Epic Win: Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Submitted by Celessa B
Are You Afraid of the Dark was supposedly for young adults, however, according to at least a handful of people we know, they wish they’d never seen it, since they still can’t watch scary movies or tv shows. For the rest of us it was a great evening adventure that would scare the wits out of us and prepare us for the horror films that we would be allowed to see as we got older. Even now, watching clips of Are You Afraid of the Dark on YouTube, it has a certain spooky quality to it that if watched alone, too late at night, might give someone the willies.
Here’s an episode we found on YouTube and it’s extra spooky since it includes clowns 
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M. Night Shamalayan says he got the idea for the 6th sense from watching a espisode of AYAOTD
Shows you how messed up that show was.
Shows you that the only good movie M. N. Shaylaman ever produced had to be a rip off of something actually decent and inventive.
God, I miss being a kid.
I remember this show, thought it was lame then and I still do.
Eomund, maybe you’re too old for the show, or maybe you just have no imagination, but some of us were still kids when the show came out. We made a big deal out of it every Saturday night, and we’d have a late supper in the living room, in front of the TV, with all the lights in the house turned off. It was certainly creepy enough for the kids in my family who watched it! I always liked how the started and finished each episode with the campfire scene, and ended by pouring water on the campfire.
I remember when they had a writing contest, where kids could write and submit ghost stories to the show. I won an autographed copy of a VHS of the show. They were going to use the winning entries for future shows, but the series got canceled, sadly.
My teacher submitted an entry, and it got aired! It’s pretty good, too.
what idea was it?
I was about 6 when the show first sterted running if I’m not mistaken, so age is definately not the issue.
I LOVED this show! TOTAL Win!!!!
I miss the days when Nickelodeon was actually good. They need to start a new para-Nickelodeon channel that plays all the good shows from when we were kids.
This show scared the crap out of me as a kid, and even now, I can’t watch that little bit. Even the intro music creeps me out.
I was okay with everything but Zeebo the Clown. He still freaks me out too much.
OMG yes! This show scared the beejeezus out of me! I don’t remember how old I was when I first saw it or anything. But every episode just scared me to DEATH! I couldn’t watch. After one or two episodes, I would change the channel whenever it came on.
Nowadays I’m still a pitiful wuss when it comes to scary movies. TT_TT
The episode with Zabo was the reason my sister and I couldn’t sleep for a month and never EVER go to a fair or amusement park at night. I think it was the shoe print in the pudding that did me in.
Are you kidding me? How about the part where he like calls from the inside of the house? Way scarier. But seriously, I am 19 years old, and I watched this episode with a friend the same age, and it still freaks us out.
really? this show didn’t even creep me out, and I got nightmares from a trailer from animal farm, and the sad part was I had already read the book. And I cried during herby fully loaded. odd.
I still remember the ep about the Ghastly Grinner. THAT freaked the hell outta me. o.o;;;
Ghastly Grinner was no where near as scary to me as Zeebo, but I just find almost all clowns alarmingly creepy.
God, I remember those doors! (above)
This is one of those things that made me a life long fan of horror.
Even if the episode turned out to not be all the scary the campfire scenes and the opening would make up for that.
Was I the only one who tried to start thier own Midnight Society?
We tried that, but it was never at midnight.
And being at the “in-between age” (like 12-ish), the talk always ended up turning into “who likes who” and truth or dare.
Maybe it’s just me, but the intro with the playground always scared me more than the show itself….
Then years later I watched the 3rd Harry Potter movie and swore the AYFOTD intro was in it just before Harry saw the Grim. Yes, I am a nerd.
This is lame!
Used to watch Night Stalker as a kid…
At least that was worth staying up late for!!
I was a teenager when this was out, but my little sister was in elementary school and loved this. I used to love watching it with her, she would get so scared! I thought it was pretty creepy, but very entertaining.
When I was little in the early 80s, we had The Third Eye on Nickelodeon. I think it was basically The Twilight Zone for kids, but it was way scary to me.
I remember The Third Eye!!!
I was always too scared for that. I was little then!
I loved this show.
My mom wouldn’t let me watch it because I was easily scared.
