Are You Afraid of the Dark? is a horror anthology television series, first running from 1992 until 1996. It went through a brief hiatus before returning from 1999 to 2000. Once more beginning on October 11th, 2019. There have been three distinct incarnations so far. Of which, each one takes place during their respective broadcast run. To give some perspective, was not until 1995 that the first episode of the Goosebumps TV series ran, airing The Haunted Mask (parts 1 and 2) on the FOX Network.
The first revival series, with new directors, writers, and a cast, was produced by Nickelodeon from 1999 to 2000. This also aired on the SNICK block. The sole member from the original lineup to return for the first and second seasons of the revival was Tucker (Daniel DeSanto). However, Gary (Ross Hull) returned for the concluding show. Interestingly, this broke from the show’s established format by blurring the line between story and “reality”.
The Format of Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Are you Afraid of the Dark? was made by CINAR in Montreal. It was executive produced by D.J Machale, after he partnered with CINAR films and Nickelodeon. The American debut came in 1992 on Nickelodeon months after Canada’s family channel. After only 2 years on the air, the show got transferred. This was from the family channel to YTV, where it stayed until its end in 1996.
Both instalments revolved around a group of teenagers known as “The Midnight Society”. In every episode, one of the members would tell a scary story to the group at a secret location in the woods at night. The viewer saw the actual story rather than the telling. Between the group’s arrival at the site and their departure, the story was shown.
Each storyteller would begin their story by saying, “submitted for the approval of The Midnight Society, I call this story [story name here]”, before tossing a handful of “midnight dust” (actually Coffee-Mate) from a leather pouch into a campfire to heighten the flames and produce an eerie white smoke.
The statement “submitted for the approval of” was written by MacHale as a homage to The Twilight Zone, where creator Rod Serling would say after introducing the episode, “submitted for your approval.” The storyteller would then proceed to announce its title (The Tale of…). The stories’ themes mainly revolve around a variety of paranormal occurrences. Subjects such as spells, demons, ghosts, hauntings, curses, aliens, witches, vampires, werewolves, and the like coming into contact with ordinary teenagers. Typically, the episodes were filmed in woods, abandoned houses, or public places such as schools or libraries.
The origins of these stories vary; many were adaptations of public-domain fairy tales, short stories, or urban legends. An example of this is The Tale of the Twisted Claw, which is based on W. W. Jacobs’ short story The Monkey’s Paw.
Sometimes the stories were inspired by an event in the storyteller’s life. Tucker, in the episode The Tale of the Crimson Clown, blackmailed his brother Gary with a poem he discovered that Gary had written for Samantha. Gary then related a story about a mischievous younger brother who was harshly punished for his terrible conduct. Tucker returned the poem to his brother at the end of the episode.
The bulk of the horror stories in Are You Afraid of the Dark? had happy endings. Yet, a small few had either horrible endings or twist endings. At the end of most episodes, one character (most times Gary in the first run of the show and Tucker in the second run) would pour a red bucket of water onto the fire and say, “I declare this meeting of The Midnight Society closed”. The group would then leave the campsite, effectively ending the storytelling.
On some occasions, the story would be linked to an event (for example, in The Tale of Laughing in the Dark, Kristen who was afraid of clowns, ran away when Eric donned a clown mask).
Where can you watch Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Are you Afraid of the Dark? is available to watch with ads on YouTube through their official channel. They show all seasons and episodes, and have even made Halloween compilations:
