The Stories (commonly known as Stories) is a 2024 American animated horror musical anthology film produced by Silent Apple Film Productions and distributed by Hollywood Films. It is directed by Frederick Hughes and Katherine Watson, written from a screenplay by Owen Kennedy, Archie Jordan, Sebastian Moody and Princeton Cervantes and produced by Kieran Smith, Joel Griffiths and Lucas Roberts. Featuring the voice actors of Rory Harvey, Zara Fletcher, Lacey Rees, Courtney Stevens, Kara Whitehead, Libby Jackson, Sean Ball, Douglas Carr, Stephen Head, Jovanni Sawyer, Clara Woodward, Geraldine Aguirre, Robert Mcguire and Dexter Willis, The Stories tells a variety of tales from people's perspectives on the myths and legends that happened "in front of their eyes."
The film, which is based on an original narrative by Bradley Chambers, is loosely based on the legends of Daycare, as well as from the movie and its sequel. It additionally draws inspiration from urban myths like as Bloody Mary, The Hook, Nain Rouge, Shotgun Man, The Spider Bite, and Momo the Monster.
The Stories was one of ten concepts that Frederick Hughes and his team submitted to Silent Apple Film Productions in 2018. One of the ideas was an urban mythology and horror movie. Frederick Hughes and Katherine Watson intended for their screenplay to be a horror musical. They pitched their concept to the studio, who approved it early in the next year. They were inspired by classic horror films, including Scary Larry (1991), Adoption (1983), and Bodies (2015). Frederick Hughes's general interest in horror movies and his earlier desire to adapt The Spider Bite served as further inspiration for the movie. Frederick's favorite book of the several ones he read as a child. Originally, there were just supposed to be three stories, but other horror myths from the books, such Bloody Mary, The Hook, and The Spider Bite, were added as the writing got better and the producers showed interest. The songs were written by Frankie Shaw, Joseph Martin, and Archie Wilkinson, and they all focus more on the storyline than the characters' points of view.
The Stories was released in the United States and Canada on October 8, 2024, following by a streaming release on February 23, 2025. With $391 million in total revenue, the movie is both the biggest grossing animated picture in Silent Apple Film Productions's history and the most grossing title in their film line-up. Critics gave it very favorable reviews, calling it a "perfect adaption" of all the stories and applauding its animation, songs, comedy, horror moments, characters, and charm. It went on to become immensely popular with audiences throughout the world. The Bloody Mary and The Spider Bite, which Silent Apple Film developed based on The Stories's adaptation of Bloody Mary and was published on May 2, 2025, saw an increase in sales as a result of the film's popularity.
Plot
"The Spider Bite"
- Written by Harley Davies and Dominic Austin
The first segment of the film follows the story of The Spider Bite, in which it depicts a little child enjoying herself on the beach until a spider bites her on the face and she understands what has occurred before crying in pain. Yasmin Kaur, the small child, goes to her parents weeping and displays the bite scars on her body. Her parents brought her back home to use soup and water to disguise the spider bite, but they didn't give it any thought. They won't accept that she was actually bitten by a spider either, as "no spiders" ever appear on beaches. Yasmin Kaur decided to give her face a good wash in the hopes that the bite would go away after she had calmed down a little. However, the bite becomes worse and worse every day until the boil develops to be larger than her nose. She began to fear and cry once again, so her mother made the decision to take her to the local doctor. The doctor, who had never seen a big boil before, summoned a huge team of medical experts, who used a thin plate to break the boil. However, little spiders began to fly everywhere, and terrified people began to scream. The microscopic spiders assault people outdoors and spread over the city as the film ends with the little girl erupting into a monstrous spider.
"The Hook"
- Written by Jacob Brown, Jaxton Shepherd and Blaze Sanford
The second segment of the film follows the story of The Hook, in which a group of youngsters are playing in a small park in the 1960s when they are ambushed and killed by an unnamed man holding a hook. Spencer Murphy and Tegan Hopkins, a young couple, are now hanging out in a local park after going to the movies. Spencer decided to use the bathroom. Tegan was there when he heard an alert go out on the car radio. It told him that there had been rumors of a mass murder and that it was extremely dangerous. Then, as Tegan was starting to become anxious, he heard a scrape at the door, and the noise subsided. Tegan told Spencer Murphy what had occurred when he got back. After growing agitated, Spencer called her a "scary cat" and then drove to her house. But when Spencer arrives to inspect the vehicle, he notices a Hook and looks terrified at the girl. The girl panics and runs away as the avalanche of mass murder suddenly hits Spencer. The murderer then follows her, screaming in agony as it comes to an end.
