History Trivia / AreYouAfraidOfTheDark

* MakingUseOfTheTwin: "The Tale of the Chameleons" which gives its protagonist a clone impersonator, uses identical twins Tia and Tamera Mowry.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Some of the tales wouldn't really work in modern times due to TechnologyMarchesOn. The biggest "offender" is probably the Tale Of The Phone Police. When the kids are making prank call the protagonist's big sister warns him about the Phone Police and how they locked up "Billy Baxter". They don't believe her at first but look in the phone book and find his number. Despite having only six digits it works and they hear Billy begging for help, which eventually leads to them getting caught by the Phone Police. Nowadays they could just look up Billy Baxter on Snopes or the like.

** Aron Tager (Dr Vink) and Richard M Dumont (Sardo) were only supposed to appear in one episode each. However they impressed producers enough to make them recurring characters.

* DuelingShows: With R.L. Stine's ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}''. ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' tends to be more well-known, though ''Goosebumps'' has [[Literature/{{Goosebumps}} the book series]] to fall back on. ''AYAOTD'' also had a book series, but those were tie-ins to the TV show and not remembered as much now. As one reviewer put it, ''Goosebumps'' tended to be lighthearted, but most books ended with a DownerEnding (the TV adaption sometimes toned this down.) ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' was the opposite: episodes tended to be creepy as sin until the end, with most episodes having a happy ending. Hilariously, in a combination of the anthology nature of the series and [[OnlySoManyCanadianActors Canadian acting unions]], many Canadian child actors who appeared in the tales would later play characters in ''Goosebumps''.

* DoingItForTheArt: "The Tale of the Pinball Wizard" was so difficult to film, creator DJ [=McHale=] had to beg the crew to break union rules and work for an extra day to get it finished.

* UnitentionalPeriodPiece: Some of the tales wouldn't really work in modern times due to TechnologyMarchesOn. The biggest "offender" is probably the Tale Of The Phone Police. When the kids are making prank call the protagonist's big sister warns him about the Phone Police and how they locked up "Billy Baxter". They don't believe her at first but look in the phone book and find his number. Despite having only six digits it works and they hear Billy begging for help, which eventually leads to them getting caught by the Phone Police. Nowadays they could just look up Billy Baxter on Snopes or the like.

* ActorAllusion: In "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float", Kaj-Erik Eriksen (Zeke) also tried to save someone from drowning in the ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' episode "Welcome To Camp Nightmare".

* {{Tuckerization}}: Sardo was named after bath oil that was advertised a lot in Canada.

** The original title was 'Scary Tales' as a pun on FairyTales, but Nickelodeon execs didn't like it.

* YouLookFamiliar: Dr. Vink is played by Aron Tager, who played several other characters in the early episodes.
** In fact, there were quite a few actors/actresses that appeared in multiple episodes as different characters in each one.

* FakeNationality: American Joanna Garcia regularly commuted from Florida to play Sam on the show. Added to that, American actors often guest starred in the stories, usually a child or teen star that was popular at the time (some examples include Creator/MelissaJoanHart, Tatyana Ali, Tia and Tamera Mowry, Ryan Gosling, etc).

* FakeNationality: American Joanna Garcia regularly commuted from Florida to play Sam on the show. Added to that, American actors often guest starred in the stories, usually a child or teen star that was popular at the time (some examples include Melissa Joan Hart, Tatyana Ali, Tia and Tamera Mowry, Ryan Gosling, etc).

* RetroactiveRecognition: You'd have thought that all the spooky stuff in the Midnight Society would've prepared [[Series/TwentyFour Kim]] for something as mundane as [[TrappedByMountainLions mountain lions.]]

* ActorAllusion: In "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float", Kaj-Erik Eriksen (Zeke) also tried to save someone from drowning in the ''{{Goosebumps}}'' episode "Welcome To Camp Nightmare".

* DuelingShows: With R.L. Stine's ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}''. ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' tends to be more well-known, though ''Goosebumps'' has [[Literature/{{Goosebumps}} the book series]] to fall back on. ''AYAOTD'' also had a book series, but those were tie-ins to the TV show and not remembered as much now. As one reviewer put it, ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' tended to be lighthearted, but most books ended with a DownerEnding (the TV adaption sometimes toned this down.) ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' was the opposite: episodes tended to be creepy as sin until the end, with most episodes having a happy ending. Hilariously, in a combination of the anthology nature of the series and [[OnlySoManyCanadianActors Canadian acting unions]], many Canadian child actors who appeared in the tales would later play characters in ''Goosebumps''.

