Fear of the Dark

Keeping with the theme of Halloween themed subjects for October this year, I wanted to talk about probably the most influential one for me both as a boy and one that led me to eventually be a creator. That would be the 1990-1996 (...) horror anthology series, Are You Afraid of the Dark? that ran on Nickelodeon down south and on YTV up north. This was one of the first live action series that managed to speak to me as someone who usually preferred animation. There was a short two season revival that brought the series back in 1999, but by 2000 it was over for good, at least in it's original incarnation.. In other words, Are You Afraid of the Dark? (or AYAOTD?) pretty succinctly captured the 1990s for Gen Y kids during its entire run.

The series began in Canada in 1990, the place where most live action shows were once filmed for kids (at least, the non-sitcoms and game shows) and was soon aired by Nickelodeon in 1991 where it achieved most of its fame in the south. In Canada it primarily known for airing on YTV, which I've written about before. To this day, it is still fondly remembered by Gen Y kids, and for a very good reason. There wasn't much else like it.

So what is Are You Afraid of the Dark? about? Well, aside from being a horror anthology series for kids, it also stars kids telling stories about other kids. In other words, it felt (though it wasn't) a lot like a series made by children for other children to enjoy. It was unique in that sense. For a traditionally adult genre and series format like a horror anthology, it was the first to show these sorts of things could be made for wider audiences. And it is still the best at what it did, even years later.

Every episode begins with a group of kids called "The Midnight Society" gathering around a campfire in the woods and telling scary stories they came up with themselves. They each take turns every week to tell one. There was no limit as to what the stories could be about as long as they were horror tales of some bent. What this did was give the stories both a bit of levity (knowing they're being told by kids adds a certain charm to them) and an incite into how that character thinks or acts since what is told sometimes relates to something that happened to the kid recently. Sometimes there would even be reoccurring characters depending on who was telling the story. Doing it in this way has actually managed to help the show age far better than you might think, since any cheese is given a good context for why it's there.

And it remains popular, getting a short mini-series revival in 2019, and known for airing during Nickelodeon's prime period of popularity in the '90s, it has a name that still commands nostalgic clout today. Being that this year is its 25th anniversary, I believe it deserves at least a little bit of exploration. Heaven knows far worse things get attention these days. You can find a (far too) short oral history here, some of which I will use to talk about it going forward.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? was created by D.J. MacHale and Ned Kandel. At first it was a special that aired on Halloween before repeated airings gave it the success it needed to get a full series order. The show was originally pitched to Nickelodeon, but they were unsure of a horror series for kids. Kind of weird for the network that prided itself on edge, but that's what happened. It was up to Canadian production company Cinar to jump in instead, and they did. As a consequence, the show is basically a Canadian show that aired in the US. Again, this isn't out of the ordinary for the time. Unless it was a sitcom, all live action kid shows were Canadian productions.

Because of the strict guidelines of no violence, blood, or depravity, the writers more or less had to try to stick to Gothic-style creeps of the sort the Twilight Zone had to rely on back in the day. These limitations would probably strangle most productions in the crib these days, especially with how nihilistic gore has gotten, but the lack of it made Are You Afraid of the Dark? what it was. It was a good way to help the series stand out, even among others of its own genre. You definitely wouldn't see this sort of thing in a Tales from the Darkside episode, and that's a good thing.

This was also the time before computers came into heavy use, so the series had to use practical effects instead. In the era where mainstream horror was dying, they still went with the classic approach to the scares. However, despite that, the effects have aged surprisingly well, for the most part. The worst looking ones are those where they tried to use computers, but then those have never aged well and never will. However, combining the focus on old style horror with the practical effects of the time lends the show a look that still works today.