"Shotgun Man"
- Written by Ellis Howard, Connor Moss, Samuel Saunders and Daxton Aguilar
The third segment of the film follows the story of Shotgun Man, in which roughly 500 people are killed in an unsolved mass murder that takes place in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1910s in three years. The police have made every effort, yet the mass killer remains at large. Charlie Simpson is a young adult who decides to join the police force after learning how many people were killed by the Shotgun Man in the 1940s. On his first day of work, he is assigned to deal with an ongoing problem at a nearby home. After hearing many cries coming from within the house when Charlie Simpson arrives, he phones for additional police. When the screaming begins to stop, Charlie enters the house and discovers someone rushing outside. He follows the man into a nearby woodland before becoming lost. Suddenly, the Shotgun Man demanded that the cops "stop" by firing more shots, killing Charles in the process. After firing for almost an hour, the Shotgun Man is finally shot dead, and one police officer approaches the body. As the encounter came to an end, the cop let out a loud cry, and the corpse exploded into fragments in a matter of seconds.
"Daycare"
- Written by Adam Holland
The fourth segment of the film follows the story of Daycare, in which a nervous little boy is sent to the greatest daycare in his community. His parents reassure him, saying he should get along and make friends with the other kids and that everything will work out. The little youngster, Kylen Russell, made friends with all of the other kids after introducing himself. One night, an unknown creature broke into the house and frightened the children and the instructor. That's when everything changed. The kids made the decision to spend the entire night awake out of fear for their lives as soon as the monster vanished. Eventually, they become tired and return to their slumber. When they discovered their instructor was missing the following morning, they began to fear and worry. However, the previous monster reappeared, burning down the childcare center and killing all twenty of the kids within. As all the other parents are crying in anguish at the end of the segment, Kylen's parents are experiencing a mental breakdown.
"Momo the Monster"
- Written by Lucas Williamson, Tommy Barker and Jordan Martin
The fifth segment of the film follows the story of Momo the Monster, in which this is set on a camping trip, when a family is having fun and singing a song to their kids till the late hours of the night, when they make the decision to turn in. When the family awoke the next morning to discover that the majority of their belongings had been taken by an unidentified creature in the middle of the night, they were terrified for their lives. After eventually discovering their belongings and making their way back to their camp, they decide to postpone the next few days out of dread and venture farther into the forest in search of a decent hiding place. They suddenly discover Momo the Monster, though, and scream in terror. They screamed in agony as Momo the Monster tore their entire body apart as he pursued them back to their original location. At the end of the episode, the police are searching for the missing family but are unable to locate them at all.
"Jeff The Killer"
- Written by Charles Kelly, Kaysen Knight and Jackson Hull
The sixth segment of the film follows the story of Jeff the Killer, in which it followed a young child called Dexter Nicholson as he attempts to save his younger brother and his adolescent sister from being tormented by a group of his classmates, who are mostly after him. Dexter Nicholson witnessed his sister being beaten up one day, and his younger brother started fighting the bullies, wounding them in the process. Dexter started to experience depression as a result, and the brother was imprisoned for hurting others. At a neighborhood gathering, one of the thugs punches Dexter, sparking a fierce altercation inside before the thugs set him on fire and scorch him and resulting in the burning of the entire house, which killed 20 people. After being sent to a hospital, Dexter Nicholson started acting strangely. He quickly went on a killing rampage, killing his family first before going after everyone else. It is said that he has killed a total of one thousand people.
"Bloody Mary"
- Written by Dylan Turner and Owen Francis
The seventh segment of the film follows the story of Bloody Mary, highlights the tale of a young lady who, after receiving a challenge from his friends on social media, went to a nearby haunted home and "scared the ghost" there. Fearful, but not wanting to be made fun of for being afraid, she chose to accept the challenge and enter the haunted before midnight. The woman then does a thorough inspection of the entire house till she heard what sounded like a sobbing woman coming from a little room. She checks a mirror outside in an attempt to be helpful, and she sees a white lady standing there. But when the Bloody Mary successfully attempts to escape the mirror and pursues her, things start to go strange. Fearing for her life, the woman returns home to check in a mirror only to be killed by Bloody Mary, who attacked and jumped on her.
