Oh man I remember each and every one of these episodes. The Doll House one sticks in my mind especially.

...dude who asks a kid to help you work on the septic tank? SERIOUSLY.

I am so glad I am not the only one who remembers this. This used to be my scary, guilty pleasure as a kid, and made my entire Saturday (after watching TMNT, of course). Great work.

YES! Awesome list! I remember waiting through crappy SNICK shows like Roundhouse to get to this whenever I stayed at my grand parents' house (they had cable and my parents wanted Saturday nights to themselves). a) I remember the Raven claw episode on Halloween. b) One thing you forgot to mention about the Tale of the 13th Floor was that the aliens were FUCKING FACELESS! That scared the crap out of me! Also, I would like to mention some other super scary ones. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I suggest the one with the drowned zombies that would come after the old man whenever he fell asleep, and the one set in the movie theater where the Nosferatu-looking vampire came out of the screen and hunted the teens working there. Kept the light on that night!

Hey great post! I completely forgot about this show until now!

The only thing I remember from are you afraid of the dark is Gilbert Godfrey, that bastard was scarier than anything else on that show

I remember all of these too and when I saw the title I picked almost every one of them, but one that I loved that it missed is the kid who played pinball all day instead of watching the store, then one day he winds up inside the pinball machine as the mall turns into one, and he is doomed to play forever.

Wow! I'm surprised that someone still remembers this show. I remember watching it when I was a kid. I had my face hidden under the covers most of the time but it was still awesome. Does anyone know whether or not it's on dvd yet?

I had successfully buried these memories. Thanks for bringing them all back.

Dear god the clown.

My older brother used to love this show and X-Files, they always creeped me out.

Oh yeah, a SNICK staple. I actually wasn't as creeped out by all these, but they were entertaining nonetheless. I'd already watched Tales from the Crypt, and was put off by how many had "happy endings." Of course, a few did have endings where the protagonists DON'T win, like The Tales of the Super Specs and the Pinball Wizard. Also, the Tale of the Dream Girl was a favorite as well due to the twist in it. Obviously an inspiration for a certain movie...

Argh, I remember a lot of these episodes (it was on after Wishbone, good times.) Especially the one with the ghost in the mirror. That one scared me for a long time.

And for some reason I never connected Ross Hull: The man who does those 'YourCity' segments to Ross Hull: Actor. I now know better.

Nice list!

#3 sounds a lot like the Burbs.

"Klopek? What is that Slavic?"

This totally made my day!! I am all about nostalgic spooky things, and I just got the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collection for my birthday, so I'm in nostalgia heaven :)

@Stacy - The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark illustrations are the stuff of nightmares.

Oh man. There was an episode about fire once, the premise was you shouldn't stare into the flame or the "spirit" of the fire could get loose. To this day I STILL won't stare directly into a flame!

Ah, yes...The Tale of the Twisted Claw: "Dougie unintentionally kills his parents and then raises his grandfather from the dead." Ha, plot lines like that don't occur in kids' shows anymore. I mean, I have yet to see Hannah Montana kill her Dad (which no one would complain about).

Why isn't this show on DvD? Oh wait- IT IS ON DVD!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=are+you+afraid+of+the+dark&sprefix=Are+You+

Such a mature show for a young audience back in the 90s- but hey I think we were more mature than todays generation with the whole tween/total-soap-operas aka :Where the hell are my cartoons? shows.

Makes me wonder if Pete and Pete, Salute your Shorts, and several other classics are in DvD format these days.

I know Rockos Modern Life is finally on DvD!

Such a great article btw- brings back some good memories!

I remember trying to watch The Tale of Laughing in the Dark through a blanket. My brother refused to give me the remote that night. I have never forgiven him for inducing my fear and hatred of clowns.

Like jestergoblin said...that damned clown.

It made sense, when you think about it later, that he'd keep showing up in other stories——the scary stories are SUPPOSED to be works of fiction by a close group, so he'd plausibly be a running gag, or an element of shared mythos——but when suspension of disbelief was in effect...to the audience at home, he became a phantom. A ghost wandering between worlds and lives. Not always there, but sometimes there. And the feeling, murmured in the base of the head, is that he's the only one that knows where and why. For reasons whos sole saving grace is that they're too inscrutable to ever understand, and thus in passing cast only the dull shadow of the true horror at their black heart.

Damn clown.

