Nightbooks takes a while to warm up, but the back half brings the gateway horror fun. It's for the young and the young at heart, wrapping a very familiar tale in creative horror-fantasy packaging.

Yarovesky has a knack for tricks of light - shadows, neon night vision and motion cast in silhouette - and the movie is at its most deliciously chilling when it favors visual flair over jump scares.

Its whimsical touches, along with a reverence for creative young minds, gives the film a warmth that counterbalances its shocks.

'Nightbooks', being a film about writing scary stories, pays notable respect to their long history and the core of what makes a good one.