The Are You Afraid of the Dark? Campfire Companion by Jose Prendes

 

"Getting scared isn't necessarily about what you're seeing; it's about what you think you might see." - D.J. MacHale

This isn't really a review because I'll also be talking about my own thoughts on Are You Afraid of the Dark? as well towards the end.

If you're a fan of the series, this is a really great book to own. Part of me wishes I had bought a physical copy instead of purchasing it for my Kindle, it would look great on my horror shelves next to Pumpkin Cinema. Jose Prendes is extremely knowledgeable about Are You Afraid of the Dark? (and horror in general, he mentions The Midnight Hour at one point, my favorite Halloween movie of all time).

This Companion book includes a detailed episode guide by season, including every episode title, original U.S. airdate, who it was written and directed by, guest stars, the author's favorite line, summaries of the opening and closing campfires and the tale, a review of the overall episode and series mythology (recurring characters and trivia). There are interviews with the cast and crew (including D.J. MacHale, Jason Alisharan and Ross Hull) where we learn that the first season of the show was filmed in a studio, before moving to a warehouse in season 2. (I always truly believed they brought these kids into the middle of the woods at night to film.) There's also a storyteller tally (Surprisingly, Tucker beats Gary by 1, with 13 stories) and a list of merchandise that was sold (novels, a board game and a video game). 

I really enjoyed reading through this book and seeing Jose's thoughts on each episode. It's been a long time since I've seen most of them (I still watch my favorite episodes occasionally), so it was a nice reminder of a show I loved so much as a child. If you're a fan of the series, definitely check the book out, though I recommend the actual book. I noticed several issues in the Kindle version (typographical and also some pictures seemed to be missing).

Every time I think about Are You Afraid of the Dark? now, I ask myself why a group of kids would go into the woods in the middle of the night. Wouldn't they be scared? And then I remember I did exactly that when I used to sleep over my friend's house when we were in middle school. This is a topic for another post, but I think as kids, we didn't always realize the kind of danger we could have been in. Of course things scared us, we used to stay up all night telling scary stories, trying to one up each other. But it's not the same as being an adult and walking home late at night, alone, in the dark, and knowing someone could be following behind you. That never occurred to me when I was younger and so I think it's completely possible that the Midnight Society met in the woods late at night to tell scary stories around the campfire.

To end things, here's a list of my top 3 episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?:

1. The Tale of the Pinball Wizard (Season 1, Episode 13) - As someone who grew up on video games, this episode was really fun. I also have a tendency to enjoy things that don't have a happy ending.
2. The Tale of the Midnight Madness (Season 2, Episode 2) - This episode is the reason I watched Nosferatu and developed a love for German Expressionism in silent films.
3. The Tale of the Dark Music (Season 1, Episode 11) - I've had a fear of basements ever since I can remember. For years, I had a recurring nightmare about the basement in my grandmother's house. I wouldn't even be surprised if it was because of this episode.