Submitted for the approval of people who grew up with the Midnight Society, I call this story “Go Binge Watch a Show You Loved Right Now.”
Was there anything better for a young an burgeoning horror fan (even the ones, like myself, who didn’t know they were going to be horror fans later in life) than the half-hour anthology series on Nickelodeon entitled Are You Afraid of the Dark? Saturday night’s SNICK lineup always ended with that little program and it always was the best thing to watch right before bed, or right before 8:00pm because it was Nickelodeon. The ’90s were chock-a-block with these kind of horror show, although most of them (Tales from the Crypt being the biggest example) were definitely NOT for kids. That’s why it was so nice to actually have one that catered to us, and more than that, that it didn’t shy away from being scary as crap, with stories like “The Tale of the Crimson Clown” and “The Tale of the Lonely Ghost” being standouts of AHHHH back in the day for me. The series ran for five seasons from 1991 to 1996 and a further two seasons in 1999 and 2000 and featured guest stars who would eventually be quite famous, not least of which being Ryan Gosling. Canadian kids got to act a lot back in the day.
If you’d like to relive the horrific halcyon days, you are in luck: every episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark can be viewed on YouTube. The channel Ghostly Tales TV has each and every one of the 91 episodes to devour at your October night leisure. Wanna watch all that Dr. Vink had to offer? Want to visit the magic shop of one Mr. Sardo? (Oh, I’m sorry; it’s SarDO. No “Mister,” accent on the “DO.”) Want to see a bunch of kids and teenagers getting the crud scared out of them for the betterment of kids everywhere? Then go to it, my lads and lassies! But don’t forget to keep a pillow close by lest you get too scurred.
And, if you’d like a taste, here’s an episode about an evil clown at a carnival, because nightmares. “The Tale of Laughing in the Dark.”
Let us know your favorite episodes of this classic of Nickelodeon awesomeness below!
Neat. Though I thought, for a brief instant, that the headline was indicating NEW episodes on Youtube. Y’know, like how they did new episodes of “Knightmare” for Geek Week?
Eventually, someone will make new episodes of… something for free on Youtube.
Nosferatu sure does look like the Swede from Hell on Wheels. Has to be him, must check IMDB.
Some of these episodes are pretty bad watching them now as an adult but surprisingly a few of them still hold up well. The ‘Midnight Madness’ episode featuring Nosferatu (pictured above) definitely messed me up a little bit as a kid. It and X-Files ‘The Host’ (Season 2 Ep 2) are the only two things I can think of that genuinely kept me from sleep.
These have been there for a while now… I started watching them over a year ago!
A list of youtube links was recently posted on reddit, and so here we are.