History Series / AreYouAfraidOfTheDark

No description of the series would be complete without mentioning its terrifying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b2G8ySKNgA opening credits sequence.]] If you grew up watching the show, chances are there was a time when you or a sibling would run from the room within seconds of it turning up on the TV screen.

%%* FiveManBand: The Midnight Society of the retool:
%%** TheLeader: Tucker
%%** TheLancer: Vange
%%** TheBigGuy: Quinn
%%** TheSmartGuy: Andy
%%** TheChick: Megan

** Poor Karin in "The Tale of the Thirteenth Floor" finds out she's alien, is unable to contact or return to her true family for another ten years, and may have irreparably damaged her relationship with her adoptive brother who panicked and fled from the sight of her true form. Bonus points if she permanently reverted to that form--now she'll be a freak.

** "Curse of the Shadows" opens up with Luke's dad waking Luke up by joking that there was a "kid-napping" (but he woke him up). Not ten minutes later, the members of the Midnight Society start to suspect Connor was spirited away somehow.

** In "Curse of the Shadows", [[spoiler: the Midnight Society look on as they witness June Murphy's past, and spot an ominous silhouette standing outside her bedroom, whom they assume is the Shadowman come to kill her. ...Only for it to reveal is merely her dad. It's only later in the flashback that the kids learn they were technically right on the money, as Mr. Murphy cast the curse that made him into the Shadowman.]]

''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' was a children's horror show made by Creator/{{YTV}} in Canada and aired on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} in the U.S. The pilot of the show was broadcast on October 31, 1991. The show originally lasted for five seasons from August 1992 to April 1996. The show was then revived in February 1999 (with one of YTV's rivals, Creator/FamilyChannel, taking over the Canadian broadcast rights to that run, in addition to producing it with Nickelodeon), lasting only two seasons before ending again in June 2000.

In November 2017, it was announced that a [[TheFilmOfTheSeries film adaptation]] of the series was in the works from Creator/{{Paramount}}. ''Film/It2017'' writer Gary Dauberman wa set to write the screenplay with Matt Kaplan producing. The film was scheduled to be released on October 11, 2019, but was [[https://1428elm.com/2019/02/28/are-you-afraid-of-the-dark-removed/ removed from the schedule]] in February 2019. The film eventually morphed into a three-episode miniseries that premiered on the film’s release date. Said series was renewed for a second season in February 2020 and started airing in February 2021.

** "The Pinball Wizard" features one as a secondary antagonist. She doesn't appear to have magic of her own, but makes up for it with her sharp nails.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Mostly due to the higher budget and changing trends in media, the reboot series has more of a cinematic vibe with harder hitting scares and less of the [[NarmCharm '90s goofiness]] of the original series.

** Among the various [[CallBack Call-Backs]] found in Sardo's shop in ''Curse of the Shadows'', you can also see a [[Literature/Goosebumps Slappy the Dummy]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Mostly due to the higher budget and changing trends in media, the reboot series has more of a cinematic vibe with harder hitting scares and lacks the [[NarmCharm 90s goofiness]] of the original series.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Mostly due to the higher budget and changing trends in media, the reboot series has more of a cinematic vibe with scarier scares and lacks the [[NarmCharm 90s goofiness]] of the original series.

** The first season has a few things happen that are out of place with the formula of later episodes. One opens with the very end of a story, segueing into the start of another. "Laughing in the Dark" opens as the story does and only shows the Midnight Society when Kristen interrupts Betty Ann. "Super Specs" also shows a scene with Gary and Kristen during the day in his father's store. All episodes eventually kept the formula of the kids meeting up for an introduction and then the story. Also the first two seasons cut back to the Midnight Society in the middle of the stories each episode while later seasons only show them at the start and the end.

In November 2017, it was announced that a [[TheFilmOfTheSeries film adaptation]] of the series was in the works from Creator/{{Paramount}}. ''Film/It2017'' writer Gary Dauberman wa set to write the screenplay with Matt Kaplan producing. The film was scheduled to be released on October 11, 2019, but was [[https://1428elm.com/2019/02/28/are-you-afraid-of-the-dark-removed/ removed from the schedule]] in February 2019. The film eventually morphed into a three-episode miniseries that premiered on the film’s release date. Said series was renewed for a second season in February 2020.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** In "The Tale of the Super Specs", the very first thing that Weeds does when he gets the titulat pair of x-ray glasses is [[AllMenArePerverts look at Marybeth's chest]].
--->'''Weeds:''' Yowza!\\
'''Marybeth:''' Please.
** In "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float," a scene in the locker room has a poster mentioning date rape in the background. Evidently, the producers weren't careful when filming...
** In "The Tale of the Captured Souls", a mad scientist's machine saps youth from a preteen and her parents, making them age. While the parents turn into decrepit seniors, the girl advances through puberty. While the zits on her face are the most visible sign (and even addressed by the characters), the girl's bust also increases in size. At one point, she even pulls open the neck of her t-shirt and looks down.

'''Dr. Vink:''' It was only an illusion, but the more you believed in it, the more real it became...