Long before Alicia Silverstone gifted her the prized role of Cher Horowitz on the hit (?) ABC sitcom, "Clueless" (I would offer a "well played" to Alicia but then I think of "Excess Baggage"), Rachel Blanchard was sitting around a campfire with a bucket of water (or was it sand?) and a group of extreme rebels who dubbed their ultra hip gang, "The Midnight Society." These reckless teens weren't just gossiping about the typical ghost or run of the mill clown (see below photo) either, and they certainly weren't sitting on SNICK's famed orange couch, they were in the wilderness - without any supervision - scaring the crap out of each other and encouraging young kids to do the same to their peers. And I for one got that message loud and clear.
There was always a big fat solid line differentiating the kids who could handle "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and the kids who couldn't. Although I was beyond proud to be allowed to stay up with the babysitter for the 9:30-10 timeslot when my neighbor was crying in protest for being forced to go to bed, I think it later became clear that I should have been placed in the latter group - the one that was not exposed to the boy who chants "I'm cold" or the girl who writes "help me" backwards because she is trapped in the mirror. Not so much because it scared me, but because I used it as a very real inspiration to screw with others.
Something tells me that in the world today, where kids sit in carseats until they're 11 and only drink organic milk, this kind of show wouldn't fly. But back then, when parents saved time and money by shoveling Chicken McNuggets and french fries into their backseats and bought Coca-Cola by the case, "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" was only natural. On during the Nickelodeon Saturday night line up, when no early 90's parent in their right mind was actually home, the 11 years olds, who now sit in carseats, were given $5 an hour to come open the door for the pizza man and supervise the viewing of SNICK headlined by "Clarissa Explains It All" and "Ren and Stimpy." And the great thing was that if kids were afraid by "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" (as you would assume any Nickelodeon-age child would be), it was the babysitters problem - you weren't home for at least another 4 hours.
That being said, far from "Tailspin" or "Under the Umbrella Tree," The Midnight Society offered an alternate universe, one where bad things did happen to good people. People died, kids were unkind to one another, and it was well documented that a ghost could come into your room in the middle of the night with the sole purpose of terrorizing you until you fulfilled his or her long standing wishes. Worst yet, you could unknowlingly purchase a cursed camera, take a picture of your parents, and cause their death in a horrible and brutal car accident - all of this obvious material for a children's television show. Beyond all the fright and terror though, the most important thing about the show was that kids absolutely loved it. And, in my particular case, used it as a learning tool.
The first time that I remember falling into the AYAOTD trap was in 3rd grade. Instead of being content with my crayons and latest VHS episode of "The Babysitters Club" TV show from the video fan club I had enrolled in, I decided to mix things up a bit. I had seen something about Bloody Mary on the show, and for some reason I felt it only made sense to tell a classmate that the reason she looked pale in the mirror was because she was going to die. To top things off, I convinced her that this had once happened to a friend of my grandmother's and that if she told any adults, she would DEFINITELY die. This lasted all day. For whatever reason, my teacher went on to confirm that Bloody Mary was real (I think she was referring to the drink), and other classmates started to get in on the joke by chiming in with their own reassurances that the girl was doomed. Needless to say, the Bloody Mary stricken classmate was up all night, and her mother wrote a stern letter to my teacher. I was reprimanded in front of the entire class, and the friendship would never be the same. To be completely honest, I still think it's a little funny. I mean who would fall for that? But nevertheless, strike one for me and "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"
The bigger incident, directly relating to "Are You Afraid of the Dark?," came during my prank calling heydey. I had seen a ghost-boy whimper "help me" to some non-ghost kids on the show and for whatever reason, I thought that this would be a more than appropriate punchline for one of my cool and ingenious prank calls. I decided not to leave it at that though. When no one answered the random number that I had dialed, I muffled my voice and left "help me, help me" on my unsuspecting victim's answering machine - seriously. I actually did this. About 5 minutes later, my new phone buddy called back. Naturally, I hung up on her, so sure enough she called back again. This time she spoke to my father. It turns out that she had one of those brand new caller ID devices - the ones that give you the caller's name and number. Evidently, as she claimed, if she hadn't gotten our number, her call back would have gone to the police. I guess you would call the police if you got "help me" on your answering machine and thought your nephew might be in trouble. Needless to say, my clear, D.J. Tanner - esque, phone was put away in my closet for a very long time. And on some level, I guess I have always felt I really only had Nickelodeon to blame. Isn't that what you're supposed to say? "I saw a guy rob a bank on "Law and Order" and it looked like a good idea."
All in all, we all have an episode that scared us the most (mine was about a hippie who died in a school fire caused by a bunson burner - in fact, I convinced my cabin to act this one out on parents day at Camp Timber Ridge), and I would love to watch this show again as a 24-year old. Would I show it to my 5 year old niece? No I wouldn't. But then again, I wouldn't relive my 1992 trip to Disney World by sticking her in the front car of Space Mountain by herself either. And I must say, I am glad to have grown up in a world with Dunkaroos for school snacks, Super Soaker weapons, prank calls, and "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" - Afterall, I have a feeling that organic milk really isn't my thing anyway.
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