Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Clever, fast paced and scary show should appeal to both kids and grown ups. It is about a group of school kids called The Midnight Society that gather around a camp fire on Saturday nights to tell each other some scary stories. Some of my favorites are an intense eposide about a paper clown who has his nose stolen. He haunts the kid who took the nose. A thoughtful one about a young girl who gets everything she every wanted, but the clerk takes something away from her that the girl takes for granted. And my third favorite would have to be an updating of the headless horseman legend. Rated Y7 when it was on TV there are some intense moments and off screen or hinted at killings, but no on screen deaths. Neve Campbell once starred as an employee at an upscale restuarant where your darkest fears come true. Melissa Joan Hart was in one about a cold ghost. Another one found the twins from the show Sister Sister dueling it out. Many many more guest stars.

When I was a kid, I loved this show. It scared me all the time, and I probably lost a lot of sleep because of it, but it was worth it to see all of these stories told by regular kids. It sparked my love for horror. The absolute scariest episode for me was "The Night Shift" where vampires invade a hospital. I can still remember parts, and they still scare me. One of these days I'm going to start my own Midnight Society...in broad daylight...with soap operas...and cheese fondue. Pretty scary, huh?

Are You Afraid of the Dark was a favorite for anyone who was a kid aged between 5 or 6 to mid teens (maybe older even) when it was on starting in 1992. It served as a special point in the original SNICK Saturday night programming, as it was the last show to air before the channel reverted to TVLAND programming. Even when an episode didn't entirely work or was too goofy for its own good (and there were a few times, lets admit it fans), there was always a sense of excitement and anticipation to see where the next scary story would head next at that time of night before bed. Some of the essentials were the movie theater episode (Nosferatu, anyone? who hasn't wanted to go through the screen from this episode); the one that sticks quite prominently involving a clown in an amusement park (his nose!); ones with big doses of tongue-in-cheek (dark) humor like with the comic-book villain posed very much like the Joker; even a trippy one, like with the see-through glasses that featured figures of death ala Bergman.

There were many others, feeding directly into phobias and other ticks that held some kids in a panic, or at least interest, if presented right in the episode. And even the gimmick of the Midnight Society was not too old fashioned; having kids tell stories around a campfire, proving worth of the member based on how good the story could get, was essential to making this not only about how scary a story could get, but about the act of storytelling itself. Can a kid get rightfully engrossed and shaking in their shoes in half an hour? Would the cliffhangers give enough leverage to stay through the commercials? If memory serves me right, most of the episodes that were most effective stuck long after the episode ended, with little pieces of episodes still staying prevalent to this day nearly fifteen years later. And luckily, aside from a few glaring exceptions in fashion style (and a slightly different level of technology), the show is not dated either in seeing the same episodes again. For older audiences they aren't always spooky, which may make them all the better to hold onto for the next generation to scare the hell out of them.

At the least, it's worth seeing just for the opening titles; the first two shots look like they're out of a true horror movie, or a scary anti-drug ad.

the best and last horror show of early 90's

during the 90's a lot of things were either horrible or stupid. I'm talking about TV shows. Are you afraid of the dark? is the only show where every saturday night kids get scared. The show was fun until the people of nickelodeon decided to take it off the air and now nickelodeon is one of the stupidest networks ever. The best thing about the show whenever Dr. Vink or Mr. Sardo came along. The best episodes were the tale of laughing in the dark; the tale of dark music; the tale of the prom queen; the tale of the quiet libriain; the tale of the midnight madness; the tale of cutter's treasure; the tale of the pinball machine; the tale of the nightly neighbors and the tale of the whispering walls.

"Vink's the name. Dr. Vink" "Dr. Fink?" "Vink! With a V-V-V!"

I remember watching the early episodes. My favorites involved Dr. Vink ("with a V-V-V"). Last year, I watched the final episode, when Gary comes back and the Midnight Society is an actual part of the episode, rather than just telling a story about it. My favorite was "The Tale of the Dangerous Soup". I know I'd instantly crack if I were in that room! Each episode always surprised me, but I loved the music most of all.