"Nain Rouge"
- Written by Charlie Lane, Oliver Williams, Toby Stewart and Deandre Torres
The eighth segment of the film follows the story of Nain Rouge, in which this narrates the tale of a young youngster who, in spite of his family's best efforts to teach him manners and respect for everyone, misbehaves the entire time. He was resting one day when Nain Rouge suddenly materialized, grabbed him by the legs, and dragged him into Hell—a huge flaming pit filled with burning youngsters. When the kid attempts to escape, Nain Rouge grabs him once again and drags him deeper into the state of hell. Following that, Nain Rouge gave him his word that he would release him whenever he fulfilled their requests. The youngster tries his hardest to get out, but he fails, and the Nain Rouge become enraged with him constantly. The tiny child managed to flee just in time when the Nain Rouge once became so enraged that everything around them caught fire. The small youngster is shown weeping as the episode comes to a conclusion.
"The Roswell"
- Written by Alfie White, Kai Powell, Theo Burton, Luka Dale and Mohamed Kane
The ninth segment of the film follows the story of The Roswell, whereby the 1947 New Mexico UFO sighting and event serve as its basis. In the late 1940s, a young adult witnesses a bright green light while driving home from work. A few seconds later, the object crashes into the earth. As the frightened adult investigates the thing, he discovers a "dead body". But all of a sudden, another UFO flashed right above him, capturing him. After the aliens do a reconnaissance on him, the terrified guy attempts to flee the UFO in which the aliens are pursuing him. When a door eventually opened, he leaped out but plunged to his death. Since then, the UFO incident has been ranked among the "weirdest" American historical occurrences.
"The Crying Thing"
Voice cast
- Rory Harvey as Elliot Chambers
- Zara Fletcher as Yasmin Kaur
- Lacey Rees as The Hook
- Courtney Stevens as Shotgun Man
- Kara Whitehead as Girl #1
- Libby Jackson as Momo the Monster
- Sean Ball as The Voices of Spiders
- Douglas Carr as Charlie Simpson
- Stephen Head as Kylen Russell
- Jovanni Sawyer as Morgan Watson
- Clara Woodward as Joshua Newman
- Geraldine Aguirre as Dominique Gutierrez
- Robert Mcguire as Family Member #1
- Dexter Willis as Family Member #2
Production
Background
The Stories were inspired by Frederick Hughes' overall interest in horror movies and his passion for spider bites.
Hollywood Films released The Stories, which were produced by Probunch Entertainment, Fantasy Kitten Studios, and Silent Apple Film Productions. When Frederick Hughes was hired in 2018, he was given the task of submitting many proposals based on novel concepts, along with several other crew members. Hughes was previously employed on The Darkness, an animated American film. First, Frederick Hughes had a "simple story" concept, but he dropped it when he discovered he could turn the urban myth The Spider Bite into a movie. In the scenario, a little girl would have been lost and had to figure out how to go home. He read The Spider Bite to his team members on Halloween even as an adult, before the movie was made. When he was younger, it was his absolute favorite horror story. Since the pitches were made right before Halloween, Frederick and a few other members got together at a local restaurant, where Frederick shared his concept for a Halloween-themed film based on urban myth stories, which his members particularly loved.
Soon afterward, Frederick Hughes and Katherine Watson, who would later serve as the film's filmmakers, came together and made the decision to turn the idea into a horror musical, which would ultimately become The Stories. Frederick Hughes, whose primary goal for the film was to be "focused on the people's point of view," opted to build the movie more as a "anthology film" by adding additional urban myths, such as Momo the Monster, The Hook, and Shotgun Man, to make it seem "interesting." Frederick Hughes had originally intended for the movie to be live-action, but he later changed his mind, thinking that animation would work better because of the special effects and "possibilities" that might be included. During the three weeks that it took to construct The Stories altogether, Frederick Hughes had the idea to add additional horror stories based on actual incidents, but he decided against it in favor of concentrating more on urban myths. With the assistance of production members, Frederick Hughes utilized Scary Larry (1991) as an example for his references and used them to advance the plot of the film, which was loosely based on the stories of Daycare.
