History Recap / AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason1TheTaleOfThePhantomCab

* NotSoStoic: Trapped in the doomed phantom cab, brusque Denny starts to panic.

** With a wild grin, then turns his head 180 degrees.

* WindsAreGhosts: By Dr Vink's cabin, several bushes, amidst disembodied wails, quake in a curiously apt succession of breezes.

Brothers Denny and Buzz Crocker, on a woodland hike, have become lost - Buzz, it seems, has been pointing the compass at his belt buckle. It gets cold and dark. Through the trees approaches a lone figure. Flynn - a fellow traveller - offers to show them to the woodland cabin of a doctor. They reach a clearing, where stands a stone cabin. The good doctor, warns Flynn, should only be asked for help if it's really needed - his prices can be... steep. Denny turns to query him further - but he's vanished.

The boys approach the cabin, the nearby bushes abruptly shudder. Disembodied voices wail. Alarmed, the brothers pound on the wooden door. Wild-eyed, bushy-bearded Dr Vink welcomes them inside. The brightly lit cabin is full of chemical concoctions and biological specimens - Vink studies wildlife - the disembodied brain of a wild boar, he's learned, still gives off electric impulses! He puts to the boys a riddle - how far can you walk into the woods? Denny exasperatedly asks to use the phone, but Buzz has the answer - halfway! Because after that, you're walking ''out of'' the woods. Dr Vink is impressed, but use of the phone will require the solving of one riddle more - what has no weight, can be seen by the naked eye, and, if put in a barrel, will make it lighter? Both boys are stumped. Vink directs them to a nearby clearing, where a taxi passes by each night. Denny protests. Vink ''might'' let them use the phone if they leave him a specimen. He measures Buzz's cranium, and produces an example of the sort of thing he has in mind - a jar, in which floats a severed human hand. The boys scream and flee the cabin.

* WindsAreGhosts: By Dr Vink's cabin, several bushes, amidst disembodied wails, quake in a curiously apt breeze.

We are introduced to the Midnight Society, a group of six friends - Betty Anne, Kiki, Kristen, Eric, David, and leader Gary. They live in different neighbourhoods and go to different schools, but they are united by their love of ghost stories, and gather once a week around a campfire in the woods for storytelling sessions. David brings his friend Frank to this week's meeting, proposing him as a new member; membership requires telling a story that meets with the unanimous approval of the existing members. David picks up the ceremonial bag of "midnight dust" and throws a handful into the campfire as Frank submits his story for their approval: "The Tale of the Phantom Cab".

Brothers Denny and Buzz Crocker are on a woodland hike, but they have become hopelessly lost thanks to Buzz's compass pointing to his metal belt buckle. As it gets cold and dark, they see a lone figure walking through the trees ahead of them; he introduces himself as Flynn, calls himself a fellow traveller, and offers to show them to the cabin of a local doctor, where they assume they can call their parents. As they make their way through the woods, Flynn confuses the brothers by asking them if they're any good at riddles, and when they arrive at a stone cabin in a clearing, he tells them to only ask for help if they really need it, as the doctor's price for help can be rather steep. He chuckles and vanishes before the brothers can ask for an explanation.

As the boys approach the cabin, the nearby bushes shudder, and they hear wailing, prompting them to pound frantically on the door. It is answered by the wild-eyed, bushy-bearded Dr Vink, who beckons them inside. The cabin is full of chemical concoctions and biological specimens, which Vink explains as part of his study of local wildlife. As an example, he produces the brain of a wild boar, which he says still gives off electric impulses long after the body dies. He then proposes a riddle: "How far can you walk into the woods?" Denny just wants to go home, but Vink insists they answer, and after a moment, Buzz solves the riddle: halfway, because after that, you're walking ''out of'' the woods.

Vink is impressed by Buzz's knowledge of riddles, but before he will let them use his phone, he proposes a second riddle, which he says has "perplexed many and confounded even more": what has no weight, can be seen by the naked eye, and, if put in a barrel, will make it lighter? Buzz is stumped, so Vink dismisses them, directing them to a nearby clearing where he says a taxi passes by each night. Denny protests, and Vink says he might let them use the phone if they leave a specimen. After measuring Buzz's cranium with a tape measure, he produces an example of the sort of sample they could leave: a human hand in a jar of fluid. The boys scream and flee the cabin.