One of my favorites growing up (that wasn't a cartoon series).

I remember the Tale of the Dead Man's Float, it was a season finale or premier or something like that... I was super excited to watch it but had nightmares for two nights after that, consisting of the fleshy skeleton congeling in the bathtub drain and trying to kill my family!!... GREAT LIST

i LOVED that show...i remember every episode here...did they ever come out on DVD...if not, they should...really.

Okay, let's talk about "Tale of the Quicksilver," like someone else mentioned. What kid isn't afraid of his house catching on fire? And add to the fact the girl doing some weird creepy ritual and getting sucked into the spirit world?

Also, another missing from this list that is on other lists - "Tale of the Super Specs." Shadow people always = creepy.

i looked the DVD's up so i have an answer to my question. i also noticed that four of the episodes listed above were in the first season. no wonder we were hooked.

The only one i remember really clearly from back in the day, was the one in the theater with the Nosferatu looking guy in it. then one scared me shitless, yeahs later when I saw Nosferatu the movie it was kinda disappointing

This show really fell off after the third season, but those first three are legendary.
Great list.

@Amontillado

Oh damn, that was a terrifying episode! Not because of Gilbert Godfrey (though he was amazing) but the fact that people keep getting dragged to a very literal Hell by faceless cloaked wraiths. Dammit, that was intense.

Almost every line by Godfrey was great in that episode - "Okay. So I almost sent a living boy to eternal damnation. That's never happened to you?"

Incidentally, your name is my favorite drink and short story.

Great article -- way to take 20-somethings back :)

I remember one episode with a kid who dies on his bike or something. Then another kid keeps seeing him everywhere...and the kid is like ghostly and blue...and just keeps saying "I'm Cold" over and over again. Scared the living crap out of me. Anyone know which episode this was?

Man, I only remember two or three of these episodes.

great list, but i gotta add, and i don't remember the name of the episode, the one where the kids find the x-ray specs in the weird magic shop and start seeing black clad figures from another dimension. the creepiest thing about the episode is when the kids and the magic shop owner try to exorcise the spirits they find out they get exorcised themselves by the kids in the other dimension who were freaked out by them. it blew my mind. and still messes up my vision because i refuse to wear glasses.

Oh wow, I have never heard of them before! Wow!

RT
www.anonymize.us.tc

Wow I used to love this show! A couple years ago I downloaded as many episodes as possible, they were all on Soulseek.

Old Man Corcoran and The Twisted Claw are amongst the scariest.

And then there's also The tale of the Silver Sight. But that one was more like a movie. Brilliant of course.

keep it up!

SNICK....that is all

I also agree that Quicksilver should be on here.
And to second everyone else, yeah, that fucking clown.

The night I first saw "The 13th Floor" my sister and I were camping out in our living room and she got so scared that she peed in her sleeping bag.

"The Tale of the Clemson Clown" was a LOT scarier than "Laughing in the Dark". That episode scarred me for life with the kid waking up with an evil clown doll crawling under your covers.

Hmm, I have been looking for a certain episode that has stuck in my mind for years, about a carousel and a certain horse on the ride with some evil eye or something. I can't find it, I THOUGHT it was AYAOTD? But it was more of a movie that played on Nick At Night. Is anyone able to help me out?

A few honorable mentions:

The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0514420/

The Tale of the Frozen Ghost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHgITUBdy0

That piece of shit haunted my dreams for years.

This show is definitely the Twilight Zone of my generation. I've watched a huge chunk of the episodes recently and the plot is the only saving graces. The cg effects definitely remind you of the times and the acting (and obvious Canadian accents) is ridiculous. Episodes that are completely baller that haven't been mentioned:

The mall that turns into a pinball machine/video game.
The laughing comic book clown. (My pick for scariest)
The basement that opens to hell when music is played.
The restaurant where the soup is made from a fear room.

"The Tale of the Dark Music" scared the bejeezus out of me as a lad because of that large doll the boy encounters early on. I haven't seen it in over a decade but I'm still fairly certain it'd creep me out.

This is a really great top ten list, I love this show. Does anyone know if it is on syndication anywhere? "The Tale of the Night Shift" is one of my favorite, so awesome. Anyone can post their own list to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.

Very awesome. The pinball one is freaking classic, albeit not featured here. It wasn't really scary though.
Night Shift was so ballsy for back then.

