Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990)

Drama · Fantasy · Horror

This spooky anthology series for kids recounts ghost stories told by the young members of the Midnight Society as they gather around a campfire. Each episode opens with members of the Midnight Society at their secret spot in the woods, where they prepare their fire and the night's storyteller announces the title of the his or her offering. However, the cameras soon leave the storyteller and switch to the tale being told.

IMDb rating: 8.2 (17,881 votes)
Episode average: 7.2 -1.0 vs IMDb
Seasons: 7
Streaming (US): Paramount+ · Amazon Prime Video
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Front-loaded trajectory: strong early seasons, weaker later. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well. See every Front-loaded show in the explorer →

Browse all Front-loaded shows in the explorer → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 7 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1990)

7.55 avg 13 episodes 7.1 → 7.9 22 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Tale of the Phantom Cab	7.1	1,348
2	The Tale of Laughing in the Dark	8.2	1,553
3	The Tale of the Lonely Ghost	7.8	1,302
4	The Tale of the Twisted Claw	7.5	1,193
5	The Tale of the Hungry Hounds	6.5	911
6	The Tale of the Super Specs	7.9	1,123
7	The Tale of the Captured Souls	7.5	1,105
8	The Tale of the Nightly Neighbors	7.7	1,138
9	The Tale of the Sorcerer's Apprentice	6.7	1,045
10	The Tale of Jake and the Leprechaun	7.0	1,047
11	The Tale of the Dark Music	8.2	1,125
12	The Tale of the Prom Queen	8.2	1,161
13	The Tale of the Pinball Wizard	7.9	1,154

Season 2 (1993)

7.54 avg 13 episodes 6.8 → 8.0 22 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Tale of the Final Wish	6.8	980
2	The Tale of the Midnight Madness	8.5	1,165
3	The Tale of Locker 22	7.5	711
4	The Tale of the Thirteenth Floor	7.4	1,061
5	The Tale of the Dream Machine	7.5	965
6	The Tale of the Dark Dragon	7.5	824
7	The Tale of the Frozen Ghost	7.2	810
8	The Tale of the Whispering Walls	7.1	680
9	The Tale of the Full Moon	7.0	917
10	The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle	8.4	1,075
11	The Tale of the Magician's Assistant	7.4	941
12	The Tale of the Hatching	7.7	969
13	The Tale of Old Man Corcoran	8.0	993

Season 3 (1994)

7.78 avg 13 episodes 7.2 → 8.1 22 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Tale of the Midnight Ride	7.2	748
2	The Tale of Apartment 214	8.4	962
3	The Tale of Watcher's Woods	7.5	944
4	The Tale of the Phone Police	7.4	970
5	The Tale of the Dollmaker	7.9	972
6	The Tale of the Bookish Babysitter	7.9	955
7	The Tale of the Carved Stone	7.4	849
8	The Tale of the Guardian's Curse	7.3	760
9	The Tale of the Curious Camera	7.6	818
10	The Tale of the Dream Girl	8.9	1,198
11	The Tale of the Quicksilver	7.9	778
12	The Tale of the Crimson Clown	7.7	793
13	The Tale of the Dangerous Soup	8.1	962

Season 4 (1994)

7.46 avg 13 episodes 7.5 → 7.2 22 min avg

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Tale of the Renegade Virus	7.5	902
2	The Tale of the Long Ago Locket	7.0	570
3	The Tale of the Water Demons	7.6	870
4	The Tale of Cutter's Treasure: Part 1	7.2	762
5	The Tale of Cutter's Treasure: Part 2	7.3	761
6	The Tale of the Quiet Librarian	7.7	753
7	The Tale of the Silent Servant	7.5	719
8	The Tale of the Room for Rent	7.4	684
9	The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner	8.0	806
10	The Tale of the Fire Ghost	7.5	704
11	The Tale of the Closet Keepers	7.2	538
12	The Tale of the Unfinished Painting	7.9	908
13	The Tale of Train Magic	7.2	765

Season 5 (1995)

7.35 avg 13 episodes 8.7 → 8.5 22 min avg

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Tale of the Dead Man's Float	8.7	1,155
2	The Tale of the Jagged Sign	7.0	601
3	The Tale of Station 109.1	8.0	985
4	The Tale of the Mystical Mirror	7.7	900
5	The Tale of Prisoners Past	6.8	352
6	The Tale of C7	7.5	845
7	The Tale of Badge	6.7	504
8	The Tale of the Manaha	5.5	749
9	The Tale of the Unexpected Visitor	6.6	490
10	The Tale of the Chameleons	7.2	806
11	The Tale of the Vacant Lot	8.0	909
12	The Tale of a Door Unlocked	7.4	692
13	The Tale of the Night Shift	8.5	1,014

Season 6 (1999)

6.25 avg 13 episodes 6.6 → 6.3 24 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 6 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Tale of the Forever Game	6.6	638
2	The Tale of the Zombie Dice	6.5	529
3	The Tale of Jake the Snake	6.4	733
4	The Tale of the Virtual Pets	5.5	590
5	The Tale of the Misfortune Cookie	6.1	593
6	The Tale of the Gruesome Gourmets	5.1	595
7	The Tale of the Hunted	5.8	576
8	The Tale of Vampire Town	7.1	763
9	The Tale of the Wisdom Glass	6.3	647
10	The Tale of the Walking Shadow	6.5	583
11	The Tale of Oblivion	6.0	569
12	The Tale of the Secret Admirer	7.1	400
13	The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge	6.3	606

Season 7 (2000)

6.72 avg 13 episodes 7.7 → 6.5 24 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Tale of the Silver Sight Part 1	7.7	327
2	The Tale of the Silver Sight Part 2	7.6	312
3	The Tale of the Silver Sight Part 3	7.8	340
4	The Tale of the Stone Maiden	6.8	533
5	The Tale of the Laser Maze	5.1	521
6	The Tale of Highway 13	6.9	374
7	The Tale of the Lunar Locusts	6.6	552
8	The Tale of the Reanimator	5.7	538
9	The Tale of the Photo Finish	7.1	484
10	The Tale of the Last Dance	6.4	378
11	The Tale of the Time Trap	6.9	519
12	The Tale of Many Faces	6.3	571
13	The Tale of the Night Nurse	6.5	600

Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990)

Cast

Seasons

Shows like this