Sometimes I thought the episodes on this show were really stupid, and other times I was scared shitless. I wish they were on dvd because I would so love to watch them now as an adult. I don't know how my parents ever watched these shows with me. I have so much respect for themnow just thinking about it.

Wow, your parents watched with you? That is love. My family just ragged on me before and after every episode, because of my massive crush on Ross Hull (Gary).

Yeah, I lost my parents after Ren & Stimpy's snot jokes. No way were they going to tune in for this show afterwards, lol.

Me too! I loved how he couldn't escape in the end...hee.

Oh my God, how could I have possibly missed this thread! I loved this show when I was younger. I remember squealing with delight whenever I saw the opening theme. My favorite episode was the one with a young Tatyani Ali...man, I thought that storyline was so creative.

Eek! I'm seriously feeling hella nostalgic now, just from reading these posts. I remember maybe 90-99% of the episodes you guys are talking about (but then again, I'm only 16 so it wasn't too long ago).

The main thing that creeped me out, though, was the opening credits. IIRC, it was tinted blue and the camera took you through a house or something, and there was a clown statue or toy or something that swung around and I *think* you heard a clown laughing when it happened. I? Was not a fan of clowns. I? Was petrified.

Reading through the episode guide, the ones I remember most seem to be from the earlier seasons. A lot of them I really remember only vaguely, but some of them (Nightly Neighbors, Ghastly Grinner - which freaked. me. OUT., Twisted Claw, etc) I remember clearly.

I'd totally sign a petition to get the reruns shown on TV sometime.

Oh, man. So nice to know I'm not the only giant wussy out there. I was (and still am) easily scared, and this was the only "scary" show I could watch. Oh, the things I do for you, Ross...

The credits were definitely tinted blue, and the swinging thing you remember was, well, a swing. It was an empty swing on a playground and there was creepy laughing in the background. And then there was some shit in an attic, which I think included the Clown Toy of Death. Maybe it was a jack-in-the box?

The Tatyana Ali episode "The Tale of the Quicksilver" featured Jason Alisharan's (Frank) brother Kyle. I remember thinking it was cool that I picked up on it right away, because they looked so much alike.

Thank God, FfrauleinN and behindthemask that I am not alone in being creeped out by the credits. Every week, I would tell myself that I wouldn't be scared and then I would see the swing, the leaves on the ground, and that goddamn canoe in the water and I would be freaked-the-fuck-out. I still watched though because I am not an ordinary wussy, I am a masochistic wussy (which explains why I will watch episodes of 'Tales By the Crypt' when I am alone or the only person awake like I won't be scared shitless.) The thing about 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' is that not only did they know how to work a camera angle, they could turn the suspense up to eleven. One of the creepiest in my opinion is one I can barely remember; I think it had something to do with a girl feeding dogs and sleepwalking (and of course the one with the comic book clown still gives me shivers; 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' has ruined the circus for me. *shudder*)

God. Damn. I forgot about the canoe in the water, rocking back and forth for no reason. And the dead leaves blowing away. And then, the big finale ... that candle, mysteriously being blown out. It's a wonder I got to sleep at all on Saturday nights.

The show freaked me out too and growing up as the scardy cat I was until 13. That swing, canoe and the leaves always got me. The clown didn't, the Joker fixed me with evil clowns long ago. The match though was always freaking at the end. They knew camera angles and they definantly knew what would creep kids and teens out.

My God, reading these descriptions totally got the theme song going in my head! That music always creeped me the hell out too. Man, I miss this show.

ETA: I just remembered the villian that freaked the hell out of me. It was in the tale about the classic movie theater that was on the brink of being shut down until they started showing this old horror movie. The bald, pasty white, vampirish looking monster that would come out of the movie screen still makes my skin crawl.

Nosferatu was incredibly creepy! That was one of the first episodes, wasn't it? I remember that and "The Tale of the Dream Girl" being among the earliest eps.

Oooh oooh oooh OOOH, oooh oooh OOOOH.

Or something like that.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers the lame Are You Afraid of the Dark? "music video." I think the song was called something like "I Feel Fear, " and they basically just edited together a bunch of clips from the show. Maybe it was for Halloween?