There is a bit of a misunderstanding in how horror works in that so many think horror can irreparably scar children and they must be hidden from it. No doubt there is much that can traumatize anyone, and there is also a reason horror is primarily for adults, however, that doesn't mean it all is. Horror stories are fundamentally tales of bad choices leading to bad ends, or lessons being taught to characters through an unfolding plot stemming from Something That Shouldn't Be. It's a genre essentially about showing why things are the way they are and why they need to stay that way. Horror that forgets that lesson tends to not work.

For an example, let us talk about my favorite episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? and explain how it works so well. There are many more popular examples that could be used, but I would rather stick with a more common episode. The one is called The Tale of the Phone Police. Though it is not spoken of much by aficionados of the series, though it is quite a good one.

Every episode begins with a title like this.

Jake and Chris are making prank calls from Jake's room. Jake is experienced at this sort of thing, but Chris is unsure and nervous that what they're doing is okay. Jake's sister catches them in the act and warns them that if they keep it up they will upset the Phone Police and things will get back for them. Who are the Phone Police? A mysterious group that enforces phone etiquette and punishes those who go against it. One of their biggest pet peeves are prank callers.

To emphasize this she tells the story of a bad boy named Billy Baxter who was once a troublemaker until he was caught by the Phone Police and never heard from again. Naturally, they don't believe her, however, they do have their doubts and soon find a suspicious number in the phone book. It has six numbers instead of seven! Jake calls it, and a creepy old man replies asking for help. He's trapped. Jake keeps hanging up, but the caller keeps calling back, pleading for help.

It keeps getting weirder, so the two boys end up going to the phone company and asking about the number. They are soon take to the records department in the basement where it somehow gets even weirder.

Jake is arrested by the Phone Police while Chris overhears the manager reading him his crimes. The prankster is taken to a cell while his friend escapes unseen to find help. Inside his cell, Jake finds nothing but solitude--no way out, and no neighbors or cellmates. He s trapped alone with nothing but a phone.

The phone rings, and the old man voice returns. He reveals himself as Billy Baxter, the boy that went missing so long ago. All Jake can do now is sit in a cell and receive prank phone calls of his own: the phone cannot make outside calls so he cannot call his parents or anyone for help. The only exception is that you can call back numbers that call you. The old Billy Baxter laughs and leaves him alone in the cell again.

Meanwhile, Chris gets back to Jake's house to explain what happened. However, Jake's sister doesn't remember him or her brother at all! She does remember the story of the Phone Police, but the tale wasn't about Billy Baxter. It was now about a boy named Jake O'Brien! Chris is now alone in rescuing Jake from captivity as he is the only one who knows he exists.

That's right, the Phone Police not only arrested Jake, they also erased him from existence. These guys are a lot worse than we first thought they were. Chris probably only escaped because he was in the building when it happened, but no one saw him there. It doesn't matter that much, Jake is in serious trouble regardless.

Chris then shows his resourcefulness by sneaking back into the building back down to Jake's cell. He gets Jake out and tricks the manager into getting trapped in the cell himself. The two head for the only exit--the underground tunnels. But the manager is adamant that no one escapes the Phone Police!

A chase begins underground as the two escape back out through the sewers to the streets. However, suspicious police cruisers are all over the place and the pair have to hide in the dark. After a close call, they get back into Jake's house and his sister remembers him again. Whatever the Phone Police did to his existence had been undone. But before they can relax, there is a knock at the door! They plead his sister not to answer, but she does anyway to reveal--a pizza delivery man. Turns out he just had the wrong address. Jake's sister makes fun of them saying she just made the story up, and even they begin to question just what they went through.

However, the pizza delivery man returns to the car to remove the sign from his door--it is a picture of a phone. Jake's phone then rings again and the laughter of Billy Baxter can be heard as the story ends. Were the Phone Police real? It doesn't matter because neither Jake or Chris ever made another prank call ever again.

A few tidbits about this story. It was obviously inspired by the Thought Police from 1984, Jake's last name is even O'Brien. This episode also inspired Weird Al Yankovic's Phony Calls parody of TLC's Waterfalls. A bit of odd trivia, but the show did have an odd reach.

