the more famous tales into one story?

August is best known for his collaborations with Tim Burton, having written Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie. That final film sounds like the proper template for a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie, which is going to need to be creepy while appealing to family audiences. We won't know exactly what tone CBS Films is going for until a director is hired, but August, with his ability to meld horror, fantasy and humor, seems like a great choice for a project like this.