Introducing the Carnival of Doom on Are You Afraid of the Dark? Part 1

By Mads Lennon | Oct 12, 2019

Photo: Are You Afraid of the Dark?.. Image Courtesy Nickelodeon /

Nickelodeon’s highly-anticipated Are You Afraid of the Dark revival premiered last night and we met a new generation of The Midnight Society.

Whether you grew up watching the original Are You Afraid of the Dark or you just found the premise of the show interesting and decided to tune in for the opening night, a new Midnight Society has been formed for 2019.

Part One begins with the introduction of the main character Rachel. She’s new in town and nervous about fitting in at school. Luckily for Rachel, she quickly catches the eye of horror fan Graham. He notices her drawing a sinister-looking man in a tophat in class and braves the horrors of a moldy smoothie to withdraw it from a trash can.

Graham is part of The Midnight Society along with other classmates aspiring filmmaker Akiko, the cute boy next door Gavin, and popular cheerleader Louise. They decide to test Rachel’s mettle and see if she’s worthy of a place in TMS.

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Every day, Rachel receives a wax-sealed envelope in her locker (is it bad I was wondering where a group of kids learned how to max wax seals?). Each envelope contains a question she must answer such as: Which is scarier: vampires or werewolves?, Would rather spend the night in a haunted house or a cemetery?, etc.

Finally, it’s decided that Rachel deserves a spot among the elite ranks of TMS, if she can pass the final round. She’ll have 24 hours to devise a terrifying story of her own. Thanks to a little help from Gavin, who appears to be her love interest, Rachel taps into a personal inspiration. The episode began with a creepy nightmare about the Carnival of Doom and the evil Top Hat Man.

She scares everyone in The Midnight Story with her tale of scorpions, eyeless men, and disappearing children. The group reveals themselves from behind their scary masks and accepts her into the society.

For once, Rachel is genuinely excited to go to school. At least, until one of her classmates, Adam, goes missing. Audiences are treated to a mysterious scene where Adam stumbles upon the set-up of a new carnival in town while walking his dog. But only his dog returns home.

Back at school, Rachel and the rest of the Midnight Society are handed pamphlets for the Carnival of Doom and Rachel notices a scorpion crawling on the nearby glass…

Check out the official preview for Are You Afraid of the Dark: Part 2 below:

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What did you think of Are You Afraid of the Dark’s premiere episode? Are you planning to watch the rest of the limited series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Part two of Are You Afraid of the Dark airs next Friday at 7/6c on Nickelodeon.

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