“Are You Afraid of the Dark?” is becoming a movie, and your childhood self is absolutely terrified right now

Only ’90s kids will remember Are You Afraid of the Dark?, an anthology horror series that delighted and traumatized audiences every Saturday night on Nickelodeon. The show centered on a (fictional) group called “The Midnight Society,” who told spooky stories around a campfire. Are You Afraid of the Dark? touched on all the basics ― dolls, clowns, what have you ― and gave, um, certain writers nightmares that they recall to this day… And now, nearly 20 years after the series ended, Are You Afraid of the Dark? is becoming a movie.

The Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie will be written by Gary Dauberman, who recently terrified audiences with Annabelle: Creation and It.

So, horror buffs, fear not: The film adaptation will be legitimately scary.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? was originally a Canadian TV series aimed at teens, and was picked up by Nickelodeon in the early ’90s. The network aired it as part of its “SNICK” lineup, which was a block of programming for adolescents that ran on Saturday nights.

With the exception of the Midnight Society’s storytellers, individual Are You Afraid of the Dark? episodes were self-contained.

In other words, viewers can watch any episode of the series at random ― there aren’t ongoing plot lines that could throw them off. It’s unclear how the movie will handle that. Dauberman could do something like the Twilight Zone film, which returned to four iconic episodes from the show, or write one extended horror-fantasy scenario, or something else entirely.

Ryan Gosling hasn’t said whether they’ve asked him to reprise his role in the Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie.

*As even a casual RyGos fan would remember, the Canadian heartthrob appeared in one episode in 1995*

Apart from Dauberman, no additional producers, cast, or staff have been announced regarding the Are You Afraid of the Dark? adaptation. We’re ready to see it, though ― just, you know, with the lights on.