An empty rowboat sways back and forth in black shallow waters…you hear the sound of a rusty swing as the wind rustles through an abandoned playground, a girls playful laugh is heard as shutters crash against the windows as a thunderstorm rages on… and a menacing toy grins in the darkness
Phew…now that’s done let’s get right down to it.
What is it?
Premiering in 1991 – the pilot episode airing on October 31st no less- Are You Afraid of the Dark? centered around a group of irresponsible tweens (seriously where were their parents!?) who meet around a campfire in the woods once a week to tell ghost stories. The “Midnight Society” as they called themselves, were our guides, taking us into a dark world full of mournful ghosts, clowns as other nasty things that go bump in the night every week without fail! Each member of the “Midnight Society” had their own specialty, it could have been fairy tale or ghouls or stories reminiscent of Tales from the Crypt. Whatever the story, each show was guaranteed to scare the bejeesus out of any kid watching it – myself included!
Similar to the style of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps novels and later series, the show was legitimately creepy and gave us well-developed plot lines, scary content and a readiness to completely move away from generic formula. AYAOTD awakened kids of the 90s to horror, sci-fi and all things out of this world!
Why you should watch it?
Every episode is an epic thriller in it’s own right – although there are the regulars, anyone remember Mr Sardot, oops that’s Sardo, no Mister and accent on the ‘dough’? He was the good-natured owner of the magic shop who always managed to get the poor kids in trouble!
Whether it was ghosts, goblins or fighting your inner demon, it seems that this show had everything for everyone: just take a look at the must watch/truly terrifying episodes below:
Must watch episodes:
#1 The Tale of the Dollmaker
If you weren’t afraid of dolls after this episode then I don’t know what show you were watching!
Young Melissa used to enjoy spending the weekends at her Aunt and Uncle’s house, so she could play with her best friend Susan Henderson in the house next door. One fateful weekend, Melissa has found out that her friend has mysteriously vanished, and Susan’s parents left to get away from the grief. When Melissa saw something in the Hendersons’ attic, she went in to investigate, and soon found a dollhouse that was an exact miniature of the Hendersons’ house. It turns out that Susan had been trapped in the dollhouse, and that she was turning into a doll this whole time. Melissa must do all she can to save her friend and herself from the curse… yeah lesson learned: porcelain dolls are creepy!
#2 The Tale of Laughing in the Dark
A kid named Josh decides to prove that a fun house isn’t haunted by stealing the nose of Zeebo, the clown who is supposed to haunt the place and believed to be burnt alive. He learns that the story isn’t fiction when Zeebo pays him a little visit and leaves threatening calls…
Damn clowns!!!
#3 The Tale of the Lonely Ghost
Woah…shivers! Bookworm Amanda has been sent to live with her aunt for the summer, and to put up with her obnoxious cousin Beth and her bratty friends. In a dark rite of passage (seriously where are the adults?) Amanda is forced to stay the night in the abandoned house next door, that was rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl.
As it turns out, when she was alive the mute little girl was tormented by her peers and locked in her bedroom and was never found. After scaring the crap out of EVERYONE Amanda reunites the young girl with her mother.
OK this was truly terrifying!
#4 The Tale of the Twisted Claw
In this final clip two boys, Dougie and Kevin, scare an old lady aka the neighborhood witch, who lives in a creepy house the night before Halloween. The next night they trick or treat at her house and she gives them a special treat, a vulture’s claw, granting them three wishes apiece, but they soon find out that the wishes come true — at a price…cue Halloween hoodlums and raising the dead!
So I submit these episodes for the approval of the Midnight Society and you, readers… Are you afraid of the dark?
