90s babies were part of a social experiment as far as entertainment is concerned. Kids’ programming wasn’t nearly as censored as it is today, whether it was the boundary-pushing Ren & Stimpy or the nightmare-inducing frights from Are You Afraid of the Dark, I think it left a deep scar on almost every millennial and Gen Xer.
Was AYAOTD actually that scary, or was it just terrifying because, as children, our brains are about as mushy as mashed potatoes? After going back to watch some of the most highly rated scary episodes, I can confirm that it’s as scary as we all remember. Without further ado, here are five of the scariest Are You Afraid of the Dark episodes ranked from tolerable to outright peeing your pants worthy.
5. Shiny Red Bicycle
While some of the other episodes on this list feature genuine jump scares, this episode focuses more on loss, grief, and dread. A child is unable to save his friend from falling off a bridge, which leads to his death. That haunts him for years, until he has the opportunity to prevent it from happening again. These are complex topics that are a reality for many children, unfortunately, but it’s also something you wouldn’t expect to see a show aimed at “kids” to tackle. I believe that it’s stuck with many people into adulthood for this reason.
4. The Tale of the Dollmaker
Susan, a young girl, goes missing. The whole town bands together to find her, but they’re unable to. Eventually, her family moves out of the home, leaving everything behind in case she comes back. Melissa, who is staying with her aunt and uncle, is drawn to the home. Multiple times, she enters and comes across this dollhouse, attempting to enter a door that has her in a trance. She is stopped by her aunt and uncle, who tell her something very bad happened there and she’s not to go back. Of course, she doesn’t listen. Instead, she’s on a mission to find Susan herself (she believes she’s in the dollhouse). She does find Susan, who has been half-turned into a doll. They make their escape by jumping out of the attic door.
3. The Tale of Laughing in the Dark
There’s always a terrifying clown tale in the mix. But this one is a bit different than Pennywise. A group of kids discovers a funhouse, Laughing in the Dark. They’ve heard rumors about it being haunted, which is corroborated by Carny, who runs the funhouse. Zeebo the Clown haunts it. If you choose the right door, you’re free to go, but if you choose the wrong one… well, they don’t want to find out.
They do research about the funhouse and find out that in the 1920s, Zeebo stole the payroll from the circus and ran inside the funhouse. He lit a cigar and accidentally caught it on fire, leaving him trapped inside. I love this episode because it has everything you love about AYAOTD. A great villain, jump scares, a decent story (though I’m still confused on how a 13-year-old got access to a box of cigars), and suspense that builds toward the climax of the story.
2. The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner
The main character of this story, Ethan, is an avid comic book fan working on his own project. He accidentally brings a villain from a rare comic, The Ghastly Grinner, to life. The character, reminiscent (looks wise) of DC’s Joker, turns people into giggling zombies that ooze blue goo just from his laugh. After turning Ethan’s mother into one of these zombies, Ethan and his friend Hooper try to stop him. They find out that they must finish the drawings in the comic in order to do so. This is a classic episode in Are You Afraid of the Dark history, leaning heavily into the character turning on its creator. The actual construction of The Grinner is disgusting. He has crooked, yellow teeth, a jester-like outfit, and some seriously deep under-eye circles.
1. The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float
This has got to be one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen. The main character, Zeke, wants to impress his crush, Clorice, who has just joined the swim team. He brings her to the abandoned pool at the school where, years earlier, a young teen drowned. Joe was pulled under the water by an unseen force. Now, that same force is back to capture its next victim. The entity does try to drown Zeke and Clorice, who hear the terrifying past of the pool from Charlie, who was there the day Joe passed.
They decide to douse it in Methyl Orange since it’s acidic, which will give them an opportunity to see the entity and get rid of it. The corpse is something of absolute nightmares. It looks like it was unleashed from the depths of hell. A mix between a skeleton and Vecna from Stranger Things, it gives me the heebie jeebies.
The post The 5 ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’ Episodes Most Likely to Give You Nightmares, Ranked appeared first on VICE.
