“Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society…”
Those words may cause an involuntary chill from kids who grew up in the ’90s and had a fondness for Nickelodeon shows, because it was the catchphrase for the anthology horror series Are You Afraid of the Dark? The fondly-remembered show is getting the reboot treatment, and the first teaser for it has found its way online – check it out below…if you dare.
Are You Afraid of the Dark Teaser
That’s an admittedly quick tease, but it might be just enough to pique the interest of new viewers and cause a flood of memories for anyone who remembers watching the original episodes. The original Are You Afraid of the Dark? ran from 1990 to 1996 (it also got a brief second run from 1999 to 2000), and it centered on the Midnight Society, a group of kids who gathered around a campfire in the woods to tell each other scary stories. Some of the stories were weaker than others, but the show provided some memorable and frightening horror imagery for an entire generation, and helped serve as a stepping stone into more horror films and TV shows as that generation grew up.
The story behind this reboot is fascinating: it was originally intended to coincide with the release of Paramount’s theatrical feature film of the same name, but that movie was removed from the studio’s calendar, and writer Gary Dauberman left the project. D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye) was attached to direct the film, but we haven’t heard any updates about whether or not he’s still on board – or, indeed, whether the movie will happen at all.
Still, at least fans have this three-episode miniseries to look forward to. BenDavid Grabinski (Skiptrace) is writing the series, and Dean Israelite (Power Rangers) is directing. Sam Ashe Arnold (Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever.), Miya Cech (Rim of the World), Tamara Smart (Artemis Fowl, The Worst Witch), Jeremy Taylor (It, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween), and Lyliana Wray (Top Gun: Maverick, Black-ish) play the new members of the Midnight Society, while Rafael Casal (the hot-headed friend in Blindspotting) is playing Mr. Tophat, the ringmaster of something called the Carnival of Doom, which sounds like a perfect mix of cheesy and spooky.
We still don’t have an exact premiere date for these three new episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, but the original plan was for them to debut this October; even though the movie is in flux, it seems likely that we’ll still see the Midnight Society return again sometime in October 2019.
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