Danger said:
"The basement that opens to hell when music is played."

That one was my favorite episode. The skeletal carnival barker, with the bone fingers clawing at the kids shoelaces. Holy shit. That one holds up. Also, I think that's the only episode (or one of the very few) where a completely mortal person was unambiguously murdered. Death metal makes Lovecraftian horrors eat your bullies. Then they give you a sweet bike.

"Laughing in the Dark" ruined clowns for me forever. I was 6 when that episode aired and I have no idea why my parents were letting me watch it, but it literally scared me to the point of tears. There's another clown-doll episode later in the series that's also terrifying. Clowns are bad enough, clown dolls are even worse. Are You Afraid was a great show otherwise. I think the stories lost some of their edge as the show went on; the first season has the best set of stories. Should watch them again...

I remember most of these, and the ones I don't have a vague familiarity. Good calls on all. Though, I must agree with others that the Mall/Pinball Machine episode is one that sticks with me all the time and is the first episode I think about when hearing the name "Are You Afraid of the Dark."

There's another episode I remember, though not perfectly, well. I believe it centered around a kid in a play where a leprechaun or a gnome or something came to life and tormented him. I'm fairly certain they had a fight on stage at the end, the kid wins, and the audience thinks it was a part of the show? Something like that? Any help on that one...?

I do remember these episodes. Somewhat, at least. The one I remember, that I don't think was listed, had the ghost of a small boy in the woods. I remember how he creepily said "I'm cold" to everyone who saw him!!

Oh, and is it just me or does the kid in the Tale of the Thirteenth Floor look exactly like Shawn Ashmore, Bobby Drake from X-Men 2 and 3? I checked out his IMDB page and didn't see a listing for AYAotD, though he would be the right age...

Wow i had completly forgotten this show, i just have some images.... things like this and old cartoons like gi joe, transformers, he-man and thundercats make looks like crap Current TV shows, like those bratz cartoon, or all that thrash MTV aim to teeners....

@Alex- TOTALLY! I was just going to bring that one up....I used to watch this religiously! The worst part was it came on RIGHT before I was supposed to go to bed...the bathroom light stayed on a lot on Saturdays....

thanks for the list bet it was hard picking it given how scary the show was. and nice to see laughing in the dark and the claw on the list laughing number one for that episode gave me nightmares for a week. plus always wondered what the minds of the writers were who made the show. mad and wanted to make kids scared and screaming in fear. though suprised its on dvd without being edited or legal issues blocking the show.

Aw man, I used to love watching this show when I was younger, but I can't really remember a lot of these. Still these were great; makes me believe AYAOTD was the reason why I had so many nightmares about ghosts when I was little. And creepy puppets/dolls *shudder*.

The Pinball one was epic. That was one of the few that had an ambiguous/bad ending. The guy was still pretty much trapped in that enigmatic mall of death at the end. It wasn't the scariest episode but as a gamer it was definitely the most memorable.

I almost *don't* want to rewatch these. I mean, as of now, I remember them as scary. I remember the subtle bits and pieces that stained my memory with fear. I think that if I go back and re-watch them, I'll realize they weren't so scary, or I'll end up focusing on poor production/acting and it'll ruin the memories for me. Did anyone experience this rewatching the show?

Laughing in the Dark was one of the least scary episodes ever, since I've never found clowns the least bit scary (Pennywise the Clown? Hilarious!).
Sure, it's probably scary as hell for someone suffering from Coulrophobia, but not for the rest of us.

The Tale of The Pinball Wizard was kind of creepy though, not the episode so much, but the ending. Trapped in a pinball machine, for life.

Another favorite was The Tale of Dark Music, since it was the first one I saw.

Ugh, The Tale of the Lonely ghost haunts me to this day. I'm 22 and when i get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I have to run and put the light on cause Mirrors in the dark of the night scare me to this day all because of this episode.. I can see this whole episode in my head from 12 years ago!

Huh. Weird.

When I was a kid we had to get by on "The Bloodhound Gang" segments from 3-2-1 Contact. (Yes, kids; It was a show title before it was a lame indie/modern rock band.)

My generation didn't have the whole "Goosebumps" scary story thing. We had the "boy adventurer" or "boy detective" stuff. We had bad Scooby Doo episodes (with Scrappy) and Encyclopedia Brown. The Goosebumps craze hit too late for me.