Development
Around that time, the project started its early stages of production. Frederick Hughes finally pitched the idea to the studio, portraying it as a horror movie that would frighten viewers by using urban legends. Director Elizabeth Cooper joined the project at the time of the pitching in order to work as a producer and contribute to the heart of the film's production. Elizabeth Cooper collaborated with Frederick Hughes at that period to provide intriguing, unique concepts that were included into the urban myth stories. Given that it was Halloween at the time and that the producers were really intrigued by the idea, they thought it may become a huge hit and revive urban mythology as a whole. The movie was finally given the go-ahead to be listed for development in January 2019 because they also thought the urban myths themselves, such The Hook and the Shotgun Man, were fascinating. Originally going by the title The Urban Myths, Ella Bell, Courtney Kaur, and Keira Hudson—all of whom had previously appeared in horror films as actors—started working on the movie and figuring out the plot.
Frederick Hughes had originally intended for the movie to be no more than "60 minutes long" as he couldn't figure out how to extend the stories without making them seem any less charming. However, Dominic Marsh assisted him and continued to refine the idea. Working with other directors, Frederick Hughes hosted two-hour meetings to talk about the production and the idea behind the movie. It was during one of these meetings that Frederick came up with the idea to create and develop the story of Bloody Mary, which served as the inspiration for a number of horror films, including The Mirror (1995). Bloody Mary was originally shelved in favor of longer stories, like Baby Train (which was also deemed simple, but Frederick developed the story more easily because of its possibilities and "endless" fun and interesting concepts with the story). This was because the story was deemed "too simple" for a hardcore animated horror film, and Frederick wanted to make the hardest film in his line-up and wanted most of the story expanded a bit more. It is stated that while the cast and crew were putting in a lot of effort on the movie, Silent Apple Film Productions offered a novel idea that would be utilized in the production; One of them was the idea to create a story about the urban legend known as Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, which dates back to the 1830s. Frederick Hughes attempted to develop the idea, and the first version set in the present era was eventually abandoned in favor of Jeff the Killer, a contemporary urban myth that became one of the most well-known horror stories of all time in the twenty-first century.
Frederick Hughes saw this as an opportunity to "fit within the past and in the present" despite the fact that a movie based on the narrative was already in the works, and shortly Jeff the Killer's production got underway. Frederick Hughes originally intended the film to "go in reverse" when deciding which segment of the line-up of myths to develop first, with The Shotgun Man taking place in the 1920s and Jeff the Killer taking place in the present day. Ultimately, he decided on The Spider Bite because it was "perfect" to be fit and could work for the beginning. Frederick Hughes, who had been wishing to alter the title, opted to rebrand the movie as The Stories in April 2019, when the primary core was being worked on. He reasoned that although The Urban Myths was a somewhat appropriate title overall, The Stories was a far better match and was memorable and engaging despite being straightforward. The narrative of The Stories was originally going to be provided by narrator Hayden Pratt, however that plan was shelved and the story is now presented by animation. Even though the movie is still in the early stages of development, Silent Apple Film Productions didn't provide any indications that it was being produced. It was described as "like a secret" by Frederick Hughes, who had intentions to at least offer information of the new animated film around Halloween.
On October 29, 2019, Silent Apple Film Productions unveiled The Stories, a forthcoming animated film scheduled for release on November 7, 2022. Among the numerous things that were cut from the final cut was the introduction of the Loveland Frog. Producer Anthony Watts stated that everything was going smoothly until issues with the urban myth arose, at which time they made the decision to exclude the story in its entirety from the film. At least three lengthy stories were originally planned for the movie, but as they became longer, more intricate, and included more urban myths, the number of stories was increased to six, and then to ten. An alternative urban myth was chosen to replace the one that was originally intended for the movie, which was called the White Lady. Frederick Hughes would propose the idea to a producer and talk about his newest project in order to obtain the rights to almost all of the urban myth stories, as some of them were based on novels written by writers.
During the whole creation process, which began in January 2019 and continued until October 2020, team members and Frederick Hughes would frequently come together around Halloween to discuss the plot and the movie. During that period, other myths were added to the movie, including Void and The Crying Thing. Originally, The Crying Thing was supposed to tell the story of its genesis, but those ideas were abandoned. Frederick discussed the project with me on May 5, 2020, during our interview. He mentioned that the movie was being worked on, and that the initial release date had been pushed back to October 30, 2022—more than a week early. But because the team members need extra time, the movie was postponed to November 21, 2023, the next month.
