ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

When it comes to reboots like this, you kind of expect the things that scared you as a child not to still quite have the same effect as an adult.

Well, get ready to be scared again!

The reboot of the Nickelodeon TV series Are You Afraid Of The Dark? just got an official trailer and it doesn’t shy away from the scare factor.

The teaser immediately pits the new Midnight Society against the creepy people working at the Carnival of Doom.

The trailer opens with one member of the Midnight Society asking, “Do you like scary stories?” There’s a montage of creepy images before they decide that the new girl named Rachel should go ahead and tell them a tale by the campfire. Rachel seems uncertain at first but she eventually submits her story, calling it The Carnival of Doom.

All seems fine until a teacher announces that there’s a carnival coming to town and it’s just like what Rachel has described in her story. It doesn’t take long before the Midnight Society realizes that they have to stop the carnival people from wreaking havoc all over town.

According to Nickelodeon, the new Are You Afraid of the Dark “will follow members of an entirely new Midnight Society, who tell a terrifying tale of the Carnival of Doom and its evil ringmaster Mr. Top Hat, only to witness the shocking story come frightfully to life.”

Did you watch the original show?

Yes, and it freaked me out!

No, but I want to!

It’s a cool take on the concept—and one that makes sense if this version of the show is going to remain in a more limited capacity, compared to the anthology style of its forebear. It’s a terrifying trailer that seems to give the old Are You Afraid Of The Dark? an even darker feel.

Cool…

For one, there’s a clown wielding a chainsaw and zombies (Culturedemandsgeeks loves the undead), appearing from a foggy pool.

Are You Afraid Of The Dark? is a limited miniseries that stars Lyliana Wray as Rachel, Miya Cech as Akiko, Tamara Smart as Louise, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Graham, and Sam Ashe Arnold as Gavin as the new Midnight Society. They will be joined by Rafael Casal as Mr. Tophat, the Carnival of Doom’s ringmaster.

Nickelodeon’s original iteration of Are You Afraid of the Dark? ran from 1992-2000. That series plowed new ground for children’s entertainment as many kids’ properties of the era shied away from horror content. (Goosebumps and Erie Indiana fans act like you didn’t hear that.) A cornerstone of the SNICK lineup, Are You Afraid of the Dark? was targeted primarily to young audiences from a similar perspective to the kids watching.

The show will air on Nickelodeon on October 11.