But hey; At least none of us had the Twilight fad.

I LOVED this show! It was so sadistic how they had to know it was the last show kids watched before going to sleep.

One episode that always stayed with me was the Watchers one. I remember that in the end the Watchers weren't all that scary, just some old ladies, but the set up where they talked about the Watchers kept me out of the woods for years.

My faves were definitely the ones with the ambiguous endings. The Pinball Wizard, the faceless alien one, the x-ray specs... it was sort of my first experience of things not working out ok in the end. Kind of like how children always expect there to be an answer to a riddle. When you grow up you realize there aren't always anwswers and certainly aren't always happy endings.

To this day every once and awhile I'll think about that one where the guy goes to sleep and the undead come out of the ocean to kill him. I always wondered why the hell he wouldn't just move to New Mexico or something. It's not like they were runners. They'd get to Highway 10 and he'd have a good 8 hours every night!

SNICK....that is all

The scariest one for me isn't on this list. I can't remember the title, but it was the episode where the pet lizards turn into the family, and the family turns into lizards, and the best friend of one of the kids notices that something weird is going on. She saves most of the family, but she can't tell the difference between her best friend and the lizard-person, and actually destroys the wrong one. That one was really creepy...

@mythbri: I don't remember the name of that one either, but it had the girls from Sister, Sister in it.
This could have been a Top 50 list. Awesome picks though.

I really loved Are you Afraid of the Dark. I wish they would bring it back on Nickelodeon

yes, i am 24, and i was at the perfect age for Are You Afraid of the Dark and all the other great Nickelodeon shows..this was a great list..but I would of also added the Frozen Ghost episode..shit was creepy

Canadian here...old-school YTV FTW!! I actually didn't know this show was ever aired in America. I don't remember the contents of these shows well, but I always thought it was cool how they'd throw sand on the fire. I also remember having an "Are you Afraid of the Dark?" pencil from Pizza Hut in grade one, which was just a red pencil with a removable glow-in-the-dark ghost eraser on the end. When I was absent one day, some asshole (named Jeremy) who sat at my table had sharpened the other side of the pencil, but I didn't really care and was all amused to have a double sharpened pencil (...).

Anyway, according to wikipedia, the DVDs are Canadian exclusives, so good luck with finding them Americans!

@TomM

So glad you brought that episode up, for some reason it is the only one I remember when i think of AYAoTD.

Probably because it really wasn't any good. The ghost kid wasn't scary and he was just passively haunting the other kid saying "I'm cold" over and over again until the kid gave him a blanket. The end.

Is that Ice Man from the X-Men movies playing Billy in "The Tale of the 13th Floor" ? Not to be confused with his twin brother "Not-Ice Man" who played Jimmy on Smallville.

@Austin: I think that was "The Tale of the Silver Sight." It was the "movie" of the show, even though it was pretty much just three episodes in a row.

I used to watch this show when I was about seven or eight. The Tale of the Dead Man's Float scared the bejeezus out of me. I was afraid to use the bathroom at night for weeks, because I was afraid that thing would come out of the bathtub or toilet. That was the episode that stuck with me, as well as the one with the little ghost boy that keeps saying "I'm cold!" I think it was called The Tale of the Frozen Ghost, or something.

The Pool one was TERRIFYING. This was another reason I couldn't go in public pools!

Also the one with the computer virus I think scared me the most because I didn't know what virtual reality or viruses were at the time and I thought they'd eat me.

Just checked IMDB, its his brother "Not Ice-Man" aka Aaron Ashmore

I remember every episode of this show from when I was a kid. My best friend was scared of this show and would not watch it. I just texted him and asked if he was still afraid of the show and got a pretty good reaction haha.

I remember all of these but I think the scariest episode of AYAOTD is one where the kids get magical sunglasses that can see into the other dimension of people that occupy our world (All the other dimension people are all dressed in black with black masks).

That episode had me freaked out for weeks!

Having "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark" #1 is accurate in my eyes. Ever since I can remember I have been afraid of clowns. Even Ronald McDonald sent me running from the room. It didn't keep me from watching the episode multiple times, but still freaked me out every viewing.

If the stories weren't enough to put me on edge, it never failed that my Mom would sneak-up behind me and scare the shit out of me. Thanks mom for making me jumpy.

There was one where an old woman stole faces.... the faceless people still pop up in my nightmares every once and a while.... :(

Eerie Indiana kicks Are You Afraid of the Dark's ass.

