The Haunting Hour: The Series
A darker children's horror anthology from R.L. Stine.
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R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series is an American children's horror anthology show. It draws from two of Stine's short story collections: The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night (2001) and Nightmare Hour (1999).
The series first aired on The Hub Network (now Discovery Family) from October 29, 2010, to October 11, 2014. After that, the final seven episodes of its fourth season ran on Discovery Family from October 18, 2014, to November 29, 2014. Production companies included Front Street Pictures, The Hatchery, Incendo Films, and Endemol.
Only one story from The Haunting Hour collection—"My Imaginary Friend"—was adapted into an episode. The only story from Nightmare Hour not used was "Make Me a Witch." On July 9, 2012, the show was announced as one of four original Hub series to win the CINE Golden Eagle Award for high production quality and storytelling. On December 8, 2014, Stine confirmed via Twitter that Discovery Family had canceled the show after its four-season run.
Production
Before the series aired, Stine noted on Twitter that The Haunting Hour: The Series was similar to his earlier show Goosebumps. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia. In Canada, the show aired on Teletoon from 2011 to 2014, then moved to YTV, which broadcast reruns until 2017.
Premise
Like Goosebumps, each episode features a different cast facing a scary situation involving ghosts, aliens, witches, zombies, or monsters. However, the storylines are darker than its predecessor, and some episodes serve as very dark morality tales.
Unlike Goosebumps, the threat of death is not implied but is clear and permanent. Death is not limited to antagonists or minor characters; some stories end with the main protagonist being killed. Some episodes have twist endings, while others have happy endings similar to many episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?.
Music
American actress Debby Ryan recorded the song "Made of Matches" for the episode "Wrong Number," in which she appears as a singer. Ryan wrote and produced the song. A music video, directed by Neill Fearnley and featuring scenes from the episode, premiered on The Hub on February 4, 2011.
Books
In 2001, Stine released The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night, a collection of ten short stories with illustrations by various artists.
Lore & Background
The series was created by R.L. Stine, who noted via Twitter prior to broadcast that it was similar to his previous series Goosebumps. Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, the show featured a different cast in each episode, involving ghosts, aliens, witches, zombies, and monsters. Storylines were much darker than Goosebumps, with death being clear and permanent, sometimes even killing the main protagonist. Some episodes had twist endings, while others had happy endings similar to Are You Afraid of the Dark?.
Reader's Guide
The Haunting Hour: The Series is significant as a successor to Goosebumps, offering a darker tone that distinguished it from its predecessor. It won the CINE Golden Eagle Award for high quality production and storytelling in 2012, one of four original series from The Hub to do so.
The series adapted only one story from The Haunting Hour anthology ('My Imaginary Friend') and left one story from Nightmare Hour unused ('Make Me a Witch'). It aired on Teletoon in Canada from 2011–2014 before moving to YTV, which aired reruns until 2017. The show was cancelled after four seasons, confirmed by Stine via Twitter on December 8, 2014.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Haunting Hour: The Series (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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