After the tremendous success of IT – the highest-grossing horror movie ever – the cast and crew of the film could probably get any gig they want. This does not have to be limited to movies wherein children are being terrorized be malevolent forces, but, come on, those movies are soooo much fun. IT writer Gary Dauberman seems to agree, as he’s already secured another gig based on a famous Nickelodeon horror show – ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?
Dauberman was hired to write and produce the upcoming adaptation of the 90s show by Paramount Players, a division of Paramount Pictures, which is specializing in making features out of properties from Nick, MTV and Comedy Central. The show was an anthology series surrounding a group of young teens who called themselves the Midnight Society and would tell each other spooky stories around a campfire. The stories involved ghosts, monsters, aliens and all manner of creepy things and became a hit among younger audiences, lasting from 1990-1996, with a revival series going from 1999 to 2000. In total there were seven seasons and 91 episodes.
Everyone loves a good ghost story, and Dauberman believes this is why the show was so popular back in the 90s, and why people still have fond, nostalgic memories of it today. He says the movie will be sure to have that nostalgic value while capitalizing on the scarier, darker elements of the show:
The show is about the shared experience of telling stories — especially scary ones. We're going to celebrate that with this movie and honor the darker, scarier tone of the show, which was really groundbreaking for Nickelodeon at the time. I hope the Midnight Society approve.
This comes off a stellar year for Dauberman, who wrote IT and ANNABELLE: CREATION, which combined have made almost a billion dollars worldwide. That's billion with a "B", mind you. He is also producing THE CONJURING spinoff THE NUN, which is set for next year.
I have vivid memories of watching the show as a child and being beyond terrified by certain episodes. The show is too cheesy and dated now for me to go back and enjoy, but there is definitely a market for an anthology movie with varying types of scary stories worked in. As long as the movie axes any and all big poofy sweaters, bad haircuts and high-waisted jeans there's plenty of room for this to be a scary delight.