None of them scared me at all.
Let me just say that this show definatley took Goosebumps in being scary. (Althought the opening to Goosebumps was pretty creepy too.)
This was awesome as a kid, I was older like 14 and we got it every day after school.
I was the same age and watched it every time I could. Then the Blockbuster near us started carrying the videos and I’d rent them every chance I got. I loved this show. It got me into all sorts of creepy things like R.L Stine, V.C. Andrews, and a few other similar books and movies. I miss this show. In fact, I miss a lot of old Nickelodeon shows; mostly the Saturday night ones.
Used to watch this with my mom! Hehe
That this show isn’t on DVD should be considered a crime.
I personally have to give props to the Tale of the Super Specs. The idea that shadow people that can only be seen with special glasses occupying the spaces of our everyday lives was freaky then and still is now.
Have you ever seen “They Live” with Roddy Piper in it?
Classic!
it is on dvd, you can buy it through amazon…they come from canada though (it was only released there, but the dvds are region 1 so they work fine in the US)
i have all 5 of the original seasons, and show them to my middle school students often…have to introduce a whole new generation to it!
Anyone remember the episode where a guest related the story of a leprechaun and a ceremony disguised as a stage production, in honor of his Irish grandfather? That one was really fun, and the final scene where the guest leaves his grandfather’s hat at the storytelling site was so touching.
XD I also liked the episode about a fire-fighter’s kids going up against the spirit of fire itself. That was one of the only episodes where the campfire wasn’t extinguished by the water bucket. I thought the smoke that resulted from the dirt smothering the flames was kind of ominous. (giggles)
i remember this show! i used to have to leave the room for the intro or i wouldn’t sleep for a week. i wish they would put these out on dvd. they might be goofy now as an adult but i still can’t watch that intro.
anyone remember “roundhouse”? it used to be right after (or right before?) AYAOTD.
ahhh, good times.
Yes!! I *adored* Roundhouse!! They were together on SNICK!
quality childhood television!
That has to be the first time I’ve seen or heard the word “Snick” in YEARS! OMG! lol… Loved Roundhouse and Are You Afraid of the Dark? (which that show did make me afraid of the dark, but it was addicting). When are they gonna release those on DVD?
OMG Someone who remembers “Snick!” Aaah, that brings back memories. My family practically made an event of it every Saturday. And what’s really funny… my mom loved the sketch comedy on Roundhouse. I still remember the whole theme song from Roundhouse. The whole cast of that show actually had some talent… although I admit a couple of the sketches were a bit too much, even for me. Do you remember the “Hull” skit? It was supposed to be an ad for peanut butter made from peanut hulls… and indicated a delightful laxative effect. :p
But by and large, great show. I kinda miss it, for those colder winter Saturday nights.
I don’t remember much about Roundhouse except the title, the fact that I liked it, and I liked the theme song (but I don’t remember it). I would love to see clips of that show.
between TGIF and Snick, weekend evening tv was great in those days.
YES!!! I loved Roundhouse (nearly 30 and still break out my old VHS tapes once in a while lol!) and AYAOTD was one of my favorite shows.. I remember some Halloween marathon and winning a call-on contest.. won a couple of episodes on VHS and a flip-book.. still have the tape I think.. lol
I think it’s just something from our generation. I’m 28, and… I WISH I still had some of those recorded.
Mijan.. there is a website somewhere (had it bookmarked on the old computer) where they are trading VHS copies of Roundhouse and AYAOTD, Adventures of Pete and Pete, Clarissa.. All of the shows that used to be on Snick back when we were younger.. Also heard rumors about DVD box sets, but I also heard similar rumors about a Roundhouse Soundtrack set and it never came to be..
whenever my life gets me so down, I know I can go down (down down), to where the music and the fun never ends!
I just adored this show when I was a kid! It was something even my mom would watch.
This was one of the best live action shows ever aired for “young adults”. Hands down.
As a kid I somehow thought this show, and ‘So Weird’(i believe that was on Disney?) where connected O__o’
oh my god I used to love So weird. ALso epic Win.
dude AYAOTD was on this october on nickelodeon and it was AMAZING!!! i tivod all of them. i remember Zabo, he was freaking scary!!! the one that really did me in as a kid was the one where the girl gets sucked under her bed. i still jump into bed so no one grabs my feet. did anyone else see the movie?
I remember the movie! But not too much of its plot…I know it included a merry-go-round and a little silver ball.
oh yes, and “so weird” was my life when i was little.
The opening was enough to get me spooked, but I’m only able to remember bits and pieces of episodes. I remember a kid doing something in his basement and he had a radio or whatever going but then the station he was listening to went all wonky and played freaky music. Then this strange door opened and there was just darkness in it and glowing red eyes. *shivers* BLAH! Maybe I just made that up in my head…
Then there was that one episode with like, half a dove painted on a cliff side that some girl risks her life to finish for a ghost girl who fell and died while painting it.
Err…or something like that…maybe someone can help refresh my memory.
Ah, who could forget Mr. “It’s Sar-DO!”
“No ‘mister,’ accent on the ‘DO’!”
I remember trying to watch the show back then, but the kids around the campfire just annoyed me too damn much to enjoy it. :p
Heh, cute, but this was kid stuff. I was watching Tales from the Crypt when this was on, and that was way creepier.
of course it is kid’s stuff, it is aimed at kids. Like I could see you maybe criticizing tales from the crypt at not being scary, but for the rest of us kids watching the show, it freaked us the hell out.
first
ummmmm……. no, just, no
hahah omfg i used to watch this show ALL the time on nick and night!!
Yes! I love this show!
the one story about the demon/skeleton/monster that lived in the pool at a school scared the living hell out of me….i was terrified to be alone in a swimming pool as a kid because of that, hahaha. even to this day i still get antsy when i go for a dip.
Dead Man’s Float. Scariest episode ever, if you asked me. My little sister is 14, and doesn’t remember the show, so a few weeks ago when she stayed over the night, I showed her that episode on YouTube and it scared the hell out of her.
Agreed. I am suprised more kids that grew up watching that show didn’t have night terrors. They did not mess around at all. I hated it because they were always somewhat believable.
That scared me so bad!
I loved this as a kid, and for my 14th birthday I got all of the episodes off e-bay, but I lost the disk with dead man’s float on it.
It’s sad to say, but I’m 17 and this show still scares me. Not the plotline but some of the creatures. Like the red thing in dead man’s float, the freakly little chrome midget virus thing, the joker thing with the blue ooze dripping out of its mouth, and the dark hooded thing that comes out of that wall (I don’t like big blank wall spaces because of that).
Best. Show. Ever. OK, tied with Three’s Company.
But me and my mom used to watch this together every Saturday night. We loved it. I waited all week for SNICK.
Zebo is the reason I am still scared of clowns. Remember when the balloon inflated under the bedroom door?!!?!? OH GOD. It’s still scary now.
lolz, and the second after I click “add comment” I play the video and realize that’s in the clip at the very beginning.
I forgot how much this show creeped me out. I miss stuff like this on TV, if they still made shows like this and the other Snick oldies but goodies I might have actually bothered to get cable.
I use to love this as a kid. It would be played late at night on Nickelodeon. One of the scariest episodes was that haunted rail way. o.o
This show was my all time favourite! Seriously, they need to bring this back!
This show used to and still does, in a way, creep me out. -_-
I remember watching this but now I can only remember the campfire and a single episode that had a carousel and some sort of gold/silver ball connected to a magic word which I was intent on replicating with play-doh… Grah, this is one of those thing I really wish I could remember.
That was the movie, I think.
Oh God! ‘Dead Man’s Float’ is the reason I still can’t go swimming alone (I’m 21, by the way). Easily the scariest episode of a TV show I’ve ever seen.
The episodes never really scared me. But a few of them have left a lasting impression on me.
The The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float for this dude.
http://sydlexia.com/imagesandstuff/afraid_s5/s5_main.png
The episode The Tale of the Frozen Ghost use to get me due to the whole “I’m Cold.” quote the ghost use to say.
Then there was the episode The Tale of the Dark Music.
