Are You Afraid of the Dark? - The Tale of The Silver Sight

Last year I reviewed and sorted out some of my favorite episodes and films from one of my all time favorite childhood horror series, Goosebumps. It was a lot of fun and I was very proud of the outcome. This year I was planning on digging even deeper into the nostalgic pockets of my mind by searching for and reviewing my favorite Are You Afraid of the Dark? episodes. Unfortunately, as I started to dig and uncover what was going to be the ultimate blast-from-the-past trip-out of the last quarter century, I realized that I not only forgot many of the episodes, I also had not watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? since the last reruns stopped showing back in 2000. I did end up watching a lot of episodes, but I didn't feel it was appropriate to make any lists or "best of" posts. Plus, there are sites out there that already have the most obvious "best" episodes alongside the ones with Ryan Gosling, Melissa Joan Hart, Jay Baruchel, and other special guests you may not have known were in the show while growing up.

So, just as I was beginning to lose all hope, I managed to remind myself of one episode. It was a very different episode than the rest of the Are You Afraid of the Dark? series and I could only think of one part to help me search for it. So, I did a little research and actually came up with a result. What I discovered was more than your average episode of a Canadian kids fright show that aired almost 15 years ago; I discovered Are You Afraid of the Dark?'s greatest tale ever told, a 3 part episode called, The Tale of The Silver Sight!

The Tale of The Silver Sight was the first episode(s) of the last season, season 7, and is unlike any other Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode seen before (or after). A normal AYAOTD? episode starts with the Midnight Society getting together around the open fire in the deepest part of the woods with one of the members setting the mood for a story they were going to recite that night. In The Tale of The Silver Sight however, the episode does not start with the Midnight Society, or even someone telling a tale; it starts with Gary, the former president of the society who went off to college, having a nightmare and then getting a call of bad news from his grandmother. 

When Gary arrives at his grandmother's home, he learns that his grandfather passed away from an unexpected heart attack. Gary's grandmother then gives him something that his grandfather had left him; it's a broken piece of a record and a letter. As it turns out, Gary's grandfather was apart of the very first Midnight Society, where he and his friends conjured up a mystical artifact of some kind that helped them get anything they could ever ask for (because kids in the 30's had nothing better to do). The broken piece of the record is part of a guide that informs the listener just where this mystical object can be found and that the other pieces are with the original members who have not had unexpected heart attacks yet. 

Gary, after reading the note his grandfather left him with his piece of the record, shows his brother and new leader of the Midnight Society meetings, Tucker what he has just received and informs him that he'll be visiting the crew tonight for a very special meeting. As the episode rolls on, it is revealed that there is not a tale being told that night, but rather, the Midnight Society is in their own tale as Gary introduces them to the broken record, what the silver sight is, and why it needs to be destroyed. The current Midnight Society then split up like good mystery teams should and go on a search for the original members of the Midnight Society, the members' pieces of the record, and to destroy the silver sight once and for all. 

As Gary and his brother Tucker go on a search for a member of the original Midnight Society called "The General", Quinn has to go looking for "The Prom Queen" at the dump, and Megan, the team's residential preppy girl, finds herself in the sewers. Along the way, a young boy with raggedy old-timey clothes follows the Midnight Society around and seems to be helping them on their search for the broken record pieces... or so it seems.

Tucker is the first to find another piece of the record. Tucker retrieves the broken record piece when The General disappears from his home on Tucker's return to pick it up and instead has to play human chess like in the first Harry Potter book/movie. Then Quinn gets his piece of the record from the Prom Queen's unlucky true love (who now works at the city dump) by trading him a picture he made that The General stole way back in the day. This is the part where I should probably also mention that The General was the trader of the group and stole the Prom Queen from the dump guy but that's really not important in the end, so I'm just going to move on...

Then there is Megan, who had to go down in the sewer. Megan was looking for "The Tycoon" but instead discovers a family living there due to the silver sight causing them such misfortune. Megan even finds herself a nice sewer boy down there, but once she mentions the silver sight, the family kicks her out. Luckily, the boy knew where the piece was and told her to come back later to pick it up. When she goes to pick it up, the whole sewer home the family was living in is dismantled and some other shenanigans happens until Megan finally finds the record piece inside one of the boy's school books (even though he lives in a sewer).

Finally there's the scarred-y cat crew of Vange and Andy who must find the ring in the well - I mean record piece. Once they do though, the team just needs to put the record together and solve the riddle. Since the last piece is from the original member named "The Riddler", who happened to also own an amusement park, it was a safe bet to guess that the silver sight would be somewhere in the park. So, the team figures out that the silver sight must be located somewhere on the carousel (according to the riddle told from the record) and that's where they must go next.

Eventually the Midnight Society finds the damn thing. I'm not going to give that part away, but I will say that this part of the tale is what I remember most from watching The Tale of The Silver Sight a while back. The picture above is an example of the part permanently burned into my memory.

While this tale is about the Midnight Society themselves, it still follows a very similar theme that a lot of the tales told on Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolve around. The theme to most of the tales told have something to do with a spirit of a dead person, usually a kid, getting stuck in this life and needing the help of living people, usually kids, to get them to the other side/cross over to the afterlife by fulfilling some sort of task. This tale, while somewhat complex for such a simple kids show, was all about fulfilling what the original Midnight Society could not and that was destroying the silver sight for good. Once the silver sight was destroyed, the demon was vanquished and all the souls it had captured were set free. 

Anyways, enjoy this long forgotten gem. Your Halloween will be that much better!

7th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 7.

Movie:

This Holiday season, Hulk Hogan is...

SANTA WITH MUSCLES!

There's been a lot of Santa's but none named 'Hulk'.

This complex tale of holiday nonsense also stars: a young Brenda Song, a young Mila Kunis, and the neighbor  from That 70's Show (also starring a more grown up Kunis), Don "Bob Pinciotti" Stark.

IMDB

Enjoy?!

P.S.: More music coming soon! I promise!

5th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 5.

Wrestling miscellaneous:

In 1995, "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase once again proved to everyone that he was the biggest heel with the biggest wallet after attacking Savio Vega with his latest purchase, Santa's brother! Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, hailing from the South Pole: Xanta Klaus

That's right! Xanta Klaus! The reverse Santa Clause who would wear black and red instead or white and red, lived in the South Pole instead of the North Pole, and, of course, stole presents instead of gave them!

At least this Claus brother is better than Vince Vaughn (Fred Claus).

Xanta Klaus only appeared a few times on screen in the WWF during the later parts of 1995; I'm guessing he had to go back to the South Pole to re-hydrate his evil powers or something and then his visa expired. He did however have one match while in that short time after appearing for the Christmas themed PPV, In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings, and it was on Raw against Scott Taylor AKA Scotty 2 Hotty! 

                      

Xanta Klaus by Wrestlegameshow

Truth be told, Xanta Klaus actually went east after the end of 1995 and took up a more hardcore wrestling approach as Balls Mahoney in ECW! Looking back on Balls' match as Mr. Klaus, we can see that the chair wielding manic actually knew how to wrestle! Yep, even with that silly costume on.

2nd Day of NFT Christmas

Day 2.

Movie:

The other day, I had a overwhelming nostalgic trip while watching The Santa Clause 3. Not because of my love for the perfect third installment of a beautiful Tim Allen classic (this time featuring one of the greatest actors/celebrities/human beings/someone absolutely watchable/not terrible in any way, Martin Short) but quite the opposite. I was actually so embarrassed that Santa Clause 3: whatever the rest of it was called still existed that my mind started to drift off and put me in a dream sequence where I was a little kid again watching a Christmas movie I had once very much enjoyed. After waking up from this odd Santa Clause 3 paralysis and nostalgic coma, I went on a search to find this mysterious Christmas movie of my past... AKA I went on the computer and looked up: "What is that Christmas movie where they can stop time and must put all the Christmas presents back on Christmas eve" via Google.

Lo and behold, if you actually type all that into Google and press search, the Wikipedia for the movie I was looking for comes up first thing! 'Twas the Night is the name of the movie and it was a classic Disney Channel movie that aired in 2001. It stars Bryan Cranston (or Walter White from Breaking Bad/Hal from Malcolm in the Middle) as a character named Nick Wragley who must pay off thugs that are after his Bosses bank account... by Christmas no less. What does Nick decide to do? He decides to steal Christmas presents on Christmas night after finding out that Santa uses a device to stop time so no one can see the big guy putting children's goodies under the tree!

Not in picture: Elf Jesse

That's Right, folks! Not only has Cranston sold Crystal Meth to save his son from dying, he has also murdered Santa and stolen Christmas to settle a debt for his boss.

Okay, Nick doesn't really kill Santa, but still. He does however knock him unconscious, so it's not like good ol' Kris Kringle just fell off the roof and Nick must fill in for him...

Evenly though Nick's nephew, Danny, who comes for the ride with his uncle as he pretends to be Santa, figures out that he is Grinch-ing everyone out of their presents rather than playing Santa like Tim the Tool Man once did. Feeling betrayed, Danny decides to take off on Santa's fancy new sleigh leaving impostor Santa to fend for himself and learn a bunch of Christmas and family values along the way.

Now doesn't that sound a lot better than Santa Clause 3?

I Do.

'Twas the Night (2001)

IMDB

Happy 2nd day of Christmas!

Top 6 Goosebumps!

In honor of Halloween, I present NFT's top 6 favorite Goosebumps episodes (and their books)!

Here we go...

6. Welcome to Camp Nightmare

Plot: A kid named Billy is sent to Camp Nightmoon instead of visiting his family for the summer. Unfortunately for him, Camp Nightmoon isn't your average summer camp. Right from the get-go we are introduced to characters that mysterious start to vanish overnight. When Billy asks his hard-ass counselor about his missing cabin mates he just gets scolded for asking questions. When he asks the man running the camp, Uncle Al, he get's the reply that there was never even campers by those names. More questions start to come up as the story moves on like, what or who is taking these missing campers? What's up with the forbidden cabin? And what's really up with Camp Nightmoon?

Best parts: I love camp-themed anything. Especially when people go to camp and shit-goes-down. The twist is probably the most complex even though it's basically a Twilight Zone rip-off but even re-watching it for this list, I didn't see the twist ending coming. Probably one of the twistiest of twists in this here R.L. Stine series.

Memorable bits: Honestly, I don't actually remember this story all that much until I discovered it just before making this list. I remembered there was a few camp related 'bumps tales I watched as a child and the one I was actually thinking of is an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? - a series that was on around the same time Goosebumps started to air. But this story itself impressed me so much even without any nostalgic value that I had to put it on this list. So, here it is.

Campy parts: (Other than R.L. Stine putting the camp in campy)... I don't think they did a very good job with that bad-ass kid with the bandanna and leather jacket.  Everyone knows those characters and accessories are reserved for the bullies in the 90's! But no, he was just a friend, and even later on, comic relief. If you are going to put your character in a leather jacket, they gotta be the bully... that's the rules! Also, how did everyone already know each other's names when they've never met before coming to Camp Nightmoon?

Anything else worth noting: In the book version, Uncle Al gives the kids a ride the rest of the way to camp after the bus driver just leaves them in the middle of nowhere, but in the show, they have to walk a mile in the woods.

Worst counselor ever. 

Wiki

5. The Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes

Plot: One day, a garden obsessive father comes home with two new pieces for his tacky masterpiece of a lawn. The plastic statues standing in the back of pop's flatbed are two tall and ugly lawn gnomes that clearly look like they are up to no good. Turns out they really are up to no good as they start to wreak havoc on the neighbor's - who happens to be some sort of general - spotless yard and garden. Of course, no one's going to suspect that these hideous gnomes that look nothing like small people in plastic outfits as the culprits, so the general starts blaming the son. You know, since young boys are always trying to mess with neighbors' gardens. The son, being the only rational human-being and all, blames it on the gnomes and tries to prove that they are the ones coming to life and FSU-ing all night long...

Best parts: Come on, it's lawn gnomes coming to life and terrorizing stuff! The first time we see the gnomes getting count in the act and how they move and look (even if the gnomes are really campy and just little people in goofy plastic costumes again), it's still kinda creepy. I'll admit it.

Memorable bits: Not sure if this is memorable but did anyone else ever notice how little they used the mom in this episode book? Also, this story reminds me of that All Grown Up episode where someone is stealing all the lawn gnomes in town. Remember that?

Campy parts: The gnomes, The general and his crooked hat, The classic "I didn't do it! I swear" kid and his, "yeah right." sister.

Anything else worth noting: The ending in this story also differs between episode/book. I don't think I read the book but I do remember something about hundreds of slave gnomes trapped in the general's basement or something along those lines.

More like, Revenge of the Gnome Thugs.

Wiki

4. Attack of the Jack O'Lanterns

Plot: It's Halloween and Drew and her friend Walker are pondering what they can do to make this year better as Tabby and Lee (two classic pranksters) have ruined Drew's favorite holiday two years in a row. On Drew and Walker's brainstorming walk home, they run into two of Drew's long lost friends and next door neighbors' Shane and Shana who are in town for the night and have a perfect plan to get back at Tabby and Lee for all the crap they have pulled on Drew. Shane and Shana tell Drew and Walker to invite Tabby and Lee to trick or treat with them and Shane and Shana will cover the rest. So, Drew and Walker hook up with Tabby and Lee for trick or treating with no sign of Shane or Shana anywhere. As the night goes by the group run into two pumpkin-headed figures that know the best spot for candy. What the unsuspecting kids don't know is that the pumpkin heads have brought them to a parallel dimension where you can never stop trick or treating! Are the pumpkin heads Drew's friends?  Is this their sick trick to get back at Tabby and Lee? And are Drew's friends even human?

Best parts: The thought: 'what if we could not stop trick or treating?'

Memorable bits: I remember this one pretty well just on the premise that it takes place on Halloween night and while you think you have the twist figured out, Stine goes and twists it up some more! You bastard, you.

Campy parts: While the Goosebumps series weren't by any means memorable for their special effects (was there a kids show in the 90's that was?), the super fake looking pumpkin heads actually worked perfectly for the story since the kids argued that the pumpkin heads are just crappy costumes and got a good spook when they removed one to reveal - dun dun dun - nothing! Unfortunately all the other effects like the talking pumpkin head on the ground and the random orange bolt of lightning were a bit of a miss. I won't even mention when they reveal what the pumpkin-headed friends of Drew actually looked like... Oops.

Anything else worth noting: (Spoiler alert): If the aliens ate those four missing adults, who were those four possessed adults handing out candy in the infinite treat or trick dimension? Also, in the book, the only way to make room for more candy to keep trick or treating was to eat all the candy!

Wiki

3. The Girl Who Cried Monster

Plot: When a girl (Lucy) leaves her 'blades' at the library after Reading Rangers, she stumbles upon her librarian, Mr. Mortman, partaking in a feast of crickets and tarantulas. He's not just feeding the tarantulas though, he is taking large handfuls of crickets and shoving them into his disgusting librarian face. Lucy continues to watch this hideous act until Mr. Mortman's body turns into... yes... A MONSTER! Unfortunately for Lucy, all her monster bluffs in the past have caught up with her and no one believes her when she tells them she has finally seen a real monster!

Best part: The Girl Who Cried Monster has arguably the best twist in Goosebumps' history. It's by far my favorite twist of any Goosebumps story/adaptation/video game and I dare anyone who has never read or seen this classic Goosebump' before to predict the ending. No, I double dare you!

You'll never get it right.

Memorable bits: Growing up (not that I'm done), I never read/watched Goosebumps for the spooks really. No, I was already into cult horror flix like Stephen King's It and The Leprechaun at the time, not too sound like a cool kid or anything, but I was a bit ahead of my time for my age. What I would really read/watch Goosebumps for - was their twists. The Girl Who Cried Monster was probably one of the last 'bumps books I read and I can still remember it really well. What will always stick in my head from this story, is the twist, of course, but also the way the librarian was described and how much I despised him for some reason. Maybe it wasn't because he was a slimy monster that ate bugs, but rather because he was a librarian. I hate librarians. If I was a monster, I would have eaten him, too.

Campy parts: It's camp-less.

Anything else worth noting: There's a subtle Fahrenheit 451 situation going on this story when Mr. Mortman tells Lucy she should stop reading scary, nonsense stories and start reading more classic novels. This was R.L. Stine's little poke at teachers who thought Goosebumps were not good for children because they didn't teach kids anything. Also, I used to imagine Mr. Mortman was an old lady. I don't know why but I have a feeling it has to do with all the librarians I encountered when I was younger.

You deserve what you get.

Wiki

2. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp

Plot: A family of scientists move to a secluded swampy town to study things.  The scientists' son, Grady, eventually befriends one of the only kids in town, Will. The kids spend most of their time hanging out in the swamp where the swamp hermit lives. Will informs Grady that the swamp hermit is a werewolf and shouldn't be fucked with and that the swamp is called Fever Swamp because anyone who goes into it soon gets a fever that causes them to do crazy things. One night, Grady and the rest of the family are woken by a howl and scratching at the door. Come to find out that it was just a big dog behind the door the whole time... or at least this time it was...

Best part: This Goosebump' had the potential to be the scariest and most graphic. That is, until I saw the episode adaptation and didn't see any deer guts or blood of any kind. What did I expect though? This is Goosebumps we're talking about. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp is still one of my most remembered stories of the series and, though the twist is not as crazy as The Girl Who Cried Monster, it is still twist. Even if you can figure it out right away. Knowing the twist to this story doesn't ruin the whole thing in this case. That's what makes it such a good story.

Memorable bits: I remember reading this in one day and going back to the library the next day to pick up the episode on VHS. I wanna say it was the closest Goosebumps story out there to gave me the creeps. I think it may have something to do with the woods I had out back behind my house and the time I found what looked like someone's shack. I went in and there was the swamp hermit just waiting for me. I tried to run but it was no use... psych. That never happened. Spooky though, right?

Campy parts: More classic skeptical parents that get proven wrong in the end. Also, why does it seem that the parents in these stories are always scientists or doctors? Goosebumps also always a high likelihood that the story revolves around a family of four and the main character usually just flip-flops between brother and sister. The only 'bumps story I can think of that deals with a single parent and their child's bizarre situation would be, 'Don't Go To Sleep!'.

Another else worth noting: The study the parents were working on was if deer can live in Florida or not.

The real twist: The Swamp Hermit was actually Doc from Back to the Future.

Wiki


1. The Haunted Mask

Plot: In an attempt to have a really cool costume for Halloween, Carly Beth looks to an old and run-down but newly-opened novelty shop. Unfortunately, the shop is closed when she gets there but for some reason she is let in my the shop owner. Inside, Carly stumbles upon a back room filled with freakishly realistic masks - one of which she has to have. The shop owner refuses to sell her the masks, however, so Carly grabs the mask, throws her money at the man, and dashes for the door. That night for trick or treating, Carly has the scariest mask and knows it. Along with the mask, she carries around a plaster head on a stick her mom made for her. Coolest costume in town right? Well, come time to remove the mask, Carly is unsuccessful! The mask is stuck to her face and won't come off! Uh oh. What now...? Dun dun dun..

Best parts: The Haunted Mask is the Goosebumps book I first think of when I think "Goosebumps". It's an essential Goosebumps story that also takes place on Halloween!

Memorable bits: For me, The Haunted Mask is probably the most memorable book cover of the Goosebumps series. It's just a classic must-read/must-see Goosebump'. If you didn't read this book or watch the episode when you were a kid, you are truly missing out, my friend. I would even go as far as saying that you are not a true 90's kid even if you were born in the 90's for not reading or watching The Haunted Mask. Which sucks for you since being a 90's kid is clearly the best kind of kid you can be. I would know. The internet told me so.

Campy parts: Not too many that I can think of other than that creepy plaster head Carly carries around that is supposed to be very fragile.

Another else worth noting: Rumor has it that the actress who played Carly Beth actually ate a real sandwich filled with real worms. Also, I can't help but be reminded of Halloween III when I watch this episode. For all those who haven't had the pleasure of seeing Halloween III: Season of the Witch, it's the one without Michael Myers and all the must-have Halloween masks will magically turn the kids into monsters on Halloween night! Or kill them... I can't remember.

"Help me!"

Wiki

I did a little research before putting this list together (but already had my favorites in mind) and noticed that ThatGuywiththeGlasses.com also has a list of the best Goosebumps books hosted by CR in his 'Familiar Faces' series. Turns out, CR and I have a lot of the same favorites! the video he made's kinda corny, but also very nostalgic. Check it out!

Hope everyone had a good Halloween!

New England Earthquake 2012

Oh, you didn't hear...

This....

I know I'm just regurgitating Facebook/social networking nonsense but I couldn't help but post this awesomely related picture from Giraffes? Giraffes! and their new T-shirts! It's related because it's the last night of Olympic coverage and also because I said so. That is all.

 

Nostalgia For Tomorrow approves...

Oops!

Sorry guys, NFT's Got You Covered! has been moved to tomorrow.

Please don't be too sad.

:(

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day internet.

To distract you while I find some music related to St. Patrick's Day that isn't Flogging Molly or The Dropkick Murphys, I present you with the greatest St. Patrick's Day horror movie of all time, The Leprechaun and its greatest quotes:

Only part one of course.

I hope you enjoy this wonderfully Irish holiday and all the American partying that follows!

Happy 101 posts!

This is the 101st post of Nostalgia For Tomorrow! Great Job! We did it!

Take that SOPA!

I dare you to shut me down...

If you can find me!

How to Survive X-mas

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from your pal, New Keith.

Awesome Website

Everyone should checkout this awesome website.

It's called www.nfl.com.

Just check it out!

II - Present Day

Well, I've (just barely but definitely) starched the surface of bands and albums that have influenced my taste. I will now begin to post more current listens. There will still be tons of music that got me into... hmmm... music, but I probably won't write as much about them as my first posts. kthanx

The Birth of Nostalgia For Tomorrow

Well, here it is. Another lame ass blog for music that we've seen posted a thousand different times with the same Last.fm description because no one has the time to really care. But seriously, here is a blog that I hope will not die and will show music that really brings someone some sort of joy in their life or lonesome body. I don't care if anyone reads this. IT DOESN'T BOTHER ME. I don't have time to look at everyone else's run of the mill blogs either.