Segments
The Spider Bite
Among the numerous reasons The Stories was conceived and made in the first place was because Frederick Hughes intended to make a movie based on the narrative before the movie he was working on turned into an anthology picture. One of those reasons was The Spider Bite. Around September 2022, the Spider Bite was first finished. The following year, further animation and voice acting were added, and by March 2024, the final version was finished. The Hook was supposed to be the first segment, while The Spider Bite would be the second. However, due to its "interesting story," The Spider Bite was ultimately changed to be the first segment to be played. At this time, Emmanuel Moon, Patrick Wood, Jamie Hughes, Freddie Lane, Uriah Kirkland, and Emmanuel Moon were working as story writers and directors on the segment's general narrative. A number of scenes were cut, including one where the young child cried when she saw the boil and tried to pull it out, only to reveal a tiny spider's leg, before running to his mother. Another scene ended with the doctors extracting a whole spider, which made the girl cry, and several spiders emerged from her month. Originally slated to be a 10-minute short film, producer Harriet Hunter eventually added the plot point of the small child having a boil, expanding the original work.
Lauren Kennedy, who acted as a designer for the segment noted that the The Spider Bite was her first time working on a "short film" and that scripting the plot was "tough", despite it being basic. The role was originally supposed to be an adult lady with references to A Spider Bite (1979). However, one of the producers suggested that the character would be a little girl, and Yasmin Kaur was provided as the new name. Robert Simpson, Jackson Booth, Noah Lawson, Patrick Jenkins, William Cooke, Braylon Richards, Rex Alexander, and Dayton Ewin directed the animation, which included hand-drawn animation for The Spider Bite and numerous "3D animation" for the spiders. The spiders were originally intended to be red and black, but they were merely given a black color change. The team members referenced a number of movies, including The Beach, for the sequence where the spider bites the face, while Camping (1982) served as inspiration for the colors. The team members created a ragdoll human version of Yasmin Kaur and replaced a number of spiders for the scene where all the spiders spring out at the doctor's office. They then made the spiders pop out and flutter about the doll.
The Hook
Following the decision to make the movie a package, The Hook was one of the urban myths incorporated into the movie. Production on the segment was completed by late 2023, having initially begun in 2021. Samuel Campbell originally proposed The Hook to Frederick Hughes at the same time that plans were made to give the project a green light. Because he loved the narrative of The Hook and believed it would go well with the entire movie, Samuel Campbell wanted to include it. The Hook was inserted soon after, in January 2019, when the movie received the go-ahead. Blaze Sanford, who worked on an animated feature based on the same narrative, wanted to do something "special with the idea" and add creative ideas due of the limited running time. Jacob Brown, Jaxton Shepherd, and Blaze Sanford wrote the segment's script. Blaze Sanford presented his proposal during the first round of idea pitching. In it, a group of lads would be the center of the opening scene, but suddenly, they would be attacked and slain by a mass murder. The scenario was supposed to take place in the daylight, but its "message" required it to take place at night. The story writing for the part with Frederick Hughes was done by Toby Carr, Bobby Armstrong, Evan Harvey, Joseph Russell, and Bobby Burton.
A number of scenes from the segment were purportedly removed from the final cut. One particularly early deleted scene, which was taken from 2019 and was sourced from a different source, claimed that The Hook was originally going to be a completely different story with a different cast of characters. Frederick Hughes responded by saying that, in fact, the scene was an early draft of The Hook that had been heavily altered to fit the original story, which dates back more than 150 years. Another deleted scene from The Hook included the mass murderer approaching Tegan Hopkins, attempting to unlock the door, and then fleeing, leaving his hook behind. The scene was taken down sometime in October 2019, and it was said that the storyboards were vanished. However, in September 2024, a leak revealed the storyboard for the sequence. The group that directed the animation included Danielle Dawson, Scarlett Foster, Amelie Stevens, Evelyn Jones, Isobel Pearson, Alison Freeman, Lylah Travis, Hope Cortez, Ellen Cash, and Cataleya Wilson. Reuben Owen, Darian Witt, Bowen Phillips, Antoine Woodward, Gavyn Mckenzie, and Andy Russell designed and worked on the character designs for the humans and the mass murderer. The primary antagonist of The Hook was modeled after a real-life mass murderer by the name of Tuber93 (whose real name was originally revealed to be Isaac Martin in early scenes before being altered to Dominic Richards after his death in September 2023).
