'IT' Writer Tapped to Write 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' Movie Adaptation

The dream of the '90s is alive with horror fans, as the latest nostalgic favorite Are You Afraid [...]

The dream of the '90s is alive with horror fans, as the latest nostalgic favorite Are You Afraid of the Dark? is the next property to get an adaptation, thanks to IT screenwriter Gary Dauberman.

Following in the footsteps of more adult-oriented fare like Tales From the Darkside and Tales From the Crypt, the Nickelodeon series Are You Afraid of the Dark? featured a group of teenagers, referring to themselves as "The Midnight Society," who would tell each other frightening stories around a campfire each week. The tone of the series might have been geared towards younger audiences, but the show never strayed away from trying to terrify its viewers, airing late on Saturday nights.

In 2015, the Jack Black-starring Goosebumps became a family-friendly hit, adapting a variety of stories from the series of horror books published in the '90s from R.L. Stine. Many of those stories were also adapted into a TV series of the same name. A sequel to the 2015 film is hitting theaters in fall of 2018.

This past September, Dauberman had a huge hit on his hands with IT, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Previously, IT had been adapted into a TV miniseries in 1990, helping birth a fear of clowns for an entire generation. While that TV event was far from family-friendly, the limited budget of the production didn't allow the miniseries to descend to the dark depths of terror explored in the book or in this most recent adaptation.

Fans of Dauberman will be treated to another horror film of his next summer with The Nun, a spinoff from The Conjuring 2. The film will explore the origins of a supernatural entity that had haunted Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in the popular horror film.

At this point, it's unclear how the Are You Afraid of the Dark? film will pan out, as similar adaptations have taken various routes. With the feature film adaptations of anthology TV series The Twilight Zone and Tales From the Darkside, an anthology format was executed to tell multiple stories. With Goosebumps, multiple iconic stories were blended into one narrative feature film.

In addition to the format of the adaptation, it's also unclear if the film will cater to a young crowd or possibly aim for the PG-13 market.

Stay tuned for details about the upcoming Are You Afraid of the Dark? adaptation.

[H/T Tracking Board]

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