D.J. Caruso in Talks to Direct Are You Afraid of the Dark? Movie

New details have surfaced surrounding Paramount Pictures’ upcoming horror film Are You Afraid of the Dark? Horror news website Bloody Disgusting reports that the studio is looking to hire D.J. Caruso to direct the project. Caruso is best known for his work directing xXx: The Return of Xander Cage but has also directed several other horror films, notably Disturbia and The Disappointments Room. The film is being written by Gary Dauberman. Dauberman has made a name for himself in the horror genre in recent years, writing the critically acclaimed adaptation of Stephen King’s IT as well as entries in the Annabelle series and The Nun. Dauberman recently told reporters of his approach to Are You Afraid of the Dark?, saying that he hopes to honor the darker and scarier tone of the classic 90s series.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?’s original run went from 1992 to 1996, with a brief revival that ran from 1999-2000. The show featured a group of high schoolers who called themselves The Midnight Society. Each week, The Midnight Society would gather around a campfire and tell scary stories. Following an anthology format similar to The Twilight Zone, each episode of the show would follow a story told by one of the members of The Midnight Society. Despite being geared to older children and teens when it first ran, the show has become more and more appreciated by adults today. This is mostly due to several episodes of the show being genuinely scary. Notably, “The Tale of Deadman’s Float” and “The Tale of the Midnight Madness” are regarded as some of the show’s most thrilling episodes. “The Tale of Deadman’s Float” centered around a ghost haunting a school’s indoor pool while “The Tale of the Midnight Madness” was a twist on the 1922 vampire classic Nosferatu.

Speaking to /Film, Dauberman says that the new Are You Afraid of the Dark? will not be based on any of the show’s classic episodes and will feature a completely original story. Paramount is planning on releasing Are You Afraid of the Dark? just in time for Halloween next year, scheduling a premiere date of October 11, 2019.