What makes this episode work is that it nails the concept of childhood horror from unexpected places perfectly well. Not only is this the type of story that kids would tell to each other on the playground, but it also successfully captures the sort of thing that would unsettle them. Prank calling is (or was, I don't know how common it is anymore) a pure childhood thing that tapered off during the teenage years. Turning it into the plot for a  horror story for kids was a masterful stroke. This is what the show was best at, and what no one else could match them at doing. Not even Goosebumps managed to be as good at it in this area.

As mentioned before, horror stories show what happens when the rules are broken, and this episode goes to the nines with it. At the same time, it doesn't have to explain everything to the viewer. You never learn everything about the Phone Police, not even what they actually are or what their exact purpose is. It is never explained how they can erase your existence by imprisoning you or why they have the power to do the things they do. They just have it, and you'd better not mess with forces you do not understand. There is no tired, pointless backstory or origin story. It just is what it is. That is what makes horror work.

As a series for introducing kids into horror, it does a great job most of the time, and this episode is one of the best examples of how it works. It presents the sort of thing that would unsettle the audience, but also reinforces the morality of the norm at the same time. It is no wonder Are You Afraid of the Dark? was such a big hit. It truly was unique, and successful, in what it was doing.

The original title sequence.

However, nothing lasts forever. After two season of a 1999-2000 revival, the series was shelved for good (aside from the reboot miniseries 20 years later meant to cash in on nostalgia) and so was children's horror as a whole. Despite breaking new ground, and proving it could work, those in charge still refused to allow more series like it to air. As a consequence, instead of being a pioneer, Are You Afraid of the Dark? became an anomaly. Horror anthologies as a whole didn't survive in network TV either, though. The television landscape of the late '90s was a very different place than it was even a few years prior. Times were changing, whether the audience wanted them to or not, especially with 2001 just around the corner to reshape everything in the west forever.

One of the reasons co-creator D.J. MacHale got out of children's productions is because the major broadcasters no longer wanted to create series like this anymore. He moved out of the industry because it was no longer about making the sort of thing he liked making. This is pretty obvious to anyone who has been paying attention to mainstream entertainment.

We all know this. The only thing networks want is the lowest common denominator comedy series that can be disposed of quick so they can replace it with a new one and not have to get a mega-hit and have to pay the actors more money as a consequence. Nickelodeon is forced to rely on milking '90s nostalgia for a reason: this practice of producing only trash for a quick buck has destroyed their brand over the decades. We all know the only reason the reboot miniseries happened is because Nickelodeon is hurting and relying on their old properties from their highest point to stay alive. It's hard to emphasize how their biggest property still running is a series that premiered in 1999. This is not a healthy industry, but they chose to make it this way. It is a horror story of their own making.

This emphasis on recreating the past instead of being inspired by it to create new things is a big part of the problem with modern art and entertainment. There is nothing stopping a new series inspired by Are You Afraid of the Dark? from being made except that those in charge would rather cash in on the name instead. It's easier. That's what it's been about for some time now. It's not about the art, or even about supplying the customer with a product. It's about the easy money. As a result, do not expect another series like it to come around, at least not in the old system.

But you don't have to settle for that.

As the mainstream art world implodes, there are many new creators coming up outside the system to entertain you. The next Are You Afraid of the Dark? could be just around the corner. It just won't come from the old system. They had their chance, and they squandered it. That might be the scariest prospect for the old guard. They just aren't needed anymore.

It's an awkward Halloween this year, for sure, but it won't be like this forever. Eventually normality will return, and just like the show's characters we will be able to look back and reassess our path. How did we get here? Well, it's been a very long and strange path that lead us to where we are. The destination, however, remains unchanged. We still know where we're going. Normality still exists, and it's still worth fighting for.

Happy Halloween! I've got a bit of a surprise for next week, so keep your eyes peeled!

The New Age is here! Find out what it's about in the Pulp Mindset!