Gateway horror is alive and well at Nickelodeon, who has just renewed their “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” revival for a second season!
The episode order was not revealed, although we’re told it will be more than the three-part miniseries that debuted last fall and ran through Halloween.
The anthology series returned with fresh scary stories and a new Midnight Society – a group of kids who tell a terrifying tale about the Carnival of Doom, only to have the events of the story come to life.
The new members of the Midnight Society included: Gavin, played by Sam Ashe Arnold (Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever.); Akiko, played by Miya Cech (Rim of the World, Always Be My Maybe); Louise, played by Tamara Smart (Artemis Fowl, The Worst Witch); Graham, played by Jeremy Taylor (It, Goosebumps 2:Haunted Halloween); and Rachel, played by Lyliana Wray (Top Gun: Maverick, Black-ish).
The Carnival of Doom’s ringmaster, Mr. Tophat, was played by Rafael Casal (Blindspotting).
“A gorgeous production, a talented cast, and a clear reverence for the material make for a compelling introduction to a limited event for which both young and old alike will be celebrating,” Meagan Navarro wrote in her review. “It’s a winning return to a classic series we loved growing up.”
ACE Entertainment (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) returns to produce, with ACE founder Matt Kaplan and Spencer Berman serving as executive producers, says Deadline. It’s unclear if writer BenDavid Grabinski and director Dean Israelite will return.
The first season of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” was the “#1 live-action series on cable TV in all kids’ demos.