Denny doesn't believe that a taxi will pass through a clearing in the middle of nowhere, but within moments, one arrives. They get in and discover Flynn behind the wheel. He explains that he gives rides to people who can't solve Vink's riddles; he himself gave the doctor a lift forty years earlier, but when he failed to solve the riddle the doctor posed in exchange for a tip, he took a specimen instead. They should have seen it at the cabin, he adds, raising his right arm - which is missing a hand. For forty years, he's been directing people to Dr Vink's cabin to solve his riddles, but none have succeeded, so they all end up in Flynn's cab. Before Vink took Flynn's hand, he had an accident - in which he crashed into a tree and, as he reveals by spinning his head 180 degrees, he "sort of died!" He has re-lived the accident every night since then, each time with new passengers; the bushes outside Dr Vink's cabin are the ghosts of his previous victims, trapped there until someone solves the riddle.

Flynn's excitement builds as they speed toward the scene of the accident, and Denny and Buzz have thirty seconds to solve the riddle; Denny suggests that helium would make the barrel lighter, but Buzz points out that you can't see helium. But what can they see that's weightless? Then Buzz realises the trick - you can't put something into the barrel to make it lighter, you have to take something out. And finally he deduces the answer and shouts it aloud with seconds to spare: "''A hole!''" Flynn and his cab vanish, and Denny and Buzz drop to the ground, relieved to still be alive. They are picked up moments later by a forest ranger, who drives them home.

Frank tells the Midnight Society that when the police went to the site of Dr Vink's cabin, they found only an old stone foundation covered with weeds. The time comes for the other six to cast their votes, and, one by one, they approve Frank's membership; Gary formally welcomes him to the Midnight Society.

** Dr Vink, while willing to mutilate for the sake of study, and send to their deaths those who fail to solve his riddles, is a rather jolly old boy.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Exactly what Dr Vink is is uncertain. However, the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent phantasmal nature]] of his cabin, his [[MadScientist unscrupulous experimentation]], and [[TheFairFolk penchant for magical trickery]] make for an intriguing mystique.

* WindsAreGhosts: By Dr Vink's cabin, several bushes, amidst disembodied wails, quake in a curiously sudden breeze.

* WindsAreGhosts: By Dr Vink's cabin, several bushes, amidst disembodied wails, quake in an anachronistically sudden breeze.

Deep in the woods, around a campfire, Gary, Betty Anne, Kiki, Kristen, Eric and David gather, as they do each week, to share in tales of the supernatural. Into the clearing, David leads his blindfolded friend Frank, whose tale tonight will decide his admittance to the Midnight Society. David casts into the fire a pinch of ceremonial Midnight Dust. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, Frank calls his story "The Tale of the Phantom Cab."

Brothers Denny and Buzz are on a woodland hike. Denny's navigational skills have proven to be rather lacking.

As daylight fades and the temperature falls, their desperation, and Buzz's ire, rise.

Through the trees ahead of wanders a lone figure; a jolly, if unnervingly cryptic man named Flynn.

-->'''Buzz:''' You're not a ranger, are you?
-->'''Flynn:'''Ranger? No, not me! I'm a traveller, same as you.
-->'''Buzz:''' So what are you doing up here? Are you lost too?
-->'''Flynn:''' Lost? Me? ''{chuckles}'' Oh, you might say that. Though, I suppose I couldn't be truly lost... I know these woods too well.

He offers to show the boys to the cabin of a local doctor. Hoping to call their parents, the boys follow.

-->'''Denny:''' Why don't you just tell us how to get back?
-->'''Flynn:''' Too far, you'd never find your way in the dark.
-->'''Buzz:''' So, who's this guy you're taking us too?
-->'''Flynn:''' Good doctor. He's got a cottage, a little ways up here. By the way - how are you guys at solving riddles?
-->'''Buzz:''' Riddles? Why?
-->'''Flynn:''' Just asking... just asking!

Flynn leads them to a clearing. Beneath a huddle of trees stands a tiny, stone-walled cabin.

-->'''Flynn:''' Just one thing, guys: before you go asking for help, make sure you really need it.
-->'''Buzz:''' Why?
-->'''Flynn:''' Well, sometimes the price he charges is a little... steep.

