R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series is an American children's horror anthology television series based on the 2001 short stories collection The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night and the 1999 short stories collection Nightmare Hour by R.L. Stine,Clark, Noelene (December 19, 2010). "‘The Haunting Hour’: R. L. Stine promises ‘shivers but not nightmares’ with new show". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on December 19, 2010. which originally aired on The Hub Network (now Discovery Family) from October 29, 2010, to October 11, 2014. The only story taken from The Haunting Hour anthology was My Imaginary Friend, and the only story unused from The Nightmare Hour was Make Me a Witch. The fourth season's seven remaining episodes ran on Discovery Family from October 18, 2014, to November 29, 2014. The series was produced by Front Street Pictures, The Hatchery, Incendo Films, and Endemol.
On July 9, 2012, it was announced that R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour was one of four original series from The Hub that won the CINE Golden Eagle Award for high quality production and storytelling.
On December 8, 2014, it was confirmed by Stine via Twitter that Discovery Family cancelled the show after its run of four seasons.
Production Prior to the broadcast of the series, series creator R.L. Stine reported via Twitter saying The Haunting Hour: The Series was similar to his previous series Goosebumps. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In Canada, the show aired on Teletoon from 2011–2014 when the show was moved to YTV, which aired reruns until 2017.
Premise Like Goosebumps, every episode features a different cast in a scary situation that would involve ghosts, aliens, witches, zombies, and monsters. However, the storylines are much darker than its aforementioned predecessor and some episodes serve as very dark morality tales. Unlike the Goosebumps series, the threat of death is not implied, being both clear and permanent. In addition, death in the show is not limited to antagonists and minor characters with some stories even ending with the main protagonist(s) being killed. There are some episodes that have twist endings. However, there are some episodes that have happy endings similar to most of the episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? which had this formula.
Episodes
Home media NameRelease dateEpisodesRegionAdditional informationVolume OneSeptember 4, 201251 Episodes include: Really You, Part 1; Really You, Part 2; A Creature Was Stirring; The Dead Body; and Nightmare Inn. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes.Volume TwoSeptember 4, 201251 Episodes include: The Red Dress, Ghostly Stare, The Walls, Game Over, and Alien Candy. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes.Volume ThreeFebruary 5, 201351 Episodes include: Fear Never Knocks, Best Friend Forever, Black Mask, My Sister the Witch, and Catching Cold. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes.Volume FourFebruary 5, 201351 Episodes include: Wrong Number, Afraid of Clowns, Pool Shark, Lights Out, and The Perfect Brother. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes.Volume FiveSeptember 3, 201351 Episodes include: Scary Mary, Part 1; Scary Mary, Part 2; Pumpkinhead; Flight; and Swarmin' Norman.Volume SixSeptember 3, 201351 Episodes include: Creature Feature, Part 1, Creature Feature, Part 2, Brush With Madness, Sick, and Mascot.
Accolades YearAwardCategoryRecipientResultRef.2012Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 14-17Ricardo HoyosBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 11-13Baljodh NagraDakota GoyoJason SpevackBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 11-13Ava Rebecca HughesJessica Mcleod2013Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 14-21Donnie MacNeilBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress Ten and UnderAlissa Skobye2013Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costume Design/StylingFarnaz Khaki-Sadigh and Natalie SimonOutstanding HairstylingTrudy Parisien and Cara DoellOutstanding Children's SeriesDan Angel, Billy Brown, Harvey Kahn, Kim Arnott, Jane Stine, Joan Waricha, Charles Lyall and Dawn Knight2014Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 17-21Laine MacNeilBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 11-13Rowan RycroftBest Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 10 and UnderJena Skodje2014Emmy AwardsOutstanding Children's SeriesDan Angel, Kim Arnott, Billy Brown, Harvey Kahn, Dawn Knight, Jane Stine, Joan Waricha, Charles Lyall and Oliver De Caigny2015Emmy AwardsOutstanding Children's SeriesDan Angel, Kim Arnott, Billy Brown, Harvey Kahn, Dawn Knight, Mandy Spencer-Phillips, Ted Biaselli, Allen Lewis, Margaret Loesch, Juliet Smith, Jane Stine, Joan Waricha, and Marnie YoungOutstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic DesignTeresa Weston, Michael Corrado and Josh PlawOutstanding Performer in a Children's or Pre-School Children's SeriesMargot Kidder as Mrs. Worthington
Music American actress Debby Ryan recorded the song "Made Of Matches" to the episode "Wrong Number", that Ryan appears as a singer. The song was written and produced Ryan. A music video was premiered on The Hub on February 4, 2011, directed by Neill Fearnley with scenes from the episode.
Books In 2001, Stine released The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night, a collection of 10 short stories featuring illustrations by various artists. A reviewer for the Tampa Bay Times wrote favorably of the collection and stated that it would be best for children over the age of eight. Booklist was also favorable.
This, along with the 2007 film and the 1999 horror collection Nightmare Hour, helped form the basis of the television series. Of The Haunting Hour, only "My Imaginary Friend" was adapted into an episode.
See also Are You Afraid of the Dark? Bone Chillers Goosebumps (1995 TV series) Goosebumps (2023 TV series) The Nightmare Room
References
External links