I cant believe you missed "Tales from the Darkside" Seasons of Belief (1986). This episode scared the hell out of me and my younger brother. For years we were afraid to say the name "Grither".

Great List
very nostalgic
you should definitely do a creepiest goosebumps episodes list!!!

I wanted to be one of the kids in the club. My friends never had stories that were as scary when we gathered to tell tales.

Such good memories with this show. I'd watch it with my mom. She was a Twilight Zone manaic and loved this show. She'd make popcorn and we'd watch it on the small TV in her room... with all the lights off. My dad thought we were both nuts.

Im glad so much love is being shed on this show, and I totally agree. My only advice is to NOT watch this show now. It's horrific

I honestly thought the intro was scarier than any of the episodes.

Actually, yes, it is Aaron "Jimmy Olsen" Ashmore, not Shawn "Ice Man" Ashmore. Aaron has it listened on his IMDB as well as another AYAOTD episode, The Tale of the Lunar Locusts.

Four immediately came to my mind, and you got three of them. There was one with Sardo (the recurring magical salesman) sells some kids a glasses and they start seeing shadowy humanoids. They end up taking over our universe. That one always creeped me out.

The best part about 'Laughing in the Dark' is that when the clown is haunting Josh's house, you never actually SEE him. You see the balloon, the phone call, his dummy in the spookhouse, etc. Made for a pretty effective scare.

Wow that takes me back, it was a great show for kids - they didn't really censor the horror involved. And many of the stories ended badly or with sad endings.

Man, I remember this show. It was one of those shows that I would watch sporadically, as it scared the crap outta me. Can't say I remember most of the episodes on the list, but I do remember the Doll one. Like clowns, dolls are inherently creepy. Also, count me on the list that found Pinball Wizard to be the most memorable. That and the one about the Prank Caller that the "phone police" come for. Not a particularly good episode, but it stuck with me because Weird Al had released "Bad Hair Day" around the same time and it had "Don't Go Making Phony Calls" on it, so I associate the two with each other.

I only remember a few of those episodes in detail. With that, Goosebumps, and Tales from the Crypt all this crap starts to merge together. Didn't AYAOTD have a possessed camera episode similar to the Goosebumps story?... I don't even remember.

Two eps that stick out that I didn't see on the list was the little boy who froze to death and kept saying "I'm cooold" when he popped out in the woods... also, there was this neighbor kid who stole the youth from other kids?... I think... I know he (she?) was old again after being foiled at the end.

You forgot what is in my opinion the scariest: The Tale of the Midnight Madness. Nosferatu, the demon vampire steps right out of the movie screen.

Nosferatu: http://kramtark.files.wordpress.com/2005/10/Nosferatu2.jpg

...just google image search him. Scary f*ckin vampire with long spidery fingers.

OH MY GOD, YES. This is your best fucking list yet. MEMORIES! Seriously, even the opening credits scared the shit out of me. That swing!

Me and my older brother loved this show so much. Gah! I remember the 13th Floor one so clearly. You're amazing.

"...was the little boy who froze to death and kept saying "I'm cooold" when he popped out in the woods..."

That was some creepy shit, Scortia! That one really got to me, for some reason!

Does anyone remember the show 'Eerie, Indiana'? A lot like this show, also great. Now I feel the urge to go run around Amazon spending money I don't have for all these shows.

Hell yeah. the "frozen ghost" episode was memorable but not creepy. That's the one that had Melissa Joan Hart in it! The "hatching" one sticks out the most in my mind, for some reason.

the most vivid episode in my head featured shawn ashmore (jake from animorphs, or, more famously, iceman from the x-men movies) and tara lipinski (probably right after the news of a pending autobiography... before she turned 18). it wasn't that scary, but it seemed star-studded for that show.

...of course, i look thru the list and see the clarification: not shawn ashmore. anyway, here's the fun fact: that episode also featured tara lipinski (the figure skater). and shawn was in animorphs before x-men.

Those two last ones happened to give me nightmares for weeks when i was a kid- I didn't go in the pool for days

Tom M,

I think you're confusing The Shiny Red Bicycle and The Frozen Ghost. They were on the same VHS tape though.

Zeebo the clown is way worse than Pennywise for the sole reason we never see him. Good job.

Kids nowadays are pussies.

