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The Are You Afraid of the Dark Campfire Companion
So you want to join the Midnight Society, huh? Remember Zeebo the clown? How about the Ghastly Grinner? Ever listen to the Dark Music? Did you want to eat wild boar with Dr. Vink and buy fake vomit from Sardo? If the answer is yes to any of these, then you, my friend, are ready to join! Strike up your own campfire, and grab this campfire companion as we relive the children’s TV series that made a whole generation afraid of the dark. D.J. MacHale’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? was the Twilight Zone for kids and teens growing up in the 90s, and for those who embraced the show’s mix of dark chills and out-there scenarios, it has lingered in their memories way past the seven-year run on TV. The series not only constantly pushed the envelope as to what was acceptable for scary TV for children, but also gave future celebrities like Ryan Gosling (Drive, La La Land), Neve Campbell (Scream, Party of Five), Jay Baruchel (How To Train Your Dragon, This Is The End), and Hayden Christensen (Star Wars Episode 1-3) their start!
- GenresNonfictionHorror
328 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2016
11 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Jose Prendes
10 books15 followersJose Prendes, international man of mystery, was found swaddled in a basket among the reeds at the mouth of the Amazon. Raised by local shamans, Jose learned the magic of language and decided to dedicate his skills to the betterment of all mankind. He trekked to America at the age of 12, on foot no less, and made his home in Florida for a few years. After discovering a cure for the common cold, and losing it among his comic book collection, Prendes decided to abandon Florida for sunny Los Angeles.
Upon arriving in the city of angels, he was made the leader of a small group of cinephiles who believed he was the second coming of Shakespeare. Wielding immense power, and a ridiculously awesome dvd collection, Prendes continues his struggle to save the world from the coming peanut butter and jelly apocalypse.
Upon arriving in the city of angels, he was made the leader of a small group of cinephiles who believed he was the second coming of Shakespeare. Wielding immense power, and a ridiculously awesome dvd collection, Prendes continues his struggle to save the world from the coming peanut butter and jelly apocalypse.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 18, 2018
(Pre-review note: the series title is often abbreviated in fan communities as AYAOTD. Expect me to do the same.)
I miss the 90’s a lot, being a kid not so much.
The 90’s, I believe, had far better video games, cartoons, music and general entertainment than today’s world, and was in general a better time to grow up in. And one of my 90’s gems is a show by the name of Are You Afraid of the Dark?
You may remember it as the Goosebumps-esque show, centering on a group of adolescents telling stories around a campfire late at night. There was somewhat of a rivalry between it and Goosebumps, and ironically, several actors played roles on both shows. In case you didn’t know, both were filmed in Canada; Goosebumps was mostly shot in Toronto, AYAOTD in Montreal. Personally, I was a fan of both, but on the whole, I’d say AYAOTD was better.
Last summer, I was watching it through Netflix and Youtube, then decided to look up merchandise online. The series didn’t have much in the way of merchandise based on it, and one thing I noted was that the books typically didn’t interest me. Then, when I came across this book, it became a must buy.
The book includes summaries, credits and reviews of all 91 episodes - yeah, even for the revival episodes. The reviews are short yet concise, always getting the point across, and include occasional snide commentary - I particularly like the review for “The Tale of the Dark Dragon.” After the review of episode 65, which was the original series finale, it includes a few behind-the-scenes photos. All are in black and white, which is fairly appropriate, and certainly nostalgic.