Shotgun Man
Designer Frederick Robinson originally proposed Shotgun Man to Frederick Hughes in the last few days of December 2018. According to David Austin, the segment's production started in January 2020 and ended at the end of 2022. Additional effects and animation were added to the segment in the following year, and by that point, both the film and the segment had been finished by the time the movie's marketing started. One of the last segments to be made and finalized before the movie's release was The Shotgun Man; according to a post, the segment was completed a few weeks before the movie's scheduled release, in October 2024. Screenwriters Ellis Howard, Connor Moss, Samuel Saunders, and Daxton Aguilar wrote the piece, which was initially approved in March 2020. The segment's tale was based on a mass killer named Christopher Dixon who killed over 300 people in a single year in the 1910s. Samuel Saunders took references from other real-life mass murderers who had been slain around 1920 to create the story. The initial idea called for introducing a young police officer in place of the Shotgun Man's parents in the first scene, which would have shown the character's beginnings.
George Gray, Hayden Elliott, Cash Cook, and Kamron Lancaster wrote the plot, with the addition of a young officer's notion sometime in February 2021. In an early deleted scene, the cop was cowering in terror after being assaulted by the Shotgun Man several times and attempting to escape the mass murderer. Eventually, though, he felt compelled to pursue the mass murderer in order to protect his fellow cops. The crew members decided to edit the sequence because they wanted to show the police officer as fearless even if they were still afraid. An earlier version of the segment's conclusion would have shown the Shotgun Man pretending to be dead and really attacking a cop before being shot to death. Ewan Hunt, Andrew Saunders, Reuben Davies, Edward Price, Jake Gill, Yahir Wheeler, Camdyn Sparks, Jessie Noel, Micah Lamb, and Camren Hanson were in charge of the animation's production. The director of the segment's animation included references to some animated Chinese films, which served as the source of inspiration for the animation. Bobby Evans, Louis Foster, Nathan Carr, Ernest Hill, and Dustin Todd created the character designs for the main character and the Shotgun Man. Written by Frankie Shaw, Joseph Martin, and Archie Wilkinson, the first song was finished by the end of 2023 and was titled "The Man".
Daycare
In March 2019, producers James Graham, Sean Hill, Caleb Harper, Finlay Berry, and Vicente Garrett, as well as animators Josh Carter, Trystan Love, and Aditya Conway, originally proposed the idea of Daycare to Frederick Hughes and Katherine Watson. As a team, they produced multiple storyboards for Frederick Hughes and Katherine Watson to pique their interest in their retelling of the story. They also made the sound effects, with one of the animators' seven-year-old youngest sons providing the voice of the young character. After another screening that they also showed to the studio, the screening for the Daycare's early work was shown the next month, and the segment was given the go-ahead. Around April 2019, the segment's development got underway, but it wasn't until January 2020 that it entered production and Riley Macdonald joined the team to serve as the segment's animator. Adam Holland wrote the script for the segment. He joined the team of the program in December 2020 and expressed interest in working as a writer for it.
Despite being a completely unique concept, Adam Holland drew inspiration for the tale from the 2013 American film of the same name. The script he wrote for the film served as the basis for the narrative, and he suggested some sections that were cut from the Daycare film. With a budget of more than $10 million, or twice as much as the other piece, Daycare was the most expensive part of the whole movie. The group of Dylan Baxter, Louis Austin, Kai Pearson, Ellis Willis, Ashton Hayes, Kale Buckley, Kelvin Sharpe, Josue Torres, Waylon Peck, and Dax Santos supervised the animation, and by March 2021, production had gotten underway. The crew members shot many footage of them burning and utilized them as references for the fire sequence, which involved using real fire to simulate a wooden model of the daycare. According to reports, the daycare was often watched, and the fire scene created considerable drama, especially in light of the increase in gun crime and the deaths of the children. By November 2023, the animation was finished, and in the months that followed, Daycare was fully finished.