When it comes to reboots like this, you kind of expect the things that scared you as a child not to still quite have the same effect as an adult. We’ve grown, matured — understood and acknowledged that the fears of the past are not quite the same as the kind of existential things that scare us as adults. Creepy carnivals, though? Scary regardless of age.
Late last night Nickelodeon dropped the first trailer for its limited series reboot of the beloved ‘90s anthology horror series, about a group of kids who form a storytelling group called the Midnight Society, telling terrifying to each other that would play out as real vignettes to the audience.
The Midnight Society lives on in the new show — in the form of teens Akiko (Miya Cech), Gavin (Sam Ashe Arnold), Louise (Tamara Smart), Rachel (Lyliana Wray), and Graham (Jeremy Taylor) — but this time, there’s a twist: the story they tell to each other, about a spooky carnival, actually becomes real.
It’s a cool take on the concept — and one that makes sense if this version of the show is going to remain in a more limited capacity, compared to the anthology style of its forebear. But beyond the spooky aesthetic, the trailer does manage to get some decent jump scares in for what is ostensibly going to be for younger audiences, and not just grown up ‘90s kids like me hoping for a hit of nostalgia.
Are You Afraid of the Dark? will premiere in Australia on Monday, 28 October until Wednesday, 30 October. Just in time for Halloween!