Which brings me to pretty much my only issue with the book: that there aren’t screencaps and/or photos for every episode. Granted, it’s not that big an issue, but it would still have added to the book, and you wouldn’t have to reach the halfway point to find the photos. Personally, I would have liked to see black and white photos from “The Tale of the Deadman’s Float” - you know, the one that made many a 90’s kid scared to go in the pool. I’m so glad I didn’t see that as a kid…if you’re curious about what made the episode so terrifying: https://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploa... But don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Otherwise, though, there’s probably only one thing I think the book could have changed: that it includes the revival episodes. That’s awful petty, I know, but like many AYAOTD fans, I wasn’t a fan of those seasons. Which is ironic, because until recently, those were the seasons I’d seen most of the episodes from. It wouldn’t really make sense to make a separate book just for the original vs. revival seasons, but it’s just my two cents. Or should that be my three cents, since I’m Canadian? XD But anyway, even these are easily made up by the book’s enjoyability, and another nice touch is that each episode number is drawn in black like dripping blood, a la the cover. Bear Manor Media done good.
In closing, the book is awesome for any AYAOTD fan, with only minor flaws that are greatly outweighed by the book’s strong points. Definitely recommended, especially if you grew up in the 90’s. I declare this review closed.
Rating: 4 out of 5
I miss the 90’s a lot, being a kid not so much.
The 90’s, I believe, had far better video games, cartoons, music and general entertainment than today’s world, and was in general a better time to grow up in. And one of my 90’s gems is a show by the name of Are You Afraid of the Dark?
You may remember it as the Goosebumps-esque show, centering on a group of adolescents telling stories around a campfire late at night. There was somewhat of a rivalry between it and Goosebumps, and ironically, several actors played roles on both shows. In case you didn’t know, both were filmed in Canada; Goosebumps was mostly shot in Toronto, AYAOTD in Montreal. Personally, I was a fan of both, but on the whole, I’d say AYAOTD was better.
Last summer, I was watching it through Netflix and Youtube, then decided to look up merchandise online. The series didn’t have much in the way of merchandise based on it, and one thing I noted was that the books typically didn’t interest me. Then, when I came across this book, it became a must buy.
The book includes summaries, credits and reviews of all 91 episodes - yeah, even for the revival episodes. The reviews are short yet concise, always getting the point across, and include occasional snide commentary - I particularly like the review for “The Tale of the Dark Dragon.” After the review of episode 65, which was the original series finale, it includes a few behind-the-scenes photos. All are in black and white, which is fairly appropriate, and certainly nostalgic.
Which brings me to pretty much my only issue with the book: that there aren’t screencaps and/or photos for every episode. Granted, it’s not that big an issue, but it would still have added to the book, and you wouldn’t have to reach the halfway point to find the photos. Personally, I would have liked to see black and white photos from “The Tale of the Deadman’s Float” - you know, the one that made many a 90’s kid scared to go in the pool. I’m so glad I didn’t see that as a kid…if you’re curious about what made the episode so terrifying: https://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploa... But don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Otherwise, though, there’s probably only one thing I think the book could have changed: that it includes the revival episodes. That’s awful petty, I know, but like many AYAOTD fans, I wasn’t a fan of those seasons. Which is ironic, because until recently, those were the seasons I’d seen most of the episodes from. It wouldn’t really make sense to make a separate book just for the original vs. revival seasons, but it’s just my two cents. Or should that be my three cents, since I’m Canadian? XD But anyway, even these are easily made up by the book’s enjoyability, and another nice touch is that each episode number is drawn in black like dripping blood, a la the cover. Bear Manor Media done good.
In closing, the book is awesome for any AYAOTD fan, with only minor flaws that are greatly outweighed by the book’s strong points. Definitely recommended, especially if you grew up in the 90’s. I declare this review closed.
Rating: 4 out of 5
March 29, 2025
For the pure nostalgia that this book brought to me, there’s no way I could rate it less than 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was, hands down, my favorite show in the 90’s on a Saturday night 🥰
This was, hands down, my favorite show in the 90’s on a Saturday night 🥰
April 7, 2019
I was so excited to find out that this was a real thing-that someone made a book about one of my favorite Nickelodeon TV shows! I couldn’t wait to dive in and read all about the secrets behind the show.
