New to the Morbidly Beautiful podcasting network, “The Campfire” is a weekly retrospective on the 90s Nickelodeon show, “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”
The fourth show to join the rapidly expanding Morbidly Beautiful Podcasting Network is THE CAMPFIRE with hosts Richard Tanner and Nik Uttam. Join these two talented filmmakers as they look back fondly on every episode of the hit 90s show from Nickelodeon that influenced so many young horror fans: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?
Follow Rick and Nik every Thursday right here on morbidlybeautiful.com as they join The Midnight Society for thrills and chills that will warm your heart and make your blood run cold!
Richard Tanner is an award-winning writer, director, and regular Morbidly Beautiful contributor. He is known for Earth Girls Are Sleazy (2019), Room for Rent (2016) and Arte Factum: Legends (2018). He is also the owner of A Buck Short Productions. Despite the chaos of making movies, Richard’s love of all things 90s Nickelodeon led him to THE CAMPFIRE.
Nik Uttam is a filmmaker and podcaster that has seen every movie from the 80s…twice. He is an editor and cinematographer, known for Arte Factum: Legends (2018), Earth Girls Are Sleazy (2019) and Strip Club Massacre. He started the company Reel Independent Productions to get a better reach into the horror world. And he’s excited to be roasting marshmallows around THE CAMPFIRE with fellow filmmaker, Rick.
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK was a Canadian-American horror fantasy-themed anthology television series that was on YTV and Nickelodeon.
It aired from 1990 to 1996, and for a second run from 1999 to 2000. The original series was created by D.J. MacHale and Ned Kandel and was picked up by Nickelodeon in 1991.
The series premiered with the episode “The Tale of the Twisted Claw” as a pilot on Halloween 1990 on the Canadian television network YTV and aired until June 11, 2000. The pilot aired on Nickelodeon on October 25, 1991 as part of a Halloween special. The following year, the series premiered on Nickelodeon’s SNICK on August 15, 1992, and aired until April 20, 1996. The show was both a critical and commercial success, garnering numerous awards as the series progressed.
Both series of Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolved around a group of teenagers who referred to themselves as “The Midnight Society”. Every episode, at a secret location in the woods at night, one member would tell a scary story to the group. The actual story, rather than the telling, was displayed to the television viewer.
The story was shown between the group’s arrival at the site and their departure. Each storyteller would begin their story by saying “Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story, (story name)”, at which point he or she would toss a handful of “midnight dust” from a leather pouch into a campfire to heighten the flames and produce an eerie white smoke.
The Campfire Episode 1: The Tale of The Phantom Cab and The Tale of Laughing in the Dark (30 min)
%CODE300%
On the very first episode of THE CAMPFIRE, Rick and Nik wax nostalgic over Nickelodeon’s hit show Are You Afraid of the Dark. They review the first two episodes aired in the U.S. and remember what it is like to be kids. The episodes covered are THE TALE OF THE PHANTOM CAB (Season 1, Episode 1; Original Air Date: August 15, 1992) and THE TALE OF LAUGHING IN THE DARK (Season 1, Episode 2; Original Air Date: August 22, 1992).
In THE TALE OF THE PHANTOM CAB, two brothers, while lost in the woods, come across a mysterious cab driver and a very unusual man named Dr. Vink who won’t let any of his victims go unless they solve a riddle.
In THE TALE OF LAUGHING IN THE DARK, a kid named Josh decides to prove that a fun house isn’t haunted by stealing the nose of the clown who is supposed to haunt the place. He learns that the story isn’t fiction when Zeebo pays him a little visit.
Follow Us!