* DuelingShows: With R.L. Stine's ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}''. ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' tends to be more well-known, though ''Goosebumps'' has [[Literature/{{Goosebumps}} the book series]] to fall back on. ''AYAOTD'' also had a book series, but those were tie-ins to the TV show and not remembered as much now. As one reviewer put it, ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' tended to be lighthearted, but most books ended with a DownerEnding (the TV adaption sometimes toned this down.) ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' was the opposite: episodes tended to be creepy as sin until the end, with most episodes having a happy ending. Hilariously, in a combination of the anthology nature of the series and [[OnlySoManyCanadianActors Canadian acting unions]], many Canadian child actors who appeared in the tales would later [[HeyItsThatGuy play characters]] in ''Goosebumps''.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Rachel Blanchard, who played Kristen, was later better known for roles in ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' and the ''Series/{{Clueless}}'' TV series.
** Ditto for Creator/ElishaCuthbert, who coincidentally played the same type of character, Megan, in the ReTool.
** For one-episode characters, Creator/JewelStaite appeared in two different stories years before her [[{{Series/Firefly}} best-remembered role]].
** Creator/NeveCampbell was the protagonist in "The Tale of the Dangerous Soup", just half a year before her big break on ''Series/PartyOfFive''.
** A somewhat odd example - Ross Hull went on to later be an anchor on The Weather Network in Canada.
** Mia Kirshner played the protagonist in "The Tale of the Hungry Hounds."

* HeyItsThatGuy: There had been quite a few over the years, to the point where Wikipedia's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Are_You_Afraid_of_the_Dark%3F_episodes episode listing]] lists actors from each episode who went on to become famous.
** [[Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll Melissa Joan Hart]] was in "The Tale of the Frozen Ghost".
** Tatyana M. Ali, who played Ashley Banks on ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', had a dual role in "The Tale of Quicksilver" as a girl who died trying to rid her room of a demon and the dead girl's twin sister.
** Creator/GilbertGottfried was Roy the radio announcer in "The Tale of Station 109.1", an episode that also starred Creator/RyanGosling.
** Frank Gorshin appeared as Brother Septimus in "The Tale of the Carved Stone".
** Danny Cooksey of ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'' appeared "The Tale of the Guardian's Curse".
** Creator/BobcatGoldthwait was The Sandman in "The Tale of the Final Wish".
** Tia and Tamara Mowry of ''Series/SisterSister'' fame played the protagonist and her chameleon doppelganger in "Tale of the Chameleons".
** Creator/JayBaruchel clocks in the most apperances: "Tale of the Dead Man's Float," "Tale of the Walking Shadow," "Tale of the Time Trap," and "Tale of the Zombie Dice."
* HeyItsThatVoice: A few, the most obvious being Kiki. Whose actress, Jodie Resther, would go on to play Francine Frensky in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''.
** Speaking of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', [[Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow Ichabod Crane]] from "The Tale of the Midnight Ride" is played by Arthur Holden, who did Mr. Ratburn. He also plays Zeke's teacher Mr. Brooks in "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float."
** Dr. Vink is played by Aaron Tager, whom many may remember as being the voice of Cranky Kong in the ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' TV series.
** While not as known as the other two, Richard Dumont (who played Sardo), may be recognizable to some as Chronos from ''Anime/{{Ulysses31}}''.
** Tucker is [[TheMagicSchoolBus Carlos]].

* DuelingShows: With R.L. Stine's ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}''. ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' tends to be more well-known, though ''Goosebumps'' has [[Literature/{{Goosebumps}} the book series]] to fall back on. ''AYAOTD'' also had a book series, but those were tie-ins to the TV show and not remembered as much now.
** As one reviewer put it, ''{{Goosebumps}}'' tended to be lighthearted, but most books ended with a DownerEnding (the TV adaption sometimes toned this down.) ''AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' was the opposite: episodes tended to be creepy as sin until the end, with most episodes having a happy ending.
** Hilariously, in a combination of the anthology nature of the series and [[OnlySoManyCanadianActors Canadian acting unions]], many Canadian child actors who appeared in the tales would later [[HeyItsThatGuy play characters]] in ''Goosebumps''.

** Mia Kirshner appears in "The Tale of the Hungry Hounds."

** Speaking of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', [[Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow Ichabod Crane]] from "The Tale of the Midnight Ride" is played by Arthur Holden, who did Mr. Ratburn.

** Creator/FrankGorshin appeared as Brother Septimus in "The Tale of the Carved Stone".

** GilbertGottfried was Roy the radio announcer in "The Tale of Station 109.1", an episode that also starred Creator/RyanGosling.

* FakeNationality: American Joanna Garcia regularly commuted from Florida to play Sam on the show. Added to that, American actors often guest starred in the stories, usually a child-star that Nickelodeon wanted to promote.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Dr. Vink is played by Aaron Tager, whom many may remember as being the voice of Cranky Kong in the ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' TV series.