A big chunk of the book is dedicated to a summary of each episode and what the author thought of the episode along with cast member facts. The last segment was dedicated to interviews with people crucial to the show such as the creators (D.J. MacHale & Ned Kandel), directors (Ron Oliver & David Winning), the man, the legend Richard Dumont (AKA Sardo), and two important Midnight Society Members (Ross Hull- Gary & Jason Alisharan-Frank). The closing remarks focus on what life could have been like for the society members after the fire smoldered out for the last time.
I really enjoyed being able to reminisce through the episode synopses. The cool thing is I can actually watch a majority of the episodes through my Amazon Video account. I wasn’t as familiar with the episodes from the revival second generation seasons (Season 6 & 7). I would watch the show on SNICK but it wasn’t the same as the OG cast! A few of the episodes I remember watching but many of them were unfamiliar to me.
I could not wait to read about what people who created the show or were big characters in the show thought about it and any interesting facts they could share. Richard Dumont was so down-to-earth and passionate about playing his role of Sardo (no mister, accent on the doh). I loved hearing from the creators and directors on their vision for the show and what were some of their favorite episodes or moments working on the show. That was seriously my favorite part of the book.
The closing part was more about Jose Prendes (the author) using his imagination to gives stories to the characters lives after they left the Midnight Society. He also included what became of Dr. Vink (with a va-va-va) and Sardo.
Finally, he listed the number of episodes each Midnight Society member told and the merchandise that went along with the show such as the novels and games! I have all the books! I need to read those sometime soon. I found out D.J. MacHale and his wife wrote one of them! It was an episode as well but they added more to the story (“The Tale of the Nightly Neighbors”). I also have the board game! It can be fun but a bit challenging.
The only thing that was disappointing and the reason why I gave it 4 stars was that there were so many grammatical errors and a few mistakes! That seriously made me cringe every time I came upon one and wondered why his editor didn’t proofread this book better! If you’re a fan of the show though, you’ll totally be able to look past it.
A big chunk of the book is dedicated to a summary of each episode and what the author thought of the episode along with cast member facts. The last segment was dedicated to interviews with people crucial to the show such as the creators (D.J. MacHale & Ned Kandel), directors (Ron Oliver & David Winning), the man, the legend Richard Dumont (AKA Sardo), and two important Midnight Society Members (Ross Hull- Gary & Jason Alisharan-Frank). The closing remarks focus on what life could have been like for the society members after the fire smoldered out for the last time.
I really enjoyed being able to reminisce through the episode synopses. The cool thing is I can actually watch a majority of the episodes through my Amazon Video account. I wasn’t as familiar with the episodes from the revival second generation seasons (Season 6 & 7). I would watch the show on SNICK but it wasn’t the same as the OG cast! A few of the episodes I remember watching but many of them were unfamiliar to me.
I could not wait to read about what people who created the show or were big characters in the show thought about it and any interesting facts they could share. Richard Dumont was so down-to-earth and passionate about playing his role of Sardo (no mister, accent on the doh). I loved hearing from the creators and directors on their vision for the show and what were some of their favorite episodes or moments working on the show. That was seriously my favorite part of the book.
The closing part was more about Jose Prendes (the author) using his imagination to gives stories to the characters lives after they left the Midnight Society. He also included what became of Dr. Vink (with a va-va-va) and Sardo.
Finally, he listed the number of episodes each Midnight Society member told and the merchandise that went along with the show such as the novels and games! I have all the books! I need to read those sometime soon. I found out D.J. MacHale and his wife wrote one of them! It was an episode as well but they added more to the story (“The Tale of the Nightly Neighbors”). I also have the board game! It can be fun but a bit challenging.
The only thing that was disappointing and the reason why I gave it 4 stars was that there were so many grammatical errors and a few mistakes! That seriously made me cringe every time I came upon one and wondered why his editor didn’t proofread this book better! If you’re a fan of the show though, you’ll totally be able to look past it.
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February 3, 2021takes you back to your childhood
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews