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Series · Horror · 1992 · TV-Y7

Are You Afraid of the Dark?: parents' guide

10+our pick

Best for ages 10 and up. Rated TV-Y7.

A classic Nickelodeon anthology of campfire ghost stories, good for kids about 10 and up who want a real scare. In each episode a club of teens called the Midnight Society takes turns telling a tale that plays out on screen: ghosts, vampires, zombies, curses and creepy clowns. This entry covers the 1990s original and its 1999-2000 seasons, not the 2019 revival. Violence is light, language stops at name-calling, and romance means teen crushes and kissing. Fear is the point, though: several stories involve the ghosts of kids who died, some end on a bleak twist, and a few are genuinely frightening.

What's in it

Violence

Mild

Light. Few characters die, and those deaths mostly happen offscreen or in a ghost's backstory. Threats come from supernatural beings, such as a scarecrow ordered to kill or a shaman hungry for campers, plus brief peril like a near-drowning.

Language

None

No cursing. Kids trade schoolyard name-calling like 'dip,' 'geek' and 'loser,' and that's about it.

Sex and nudity

Mild

Teens kiss, hold each other and talk about who is dating whom, and several stories turn on a crush. Nothing sexual.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

None

No drinking, smoking or drug use is shown or noted by reviewers of the series.

Scary or intense scenes

Moderate

Every episode is built to scare: ghosts, vampires, zombies, possession, an evil clown, and people trapped in paintings or games. Several plots center on ghosts of children or teens who died, and some end with the hero doomed.

Sensitive topics

  • Death of a child

Worth talking about

The Midnight Society loves being scared together around a fire. Talk about the difference between fun fear and the kind that sticks with you, and what helps when a story lingers.

Where to stream →

On our lists

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Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, themoviedb.org, justwatch.com, Wikipedia. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.