Scariest. Episode. EVER. For me, at least :)


Yes, yes, and yes! However, I wouldn't be able to tell you what genre of music it was, whether it was rap, pop, etc. But I definitely remember the video as something plugged in there because they had about 10 minutes to spare (isn't it odd how often Nick has these weird gaps between shows?!).

IIRC, it was some sort of pseudo-techno, kiddie remix thing. And maybe there was a deep-voiced guy rapping. The lyrics? "I feel fear/I feel fea-ee-ar/I feel fear/I feel the fea-ear."

Something EXACTLY like that! My roommate just gave me the weirdest look when I started to hum it.



What was that episode all about?

Okay, I remember some of the details about this one episode, but I can't remember the storyline very well. It was a tale about a vacant house that couldn't get sold because it was haunted. Then some guy (or girl, don't remember) encountered a little girl in the house who kept writing 'help' (I think it was), but backwards...anyone know what I'm talking about?

This thread rocks; it brings back such funny memories. I'm only 18 now, but man this thread just reminds me that I was an even bigger dork back then. Did anyone else think it would have been really cool to start a Midnight Society of their own? No? Just me, okay... c'mon you got to tell ghost stories and then put out a fire! I wanted to really badly, but there weren't very many available forests near my house...among other problems.

Allergic2love, I know the episode you're talking about (I can't remember details about it though). God, why can't Nickelodeon get with the program and put their old shows on DVD? I would so buy 'Are You Afraid of the Dark, 'The Adventures of Pete and Pete', 'Ren and Stimpy', 'Rocko's Modern Life', and countless others. You are sitting on a freakin' gold mine!!!

Dude, you and everybody on this thread. Those of us who'll admit to it, anyway.

Three teens (two guys and a girl -- no pizza place) are investigating this ghost story about a girl who died on prom night, back in the '50s (I think). Well, it turns out that the girl working with the guys is actually the ghost and she was trapped until she could find somebody to help her get the ride she was waiting for on the night she died, or something like that.

No, wait. That was the early (possibly first) episode I was thinking about, but I think "Tale of the Dream Girl" is actually about something different. My bad. I think this guy keeps seeing his dead girlfriend, and then finds out he's dead too? (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.) They died together, but he didn't realize it. Hey, M. Night Shyamalan totally ripped off the Midnight Society!

But you gotta wonder...how the hell did those kids convince their parents to let them stay out late in the woods every week?! My friends seem to think it wasn't that late, but probably around 9PM or so, but, uh, Midnight Society....

I always thought that the kids snuck out, myself.

Wasn't there one with a kid moving to a new town and meeting some new friends who turned out to be dead? That one freaked me out too.

I always assumed it was around nine or so, too (to keep the envy at bay) and they just called it the "Midnight" Society because that's the witching hour.

And yes, clearly I've given this too much thought.

I asked this before but no one knew the answer. Now that there's some new people on the thread I'll give it another go: what's the name of the other recurring character? Not SarDO, but the crusty pirate-type guy with the filthy beard. I think they appeared together in one story. It's driving me nuts that I can't remember his name.

Could it be Dr. Vink? I took a look at TVTome, and I here's a page with his pic: Dr. Vink

It seems that him and SarDO teamed out for one case called "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure", Cutter being played by Charles S. Dutton.

And looking at TVTome, I had no idea that Elisha Cuthbert (of 24, or fondly known as the Spawn of Keifer) was on this show!

It was Dr. Vink! Damn, you rule! All hail ChinkyGirl, finder of long-forgotten pop culture information!

Ah, now I can put my mind to rest. Yes, Dr. Vink -- "Vink, with a vah, vah, vah!" -- and Sardo teamed up in "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure." It was a team effort from Gary and Frank, and Charles Dutton chewed the hell out of everything in his path. Good times.

Thank you, thank you! But really, it's ChinkyGirl: finder of too much time on her hands ;)

Is this show still on the air? When I was looking for Dr. Vink, something linked me to the Nick page, in which they stillhave this thing up that says "Check out Are You Afraid of the Dark? on Nick!" Please, please, please, let it still be on (reruns, I mean)...