He chuckles.

Buzz turns to question him further - but Flynn has vanished into the night.

They gingerly approach the wooden door.

As though in a breeze, the nearby bushes each successively shudder. Through the air float discordant wails. The boys pound on the door.

Dr Vink, a wild-eyed man with an enormous bushy beard, genially beckons them inside.

In the brightly lit cabin, adorned with chemical concoctions and biological specimens, Dr Vink brews ASpotOfTea, and genially explains his occupational study of local wildlife.

-->'''Dr Vink:''' There are many strange and wonderful things that occur in nature, but no one takes the time to really look and study. Observe... !\

From somewhere in his improvised laboratory, he produces the brain of wild boar.

-->'''Dr Vink:''' I've discovered that long after the body dies, the brain still gives off electric impulses. Can you imagine if that energy could be harnessed?\

He proposes a riddle.

-->'''Denny:''' Doc, we're tired, and we just wanna go home.
-->'''Dr Vink:''' Indeed, indeed. But first a riddle. Try this one: how far can you walk into the woods?
-->'''Denny:''' We don't wanna do riddles!
-->'''Dr Vink:''' But you must! Riddles exercise your brain! And where would you be with no brain?
-->'''Denny:''' I dunno, ask the wild boar!
-->'''Buzz:''' Half way! He asked how far you can walk into the woods. Half way. After that, you'd be walking out.
-->'''Dr Vink:''' Good! Very good! ''You'' may do.

Denny makes for the old-fashioned telephone. Dr Vink insists on another riddle. If they solve if, they may use the phone. If not, they leave.

Buzz is keen for the challenge. Denny warily accepts. Delighted, Dr Vink excitedly decides on a riddle.

From behind him, he lifts a barrel.

-->'''Dr Vink:''' Ah! The perfect choice. This is a riddle that has perplexed many and confounded even more, and now, young lads, it's your turn to solve it! Here we go: what is it... that has no weight... can be seen by the naked eye... and if you put it in the barrel... it will make the barrel lighter?
-->'''Denny:''' ... I hate riddles!

Buzz makes a valiant attempt... but has no answer.

Dr Vink sullenly dismisses the two.

-->'''Dr Vink:''' You had your chance and failed, like all the others.
-->'''Denny:''' Others? What others?

He directs them to a nearby clearing, where, each night, stops a taxi.

-->'''Denny:''' Come on, Doc! Just let us use the phone.
-->'''Dr Vink:''' There is one way, I suppose. You can leave me... a specimen.
-->'''Buzz:''' A specimen?

Dr Vink produces a tape measure, and takes a measurement of Buzz's cranium.

-->'''Dr Vink:''' You're much smarter than your brother gives you credit for.
-->'''Denny:''' What kind of specimen?
-->'''Dr Vink:''' ... Something I can use in my experiments. Something... valuable. Something ''fresh''! Something like...

He stoops, picks something up, and shows the boys a large jar. Inside ''floats a severed human hand''.

-->'''Dr Vink:''' '''''THIS!'''''

The boys flee in terror.

-->'''Dr Vink:''' Goodbye... for now.\

Shaken and exhausted, Denny and Buzz stop at the clearing as directed. Denny remains doubtful of the promised taxi cab.

However, along the distant track drift the headlamps of a car.

The boys get in, to find it to be driven by none other than Flynn.

-->'''Flynn:''' I figured I'd run into you guys again. Guess you didn't solve the riddle... I give a ride to folks who... can't answer Dr Vink's riddles. Happened to me around forty years ago. I gave Dr Vink a ride up here in my cab. He offered me a big tip if I could solve the riddle. I couldn't. So he took a specimen from me.
-->'''Buzz:''' What kind of specimen?
-->'''Flynn:''' You didn't see it at his house?

He holds up his right arm - whose leather sleeve holds no hand.

-->'''Flynn:''' Forty years I've been bringing folks up to Dr Vink's, hoping they can solve the riddle. But they don't... so they all end up here with me.
-->'''Buzz:''' What happens to them?
-->'''Flynn:''' Hey, Dr Vink needs his specimens. Didn't I tell ya? Before the good doctor got his specimen, I had myself a nasty little accident. Crashed into this big old tree... You might say...

