Are You Afraid of the Dark? was a joint Canadian-American horror/fantasy-themed anthology television series around the 90s which was locally aired in the Philippines on ABS-CBN every Friday nights. Are You Afraid of the Dark? originally ran in Nickelodeon (in the US) and YTV (Canada) from October 31, 1991 to June 11, 2000. This iconic American horror anthology series featured a group of teenagers called the Midnight Society sharing light-hearted to disturbing tales of suspense and horror with frequent elements of moral values. Let's go down memory lane with Are You Afraid of the Dark?.
Are You Afraid of the Dark? - The Show
About Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolves around a group of teenagers who referred to themselves as "The Midnight Society". Are You Afraid of the Dark's Midnight Society (on the first Season) comprised of Gary (portrayed by Ross Hull), An unassuming, bookish looking boy. The founder of the Midnight Society; Betty Ann (Raine Pare-Coull), A vibrant girl who has an open and eager passion for the bizarre and twisted; Kiki (Jodie Resther), A spunky, tomboyish girl who often makes fun of others; Frank (Jason Alisharan), A punkish teenager with an in-your-face attitude; Tucker (Daniel DeSanto), Gary's younger brother, and the youngest member of the Midnight Society; Samantha (Joanna García), A shy girl with an obvious mutual crush on Gary, which becomes one of the highlighted arches of both their developments in the series; Kristen (Rachel Blanchard), A girl who though squeamish about much else, has a fondness for ghost stories and fairy tales; David (Nathaniel Moreau), A quiet boy with a mysterious expression; Eric (Jacob Tierney), ric is portrayed as a diminutive teenager with visible Irish ancestry that influences his first story; and Stig (Codie Wilbee), His nickname may come from the term stigma, as he is marked an outsider for his notable lack of hygiene, Stig is the last initiate to be entered into the Midnight Society's generation at the time.
Every week The Midnight Society meets at a secret base located in the woods where one member would tell a scary story to the group. Each storyteller (per episode) would begin their story by saying "Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story..." at which point he or she would toss a handful of "midnight dust" from a leather pouch into the campfire to heighten the flames and produce an eerie white smoke. The storyteller would continue by announcing its title "The Tale of..." with the title of week's episode. Each story was displayed to the television viewer. The story was shown between the group's arrival at the site and their departure.
The themes of the stories usually revolves around a variety of paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, goblins, magic, dragons, haunted houses, magical curses, aliens, witches, vampires, etc. Usually, the episodes were either filmed in the woods, in abandoned houses, or in public places like schools or libraries. Sources of these tales vary in different ways; many were adaptations of public domain fairy tales and short stories or urban legends. Sometimes, the stories were inspired by a certain event in the life of the storyteller. In the episode "The Tale of the Crimson Clown", for instance, Tucker blackmailed his brother Gary with a poem he had found, which Gary had written for Samantha. Gary then told a story in which a naughty younger brother was punished cruelly for his evil deeds. At the end of the episode, Tucker gave the poem back to his brother. At the end of most episodes, one character would conclude the Midnight Society's meeting by throwing a red bucket of water onto the fire, stating "I declare this meeting of the Midnight Society closed." and the group would leave the campsite, thus ending the storytelling and episode.
Are You Afraid of the Dark? Opening Theme
Are You Afraid of the Dark? Series Intro
Are You Afraid of the Dark? was one of the most popular television series back in the 90s amidst its scary nature. This anthology series could also be the reason why I am personally into horror movies as an adult.
The family would usually tune in to ABS-CBN that Friday night just to get spooked out of the week's episode. Although the opening and closing credits didn't feature any lyrics in it, its creepy tune and imageries become the signature trademark, well besides that midnight dust throwing in the beginning of each stories. Thinking of it now, those kids were really gutsy to first have a secret base deep set up in the woods in the middle of a dark night only to share tales of horrors. I vaguely remember each episode now, but there was this one episode that seem to planted itself firmly on my consciousness everytime I remember the series. I can't remember the exact episode title but it is the story where a group of people were trapped underground and there was this monster that kills (the show never actually shows the killing of the victims) or takes each of them away. With the last part of the story ending with them seeing a light at the end of this cave only to find themselves trapped and the monster on the same area. So if you guys still remember it, you can share that episode's title.
How about you guys, what's your most memorable Midnight Society storyteller, moment, episode or stories in this popular 90s horror anthology television series? Share your thoughts about Are You Afraid of the Dark in the comments section below:
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