OH MY GOD! That was the guy who brought the old horror movie to that failing movie theater! I remember him! Would anyone know if he was the mastermind behind that machine that made soup from people's fears?



I feel less retarded now, thanks.



I remember this episode! The guy worked as a handy man at a bowling alley or something and only his sister could see him. I think, though I'm not sure, that he and his girlfriend's death had something to do with a train.

Yeah! More of it's coming back to me now! I think his sister (who may have also worked at the bowling alley) knew he was dead and was trying to break it to him gently. She had to show him the newspaper clipping about the accident.

Dr. Vink brought the haunted version of "Nosferatu" to that theater, and I think he may have been behind the Fear Soup as well. Dude was a freak. I have no idea why I thought the man was some sort of pirate -- maybe the double-breasted big-button jacket had something to do with it -- but his beard is just as gross as I remember. IIRC, he was always sloppily eating shit that would fall into it. Ick.

Anybody remember the ep -- kind of a take on Jekyll and Hyde -- where this "nerdy" kid drank something that made him cute and cool? And then his best friend, who had a crush on him, drank it too? The downside was that it gave them horrible cramps. I remember the girl collapsing in the hallway at the dance all, "I can be your pretty girl."

Or the one where this necklace took a girl back in time to the 60s? She had to save the chem lab from blowing up.

I think I remember this but I'm not sure. Was the guy in a wheel chair or have a limp or something? I remember something about him turning into a short-tempered, werewolf-type of monster (or am I delusional?)...wow THAT and craps, it's like the PMS inducing elixir.



Yeah! The story had something to do with the girl's locker being haunted by the person that was killed in the accident.

Yeah. There was faded peace-sign grafitti on the locker. Wasn't the necklace still inside the locker? That always bothered me. No, not the part about time travel, or haunted schools ... just the fact that the necklace was still there like 30 years later.

I think the Jekyll and Hyde kid may have had an unexplained limp. The girl was just awkward and ugly (read: smart and wore glasses).

The exilier one was about the guy wanting to be cool and good looking. The formula caused his inner guilt, shame and darkness to come out. Hence he would look a bit monsterous until he took more of the stuff, a drop a day. His friend who liked him drank the whole stuff and it made her pretty and cool. The cramps was a side effect when they would transform. However, the two of them admitted to each other that they were always to scared about each others feelings and that broke the spell, they over comed their fears and insecurities.

You got the locker one right, an exchange student got a haunted locker of a girl who died in a lab explosion in the sixities. Every time she put on the necklace, she go back to that day it happened and was mistaken for the girl who was named, Candy. The french girls only friend was able to figure out what caused the accident which was by the school assistant principal back when he was the science teacher in the 60's. He never check his equipment and the gas hose was rotten through. Her friend stopped her from lighting the flame and changed history. Candy was then the new assistant principal and the othe one quit after the accident almost happened.

Two of my favorite ones was with the girl who was still into fairy tales and fantasy at 13. Her friends and brother kept telling her to grow up and the Sandman (Bobcat Goldwait) showed up. She broke his hour glass and faced her fears about growing up. I thought it was great because I was 14 when the episode came out and I was in the same spot. People thinking I should act more my age and stuff, but my parents told me to just let it come naturally. The other one was with Melissa Joan Hart about the ghost boy who died from a theif who left him out in the cold. The kid she was taking care of was telling her about the kid wanting to have his death solved. They gave him her jacket and their aunts discovered the gold the theif was stealing was hid in the old stove. It was a pretty creepy episode and I had a crush on Melissa at the time.

I remember this kid annoying the hell out of me, "I'm cooold." I would have left him outside to freeze to death.

I'm so glad someone started a thread about this show. It used to scare me silly, (I was in elementary school when these first aired) but I had to watch it.
Since everyone is talking about old episodes I thought I'd ask about one that has been bothering me. Does anyone remember the episode with Tia and Tamra Mowry? I think one played a girl and the other was a lizard that turned into a lookalike of that girl. All I really remember is the ending when the wrong one was turned into a lizard for good. That ending scared me because it was one of the first times I realized that the good guys don't always win.