''His head twists around, one hundred and eighty degrees, to face the boys''.

-->'''Flynn:''' ''I sorta died!''
-->'''Denny:''' Stop the car!
-->'''Flynn:''' They all die, just like me. Every night, I have the same accident, with a different fare. It's kind of a curse. You probably heard some of, uh, my fares up around Dr Vink's house.
-->'''Buzz:''' The bushes! They were ghosts!
-->'''Flynn:''' Nobody can leave, until someone solves Dr Vink's riddle. I was hoping the two of you could do it... somehow break the spell. Wait 'til you see the accident we're gonna have! Ooh, it's gonna be a real doozy!

The boys now have about thirty seconds to solve the riddle, break the curse and save their own lives.

-->'''Flynn:''' Think fast boys!\

As the car accelerates, Denny fumbles over the riddle. Buzz tries to help, and begins to panic.

-->'''Denny:''' It's helium! Helium will make the barrel lighter!
-->'''Buzz:''' But you can't see helium!
-->'''Denny:''' What ''can'' you see that's weightless?
-->'''Buzz:''' Nothing! Air. But you can't see air! ... Or can you? Wait a second, there's a trick here. You can't put something in the barrel to make it lighter - you have to take something out.

The car races at breakneck speeds.

-->'''Flynn:''' Wait 'til you see the explosion we're gonna make!\

-->'''Buzz:''' I got it! I know the answer!
-->'''Denny:''' ''What is it''?
-->'''Buzz:''' It's weightless, you can see it, and if you put it in a barrel, it'll make the barrel lighter!
-->'''Denny:''' '''''SAY IT!'''''

''Only seconds to go''...

-->'''Buzz:''' It's a hole! It's a hole in the barrel!\

The speeding car is mere feet from a tall, sturdy tree.

-->'''Flynn:''' Here we go! '''''YEE-HAAAAW'''''!\

Microseconds before impact, driver and car fade into thin air, dropping the boys to the forest floor.

-->'''Denny:''' We broke the curse! We're saved!\

The brothers hug with relief.

-->'''Denny:''' Aah... we didn't break the curse. You did. Nice going! ...But you're ''still'' a loser.\

Another car arrives: this one driven by a forest ranger, who drives them home.

When the police arrived at the site of Dr Vink’s cabin, Frank notes, all they found was an old stone foundation, covered with weeds. The others each cast a vote in his favour, and Gary welcomes him to the Midnight Society.

* BadassBeard: Dr Vink’s long, bushy beard evokes his retreat into isolated nature study.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: On eventual police investigation, Dr Vink’s cabin has vanished, leaving only “an old stone foundation, covered with weeds.”

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. While Denny’s navigation skills are decidedly lacking, he has a knack for riddles. Which saves his and Buzz’s lives and, apparently, allows Flynn to move on to the afterlife.

* HiddenDepths: Despite his navigational ineptitude, Denny is good at riddles.

** Irate Buzz and enthusiastic Denny.

* UndeathlyPallor: On second appearance, Flynn has one, perhaps because at this stage, he’s closer to repeating his perpetual car crash.
* WindsAreGhosts: By Dr Vink's cabin, several bushes, amidst disembodied wails, quake in an anachronistically sudden breeze.

* UndeathlyPallor: [[spoiler: On second appearance, Flynn has one]], perhaps because at this stage, he’s closer to repeating his perpetual car crash.

''His head twists around, three hundred and sixty degrees, to face the boys''.

-->'''Flynn:''' I figured I'd run into you guys again. Guess you didn't solve the riddle... I give a ride to folks who... can't answer Dr Vink's riddles. Happened to me around forty years ago. I gave Dr Vink a ride up here in my cab. He offered me a big tip if I could solve the riddle. I could't. So he took a specimen from me.

* RedOniBlueOni: Irate Buzz and enthusiastic Denny.

Around a campfire, seven youths from various backgrounds gather to share tales of the supernatural. Tonight's tale will be told by blindfolded new arrival Frank, whereupon his admittance to the Midnight Society will be put to the vote. Frank's sponsor David casts into the fire a pinch of ceremonial Midnight Dust. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, Frank calls his story "The Tale of the Phantom Cab."

