For many ’90s kids their first introduction to the “thriller” genre was Are You Afraid of the Dark? The show followed a group of kids in the Midnight Society who meet in the woods to tell each other stories that dealt with the supernatural. Chances are one or two of these haunting tales have probably stuck with you . But what didn’t you know about the show? Here are 10 things you never knew about Are You Afraid of the Dark?
1. The bag that gets thrown in the campfire to make it flare up is full of non-dairy creamer.
2. The kids would say “submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society” each episode to pay homage to Rod Sterling of The Twilight Zone.
3. The show’s title is inspired by Dr. Seuss’ What Was I Scared of?
4. There are 91 lit campfires throughout the show’s run, but you don’t ever see anyone strike a match.
This of course was on purpose. DJ MacHale told Splitsider, “[Nickelodeon] didn’t want to teach kids how to strike matches. They were afraid someone would burn their house down or something like that. So the campfire was always already lit when [the Midnight Society] showed up.”
5. Elisha Cuthbert was in an episode called “The Tale of the Night Shift” and later comes back as part of the Midnight Society.
6.Ryan Gosling was also on the show.
7. Ross Hull who later played Gary shot the original pilot playing Frank, according to BuzzFeed.
8. Jay Baruchel‘s first time in front of the camera was on the show.
9. The twisted claw in the series was actually a petrified turkey claw.
10. The show made it a point to have a diverse cast.
Also if a kid seemed to fit Disney they were turned away, according to Vox. Are You Afraid of the Dark’s? effort for diverse casting eventually got them nominated for a NAACP award.