I totally remember this episode; the ending was pretty cool but the rest of the episode was pretty craptacular. I remember the Melissa Joan Hart ep. too and being really freaked out by it. I first saw it on an 'Are You Afraid of The Dark' tape I got at Blockbuster. There was another ep. on the tape too, something about a boy with a red bike and something about a bridge. Does anyone remember that one?

Yeah, that episode was filmed at my high school. Quite a few people I know have appeared on the show at one point or another. In fact, everybody in Montreal knows someonwe who's been on the show.

So much to say! I always loved this show, but there were a lot more episodes than I realized, according to TV Tome. I guess since they were made when I was in high school/college, it's probably better that I didn't know about them. Because that would be a sure indication that I had no life. Although here I am, getting so excited about it . . . . and I still remember all the episodes you're talking about . . .

It really is amazing, though. I remember all these episodes, but I had no idea that so many people I now know and love had been on there. I totally remember Fear Soup, but I never knew Neve Campbell was in it! Now I want to go back and watch them to see who all was guest starring.

We all wanted a Midnight Society, I can tell. And I also totally had a crush on Gary. And seeing everyone else's posts, I don't feel so bad. I can't feel embarassed if we all liked him. ;)



This might be just in my head, but I thought she was new or something and had to have a locker that wasn't near anyone else's or something (and perhaps in an old part of the school), so it hadn't been used in a long time. But maybe I was trying to rationalize it, too.

Probably the first one I remember watching was about two brothers who were lost in the woods. (I think one of the brothers was holding the compass next to his metal belt buckle so it was never really pointing north.) And then they met Dr. Vink. Um, and that's it?

ETA: didn't they eventually sort of pair Gary up with Sam? They both came early, or stayed late one night . . . there might have been kissing? Or just hints of kissing? I just remember being jealous ;).

I think remember this one. God, why does my memory hold all this useless information, but when it comes to schoolwo...what now?

They met Dr. Vink and he said he would let them go if they could answer a riddle correctly, right? It was something like, "What can you put in a basket to make it lighter, that is still visible with the naked eye?" I actually remember the riddle because I was so proud of myself for answering it correctly when he first asked the boys, but it took the guys until the end of the episode and a fraction of a second before they were about to be killed to finally get it (snicker). Dude, I was in like the fifth grade, leave me alone.

Edited because I must've been drunk when I wrote that post.

Was the answer a hole? And why do I remember this?

Heh. My brother and I mimicked him for days: "III'm c-c-c-c-cold."

I do but I can't remember all of the little chant: "Something something something twice/A little water, pay the price!" (I think the spell was activated with water, kind of like Gremlins.) Anybody remember the first line?

Speaking of spells, how'd the one go with the big-eared kid who was in a play, and the spell in the script was real? I think it was turning him into a changeling. Actually, maybe that was the name of the story: "The Tale of the Changeling?"

Brn Eyed Girl, I'm going to cry. Nobody else got the Gary love. *sniff* But NO, he was not paired up with Sam. No. No, I said no. I will admit that perhaps Gary and Frank both had a little crush on her, but that's just because I wasn't there.

did EVERYONE like Gary? (thank god, if so. I was terrified I was the only one.) Didn't he have an annoying brother named Tucker? Or am I thinking about another show?

The one episode that terrified me--for reasons unknown--was the night shift one with Emmanuelle Chiquri. My brother and I watched that one and we were freaked. the. hell. out. That one, and the one with the guy who was obsessed with death and stuff, and he would sit in the hearse and tune the radio stations 'round, and there was one that played this funeral dirge. And there was another one that scared me--the one about the girl who was adopted and her parents were these aliens that had silver heads and no eyes. They invited her and her adopted brother to a toy store and the girl and her brother escaped, but then she turned into one of the aliens...

Damn, that show was crazy.

Oh yeah, the one with Tia and Tamera was pretty lame.

Damn. They did trot out his annoying ass little brother Tucker later in the series. But see, I have a little brother too, so that's just one more thing we had in common. Hee. I was bound and determined to make it all about me and Gary.