-->'''Buzz:''' ''It's a hole! It's a hole in the barrel!\

-->'''Flynn:''' They all die, just like me. Every night, I have the same accident, with a different fare.

With only seconds to go, Denny finds the answer: “It’s a hole! It’s a hole in the barrel!” Flynn whoops in anticipation of the explosion, whereupon driver and car fade into thin air, dropping the boys to the forest floor. Another car arrives: this one driven by a forest ranger, who drives them home.

Shaken and exhausted, Denny and Buzz stop at the clearing as directed. Along the distant track drift the headlamps of a taxi cab.

About forty years ago, he airily recalls, he drove Dr Vink up this way, failed to solve a riddle, and paid a steep price: his hand. His taxi then crashed spectacularly into a tree. Ever since, on picking up lost travellers who failed to solve Dr Vink’s riddle, it has done so regularly. Didn’t Flynn mention? HE SORTA DIED!!!

As though in a breeze, the nearby bushes begin to shudder. Through the air float discordant wails. The boys pound on the door, which then opens.

Dr Vink, a wild-eyed man with an enormous bushy beard, beckons them into the brightly lit cabin, adorned with chemical concoctions and biological specimens.

Dr Vink brews ASpotOfTea, and genially explains his occupational study of local wildlife.

He puts to the boys a riddle, which Denny eagerly solves. In exchange for use of the telephone, the boys must solve one riddle more: what is it that’s weightless, can be seen by the naked eye, and if put into the barrel, will make the barrel lighter?

Unable to answer, the boys are sullenly dismissed.

Dr Vink directs them to a nearby clearing, where, each night, stops a taxi.

Further entreaty to use the phone is met with an offer of exchange for a biological specimen. As a suggestive example, Dr Vink shows them a large jar, in which floats a severed human hand. The boys flee in terror.

* AffablyEvil: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Flynn, who, while far from evil, is most definitely a threat, albeit seemingly unwillingly.

* {{Curse}}: Failure to solve a riddle doomed Flynn to lure lost travelers to Dr Vink’s cabin, and then ensnare them in a perpetually repeated car-crash.

-->'''Flynn:''' Lost? Me? ''{{chuckles}}'' Oh, you might say that. Though, I suppose I couldn't be truly lost... I know these woods too well.

Through the trees ahead of them wanders a lone figure; a jolly, if unnervingly cryptic man named Flynn, who offers to show the boys to the cabin of a local doctor. Hoping to call their parents, the boys follow.

At the door of the ancient cabin, Flynn discreetly vanishes.

As though in a breeze, the nearby bushes begin to shudder, while discordant wails float across the air. The boys pound on the door, which then opens.

Dr Vink brews ASpotOfTea, genially explains his occupational study of local wildlife.

* UndeathlyPallor: [[spoiler: On second appearance, Flynn has one]], perhaps because at this stage, he’s closer to repeating his perpetual car crash.

Brothers Denny and Buzz are on a woodland hike. Denny's navigational skills have proven to be rather lacking. As daylight fades and the temperature falls, their desperation, and Buzz's ire, rise. Through the trees ahead of them wanders a lone figure; a jolly, if unnervingly cryptic man named Flynn, who offers to show the boys to the cabin of a local doctor. Hoping to call their parents, the boys follow.

At the door of the ancient cabin, Flynn discreetly vanishes. As though in a breeze, the nearby bushes begin to shudder, while discordant wails float across the air. The boys pound on the door. Dr Vink, a wild-eyed man with an enormous bushy beard, beckons them into the brightly lit cabin.

Surrounded by chemical concoctions and biological specimens, Dr Vink brews ASpotOfTea, genially explains his occupational study of local wildlife, and puts to the boys a riddle, which Denny eagerly solves. In exchange for use of the telephone, the boys must solve one riddle more: what is it that’s weightless, can be seen by the naked eye, and if put into the barrel, will make the barrel lighter?

Unable to answer, the boys are sullenly dismissed. Dr Vink directs the boys to a nearby clearing, where, each night, calls a taxi. Further entreaty to use the phone is met with an offer of exchange for a biological specimen. As a suggestive example, Dr Vink shows them a large jar, in which floats a severed human hand. The boys flee in terror.

Shaken and exhausted, Denny and Buzz stop at the clearing as directed. Along the distant track drift the headlamps of a taxi cab. The boys get in, to find it to be driven by none other than Flynn.

