'Are You Afraid Of The Dark?' Reboot Cast And Story Revealed

The Are You Afraid of the Dark reboot has founds its Midnight Society. Nickelodeon has created a three-part limited revival of the classic creepy TV show for young viewers, and the cast has finally been revealed, along with plot details. The original plan was for the new Are You Afraid of the Dark limited series to lead directly into the Are You Afraid of the Dark movie – but that changed when the movie was pushed from its October 2019 release date.

Deadline has the scoop on the Are You Afraid of the Dark reboot cast: Sam Ashe Arnold (Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever.), Miya Cech (Rim of the World), Tamara Smart (Artemis Fowl, The Worst Witch), Jeremy Taylor (It, Goosebumps 2:Haunted Halloween), Lyliana Wray (Top Gun: Maverick, Black-ish), and Rafael Casal (Blindspotting) will appear in the limited three-episode revival.

The plot involves "an entirely new Midnight Society 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 Midnight Society members are Gavin (Arnold), Akiko (Cech), Louise (Smart), Graham (Taylor) and Rachel (Wray). Casal will play a character named Mr. Tophat, the ringmaster of the Carnival of Doom. BenDavid Grabinski wrote the revival. Dean Israelite directs.

When we first reported on the new Are You Afraid of the Dark series in February, the news came accompanied with the following bit of info:

The beloved anthology series will return this October as a brand-new miniseries and follow new members of the Midnight Society as they gather around a campfire in the woods to share scary stories. The miniseries will coincide with the upcoming Are You Afraid of the Dark? theatrical movie from Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players' and Nickelodeon Movies, in theaters October 2019.

But that's not the case anymore. The Are You Afraid of the Dark movie is no longer opening in October. Deadline cites "behind-the-scene changes" as part of the reason for the delay, and as we reported last month, screenwriter Gary Dauberman (It) has left the project. "That's one of those things I'm no longer a part of," Dauberman said. "I just had a different vision to make it and thought it best to part ways. It's unfortunate but as you said, that's sometimes how it goes." D.J. Caruso was previously announced as the director for the movie, but now it's unclear if he's still attached.

The original Are You Afraid of the Dark? ran from 1990 to 1996, and then for a second run from 1999 to 2000. It was a wonderfully corny, sometimes legitimately scary horror show for younger audiences in which the Midnight Society would gather in the woods to tell each other tales of terror. I don't quite know if that concept will work as a movie, but I am curious to see how this three-episode reboot goes.

No official release date has been announced yet, but the series will premiere this October.