My brother HATED this episode because it freaked him the hell out. I remember him being totally convinced after watching it that I was actually an alien that had been left behind.

Heh. That's funny. Now that I think about it, I may have tried to convince my brother the same thing was true of me.

Yes, the answer was a hole. Well, I know the reason why I remember it: I'm STILL so proud that I got it right...that is so wrong, and it's even worse that I admit it.

Does anyone remember the episode with the mysterious guy who rents a room in a house and turns out to be the ghost of one of the renter's old war pals (or something) come back to steal his body? I remember him hovering over the old guy when he was about to "posess" him and I couldn't sleep that night imagining some strange guy on top of me (I think it's just me because I have filthy mind, but that sounded dirty).

No, it sounded dirty, but I vaguely recall the episode you're talking about. What about the one with the girl called Dani (short for Danielle) who was vacationing in a house with her parents, and the boy who lived there (Peter, maybe?) was stealing their life energy. He was actually something like 90 years old.

FfrauleinN, I know the one you're talking about. He sucked all their vitality through the mirrors or something and I remember the mom ending up with this HUGE ass mole somewhere on her face (I was thoroughly grossed out...call me shallow, but that thing was like a mini person on her face). Shudder.

Something that really shocked me on that age stealing story. The daughter was like 13 and when she got some of her youth taken out of her. She ended aging about 2 years compared to her parents. But her chest devoloped more and she actually looked down into her shirt wondering how they grew that fast. I was really surprise they got away with that at the time. Another episode that creeped me out back in the day was with girl who got the 3 D glasses and open a dimension gate. These figures in all black outfits playing basketball and were able to actually effect what they touch, but only she could see them. Then at the end when they were trying to seal the gate way, those 2 giant eyes showing up and telling them she had to fix the gate. Then it turned out she was the neighbor and trapped them in the other dimension so she could stay on Earth. Them screaming at the end in the crystal ball, yikes!

My friend and I still impersonate him... and it's still funny.

Yes. Yes, it is. Hee.

I forgot all about the girl checking out her chest. Why'd she age slower than her parents?

Because that's what happens when you get old. You develop huge-ass moles and take lots of naps with afghans. I must be shallow too, because I remember thinking that thing was horrifyingly large.

The one I remember best is "Tale of the Hungry Hounds." Where did those stairs come from? And seriously, those were basset puppies or something...yeah, I'm trembling. Yet, I adored it. And my love for Jewel Statie started here. Do yall remember that show where they were exploring space? I kept expecting her character to bust out a Midnight Society meeting...

There is something about that girl. I have not met a Silver age Nick fan (the age after the Golden age--YCDTOT and Out of Control era) who was not fascinated by Jewel.

Ack! Is that the one where the geeky kid had to pour some chemicals in the pool at the end to make the monster visible? That one scared the hell out of me. Actually, the thought of that thing still gives me the willies.

And to think I always made my poor little four-year-old sister watch with me. Whoops.

I went, "Who?" Then I looked her up on IMDb, and said, "Ohhh, yeah. That girl." I guess I never knew her real name.

I think this show is the reason my dad had to wake me from screaming nightmares when I was a child. Not only do I have a vivid imagination, but I'm freaked out quite easily, and I'm practically a masochist, as someone put upthread, because I'd watch this show and then go to sleep. Jesus. What the fuck was I thinking?

You know, I bet if I watched this show now, it would STILL freak me out. How did I handle this when I was a kid? Even the opening credits were hella scary. The swing? The damned canoe? The FUCKING clown? I'm getting freaked out just thinking about it, and I totally know I'm going to have nightmares.

The episode that sticks out in my mind is the one with the doll house. Didn't the girl become all tiny and stuff? Is that the same one with the whole turning-into-a-doll thing? Cause that freaked me out.

Is it just me, or did none of the stories have a really resolved, happy ending? I don't remember many happy endings on that show...Because ghost stories with happy endings are much less scary.

Oh, and I had a crush on Gary, too.

There was the occasional "happy ending," but, yeah most of the time things ended on a freaky note. I know for a fact I'd be weirded out if I were to watch the show now. It's funny how many of us watched this and then went to bed.