About forty years ago, he airily recalls, he drove Dr Vink up this way, failed to solve a riddle, and paid a steep price: his hand. His taxi then crashed spectacularly into a tree. Ever since, on picking up lost travellers who failed to solve Dr Vink’s riddle, it has done so regularly. Didn’t Flynn mention? HE SORTA DIED!!! The boys now have about thirty seconds to solve the riddle, break the curse and save their own lives.

As the car accelerates, Denny fumbles over the riddle. Buzz tries to help, and begins to panic. With only seconds to go, Denny finds the answer: “It’s a hole! It’s a hole in the barrel!” Flynn whoops in anticipation of the explosion, whereupon driver and car fade into thin air, dropping the boys to the forest floor. Another car arrives: this one driven by a forest ranger, who drives them home.

* UndeathlyPallor: On second appearance, Flynn has one, perhaps because at this stage, he’s closer to repeating his perpetual car crash.

* AffablyEvil: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with [[spoiler: Flynn]], who, while far from evil, [[spoiler: is most definitely a threat, albeit seemingly unwillingly]].

* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Deep in the woods, [[spoiler: lost hikers board a spectral cab, driven by Flynn to its repeated doom.]]
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: On eventual police investigation, Dr Vink’s cabin [[spoiler: has vanished, leaving only “an old stone foundation, covered with weeds.”]]
* {{Curse}}: Failure to solve a riddle [[spoiler: doomed Flynn to lure lost travellers to Dr Vink’s cabin, and then ensnare them in a perpetually repeated car-crash]].
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Flynn]], as Denny and Buzz learn.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. While Denny’s navigation skills are decidedly lacking, he has a knack for riddles. [[spoiler: Which saves his and Buzz’s lives and, apparently, allows Flynn to move on to the afterlife]].

* LaughingMad: [[spoiler: On nearing the phantom car crash]], Flynn is wildly jovial.

* UndeathlyPallor: On second appearance, Flynn has one, perhaps because [[spoiler: at this stage, he’s closer to repeating his perpetual car crash]].

At the door of the ancient cabin, Flynn discreetly vanishes. As though in a breeze, the nearby bushes begin to shudder, while discordant wails float across the air. The boys pound on the door. Dr Vink, a wild-eyed man with an enormous bushy beard, beckons them into the brightly lit cabin. Surrounded by chemical concoctions and biological specimens, Dr Vink brews ASpotOfTea, genially explains his occupational study of local wildlife, and puts to the boys a riddle, which Denny eagerly and correctly solves. In exchange for use of the telephone, the boys must solve one riddle more: what is it that’s weightless, can be seen by the naked eye, and if put into the barrel, will make the barrel lighter? Unable to answer, the boys are sullenly dismissed. Further entreaty to use the phone is met with directions to a nearby clearing, where, each night, calls a taxi. Further persistence is met with an offer of exchange for a specimen, an example of which is a severed hand in a jar. The boys flee in terror.

Shaken and exhausted, Denny and Buzz stop at the clearing as directed. Along the distant track drift the headlamps of a taxi cab, driven by none other than Flynn. About forty years ago, he airily recalls, he drove Dr Vink up this way, failed to solve a riddle, and paid a steep price: his hand. His taxi then crashed spectacularly into a tree. Ever since, on picking up lost travellers who failed to solve Dr Vink’s riddle, it has done so regularly. Didn’t Flynn mention? HE SORTA DIED!!! The boys now have about thirty seconds to solve the riddle, break the curse and save their own lives. As the car accelerates, Denny fumbles over the riddle. Buzz tries to help, and begins to panic. With only seconds to go, Denny finds the answer: “It’s a hole! It’s a hole in the barrel!” Flynn whoops in anticipation of the explosion, whereupon driver and car fade into thin air, dropping the boys to the forest floor. Another car arrives: this one driven by a forest ranger, who drives them home.

Around a campfire, seven youths from various backgrounds gather to share tales of the supernatural. Tonight's tale will be told by blindfolded new arrival Frank, whereupon his admittance to the Midnight Society will be put to the vote. Frank's sponsor David casts into the fire a pinch of ceremonial Midnight Dust, and Frank begins his tale.