I have seen many more scarier things in movies. I have also seen a lot of creepy pictures, and gruesome things in my 14 years on the internet. But that doll thing in this episode still scares me enough to not watch this episode.
I loved this show. They reran some episodes the week before Halloween on Nickelodeon. I watched them all and laughed at how cheesy they were.
I want to buy/download the whole series.
I swear the opening theme still freaks me out.
Yea the show is really cheesy if you’re over 12
But the clown episode really freaked me out when I was 7, and I was always afraid of opening doors lol.
Plus what happened to nickelodeon’s creativity. They used to have lots of great shows like Wild and crazy kids, the old all that, secret world of alex mac, and animorphs. Now it’s just second rate teen sitcoms.
here here. Even shows that they have had for a long time are turning lame (unless they are all old re-peats)
Aaahhhh. I remember Animorphs…I loved the books covers (but I never read the books). I got into another of Applegate’s series: Everworld.
I still remember Sardo, the guy with crazy shop. That’s SarDO! No “mister”. accent on the DOh!
It was so scary!!
I think there was one episode where some electronic things (TV, camera, etc) were coming to life and making things happen. Or something like that; I don’t remember to well!
oh MAN, I remember going to my best friend’s sleepover in 3rd grade–a bunch of us girls turned off all the lights and tried to watch the episode with ‘Green Face, Red Eyes’ haha we were screaming about that for the rest of the night!
I loved this show as a kid- oddly enough, I am 14 now. I guess I caught the reruns of it. But, man, it was MY show. I still have these weird memories of watching it later at night. I wasn’t scared easily.
On a freaky note, I JUST finished reading a book called Pendragon by D.J. Machale. I mean, easily ten minutes ago. I couldn’t help but relate the episode on here to that book. (Clowns were a common theme) At the very end, I noticed a Machale flash by on the screen. A guy named D.J. Machale was a Director of this particular episode. ._. I am scared.
O god, I totally forgot about this show although I used to watch it regularly for like 3 years or so. I remember there where two seasons of it, or maybe more, the cast changed completely in one episode but the idea stayed the same. Nobody really cared about the kids by the fire…
my brother first showed me this when i was 6,and it didnt creep me out at all.odd.
oh this scared me so much D:
especially that one with the old woman…
+ that kid was visiting her
+ they promised to go one day, but didnt go back…
then she was all like, a ghost or something
back then that was the scariest thing id ever seen :O
also does anyone remember “goosebumps”?! :3
this is what got me hooked on horror movies… I love being scared and this scared me alot as a child. this show totally rocks. I remember one episode vividly… it was the one where there was a diner place with a secret room in the back where you faced your greatest fear. There was one girl who was afraid of knives and got strapped to a chair with a hanging blade swinging just above her neck. scared the crap out of me… XD
P.S. someone said they put the fire out with water at the end of each episode. As I remember it, though, they had a bag of sand that they tossed a handful of over the fire. It always made me want to try…
It was a bucket of dirt, wasn’t it? I don’t remember exactly, but I know it wasn’t water…
yeah, i think… dirt or sand… but it was in a bag, not a bucket… i think…
i’ll never forget the episode with the deaf girl and there was a room that was… octogonal, i think? white with black striped.
god, that intro alone gave me the willies.
I see me- 8 years old and Pete and Pete is over. I hear the theme music starting for AYAOTD and I run to my parents’ room (to avoid being scared ofcourse) only to find that those bastards are watching Unsolved Mysteries. Worse yet: it’s the episode revolving around spontaneous human combustion. I didnt sleep for 2 days, true story. Was awesome.
I remember the wolf episode a little too vividly!!! lol! I loved that show! I wish they’d put it back!!!
I loved the drama of these…especially Jake and the Leprechaun. So much fun for a kid with a theatrical bent.
this show scared the crap out of me, I was between 8 and 10. But I continued to watch for some reason
I remember this show quite well. By far the scariest episode had to be the one where they found the pool in the highschool behind the lockers and they threw acid in the water to expose the skeleton that was all red. I was so young when i watched that one i am 21 with an intense fear of being in pools alone now.
TOTALLY LOVED DIS SHOW!!!!!!! DEY SHOULD BRING IT BACK