There were two episodes that stick out in my mind that haven't been mentioned yet. I was convinced that they were AYAotD and not Goosebumps.
One was The Tale of Badge, which I looked up on imdb, and it was the series finale. Badge is some musical cat demon thing... or something. I remember the girl had a flute, and B,A,D,G, and E are all notes you can play... and she wishes for musical talent or something?
The other one I didn't find on imdb... maybe someone knows something about it? It was about a girl who goes to visit her cousin in the countryside, and her cousin becomes possessed by some horseback riding ghost...
Awesome show. Love the nostalgia factor.

SNICK was untouchable for a few years. God bless this show.

Glad to see so many people agreeing over the Super Specs (X-Ray Glasses) episode. The Nosferatu episode was pretty creepy, if for no other reason than the fact that it looks like they got the makeup straight from Salem's Lot. I'd crap my pants if I saw that thing coming out from the screen too.

Also, there were some episodes that I simply couldn't take seriously because of the South Park-esque accent the actors had.

"GET OOT OF THE HOOOSE!"

Oh, also, it's still very much available on DVD for American audiences. We own the first three seasons. You can get them on Amazon.

Wow. I didn't know there were two Ashmore kids. I thought Aaron "Not-Iceman" Ashmore was the same as Shawn "Iceman" Ashmore. I'm a baaaaaad geek.

Dead Man's Float needs to be #1. I remember waking up in the middle of the night from watching that and looking at my fish tank and he was right next to it. Definitely the worst trick your eyes can play on you. And is the "I'm cold" one with the little ghost boy on here?

@Scortia yeah it did, the camera episode of AYAOTD freaked me out for some reason.

I didn't get to watch this a lot growing up, but I always liked it when I did. Nice list Patrick!

The scariest part of the last story is the ginger.

i completely agree with the Zeebo episode being the scariest, its the only episode i can remember as a child watching and i recall not sleeping too well that night. lol.

I remembe about half of these. I remember #1 most of all. Huhhhhhh...

These are brilliant.

As I saw the title I was wondering if the clown one was going to be in it. #1 placement is perfect justice.

Whoa! Those eps on the lists STILL gives me the creeps!

awsesome show. love it buying the dvds. i used to watch this when i used to get out of school right after rocko's modern life.

Fuck yeah!! As soon as i read the title of the post, I was hoping the Old Man Corcoran story was there!! It is such a great episode.

Oh, man Tim.
------------------------------------------------------------
Tim said:
You forgot what is in my opinion the scariest: The Tale of the Midnight Madness. Nosferatu, the demon vampire steps right out of the movie screen.

Nosferatu: http://kramtark.files.wordpress.com/2005/10/Nosferatu2.jpg

...just google image search him. Scary f*ckin vampire with long spidery fingers.
------------------------------------------------------------
I thought that one would be on the list for sure.

I just remembering thanking God for this program so my kids sat still for the 1/2 hr!

Although I appreciate the brilliant sense of nostalgia I got from reading this list, it does mean that I'm going to have to go back to my psychologist.

Damn that pool ghost.

(seriously though, this show creeped me out)

Does anyone remember an episode where they talked about a symbol that no one can read? They draw it in the dirt at the beginning, and at some point some kids go hiking and see a someone who's really a ghost. I wasn't especially scared by that one, but does anyone know which one I'm thinking of? I don't remember what it was called. Anyway, that's the one I remember the best, apart from the Dead Man's Float.

And in my opinion, the clown episoe was really disappointing, with the kid making friends with an evil fucking ghost clown. I was expecting to at least get some visual payoff.

The pool one was the scariest for me. My friends and I even played a game derived from it at the local pool and it scared us shitless, even in broad daylight.

That guy with the glasses is something of a Canadian Waldo. He's in everything from the 90's and now he's on the Weather Network.

Somebody mentioned the obvious Canadian accents as detrimental. That is retarded, the show is Canadian. It's like complaining about all the obvious British accents on Doctor Who.

Now I remember were my (still)phobia of mirrors came from!! The ghost pool never really scared me, I thought it was cool, until I saw something in the public pool that looked like it. The joys of having a young overactive imagination

Thank you so much for posting these :]]] this show was my all-time childhood favorite!! Now I know why I had so many nightmares as a child.. haha! Can't wait to find time to watch each one :]

The tale of the super specs.
put them on and you can see into the other dimension.
black figures.
freaky as hell.
scarred me as a child.
just watched the episode on youtube.
i feel better.

Gosh i loved this show coming up. My creepiest ones were Tale of the Quicksilver and the dollmaker one. i also liked the Dream Girl one too. I didn't consider that one to be scary, but I guess it was just the idea. The first 4 seasons were the best.

Number one bought back some unwanted memories!

okay I am a lil behind on this but My favorite one was the silver q one. which May be the quick silver one. anyway that thing was super creepy.

Loved the show when I was younger, can't remember too many episodes clearly other than the doll house one, and one with with kidnapped children in an alien zoo, and only this death girl could get passed the barriers since it was sound base.
Had a glow in the dark sticker stucked to the side of my dresser for the longest time, till it stopped glowing.

Sweet Jebus, I'm still haunted by the "Tale of the Dead man's float" seriously creepy stuff. Yet, I can't bring myself to watch it... something about seeing it now with my mind filled with modern day special effects and what nots would take away from the show and it would sadly lose its grip over my childhood memories.

"Tale of the Midnight Madness" is by far my favorite. I remember sleeping in the bed with my mom that night and sleeping with the lights on for about a week.

Another great one- can't remember the name, but it was about that lady who owned the make-up shop and stole youth from teenagers... she didn't have any mirrors because they showed her true age. Creeeepppyyyyy

I still absolutely LOVE this show. It's a shame Nick doesn't show it anymore.
There's still one episode that scares the crap out of me now. I don't remember what it was called, but this boy's friend died and he kept his bike as a reminder of his friend. Well, of course his friend haunts him. One scene that's stuck in my head is when the ghost tries to get the boy to jump onto some sharp rocks and kill himself, or something along the lines of that.

@ Friginator: "The Tale of the Jagged Sign"

I loved this show as a kid. Didn't know it lasted 7 seasons though. Man, I need to catch up on all the episodes I missed, lol

Jesus this brings back memories!
im 19 now and was really young when these were aired,
the one that still haunts me to this day is the dollhouse episode. suffice to say, after watching it i threw out my few dolls and started playing with my brother's Alien Xenomorph replica instead.

I remember the Night Shift all too well. I was already scared of doctors and hospitals, and seeing that episode, even at 9 years old, only made it worse. It was one of only two things I have ever seen on TV that actually scared me enough to keep me awake at night.

I was surprised to see that the Tale of the Ghastly Grinner didn't make an appearance on this list. I know at least five people who suffered horrific recurring nightmares from that particular episode. I watched it yesterday, it's still terrifying.

Blue goo anyone?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-899308710564488114#

AWESOME...i loved the dead man's float one actually...and not listed - the tale of the super specs was rediculous! when the kettle started whistling and then the black cloaked person appears was SO scary...and Zeebo the clown made me never sleep with my back facing the door for yearrrs

I just 2day found out about ayaotd so can any1 tell me their favs and the 1s they thought were the scariest.u c this show stopd the yr i was born 1996 but i was on facebook looking 4 dark things and ayaotd came up and i didnt know what it was then i watchd an episode and FELL IN LOVE WITH IT.so plz respond so i can look up the vids iv already seen the vacant lot and the vampire hospitial 1.anyways...THAX

I thought "Tale of the Night Shift" was idiotic, but am thrilled you remembered the "Dollmaker."

As a kid, my favorites were "Tale of the Crimson Clown" and "Tale of the Quicksilver."

Who else remembers the one about the virtual reality virus (the little person in blue makeup)? The kid with the serial port in his hand is burned permanently onto my psyche.

Thanks for posting! I loved this show, too (I'm 27 now and was 9ish when it premiered). Does anyone remember an early episode where a girl and her parents stayed in a hotel ran by this creepy young guy, and he turned out to be stealing the lifeforce of his guests? It was implied he had killed before b/c of the graveyard out back. The "original" seasons were fantastic, though the revival in the late 90s (with the Midnight Society helmed by Gary's lame little brother, Tucker) wasn't worth watching, imo. Ah, the glory days of Nick...when you *wanted* to stay in on a Saturday night and when Snick actually existed. :)

Oh man. I was 3 or 4 when I first watched the zeebo episode. It totally scarred me! I had a nightmare that night, I still remember it vividly.
Freaking scary.

Anyway that was like the best tv series everrrr. Such good times.