The Haunting Hour: The Series
R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series is a children's horror anthology television series based on the 2007 movie R.L Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It and the anthologies The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night and Nightmare Hour by R.L. Stine,[1] 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.
The Haunting Hour: The Series | |
---|---|
Genre | Horror Science fiction Supernatural Dark fantasy Drama |
Theme music composer | John Sereda Paul Michael Thomas |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 76 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Dan Angel Kim Arnott Billy Brown Harvey Kahn |
Production locations | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
Cinematography | Micheael Balfry |
Production companies | The Hatchery Incendo Films Front Street Pictures |
Original release | |
Network | Hub Network (2010–2014) Discovery Family (2014) |
Release | October 29, 2010 November 29, 2014 | –
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.[2]
The series received critical acclaim throughout its run and is considered to be the best children's horror anthology show as well as one of the best horror anthologies in general with praise given to the acting (from both the child and adult actors), production value, dark tone, direction, storytelling, gothic atmosphere and style, scares and effects.
On December 8, 2014, it was confirmed by Stine via Twitter that Discovery Family cancelled the show after its run of four seasons.[3]
Production
editPrior 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
editLike 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
editHome media
editName | Release Date | Episodes | Region | Additional Information |
---|---|---|---|---|
Volume One | September 4, 2012 | 5 | 1 |
|
Volume Two | September 4, 2012 | 5 | 1 |
|
Volume Three | February 5, 2013 | 5 | 1 |
|
Volume Four | February 5, 2013 | 5 | 1 |
|
Volume Five | September 3, 2013 | 5 | 1 |
|
Volume Six | September 3, 2013 | 5 | 1 |
|
Accolades
editMusic
editAmerican actress Debby Ryan recorded the song "Made Of Matches" to the episode "Wrong Number", that Ryan appears as a singer.[13][14] The song was written and produced Ryan.[15][16] A music video was premiered on The Hub on February 4, 2011, directed by Neill Fearnley with scenes from the episode.[17]
Books
editIn 2001, Stine released The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night, a collection of 10 short stories featuring illustrations by various artists.[18] 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.[citation needed]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "HubWorld.com press release". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
- ^ Stine, R.L. [@RL_Stine] (2014-12-06). "Apologies for those of you looking for The Haunting Hour today. The show has been dropped by the Discovery Family Channel..." (Tweet). Retrieved 2014-12-07 – via Twitter.
- ^ "33rd Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "34th Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ^ "The Nation Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces The 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations". The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. May 1, 2013. Archived from the original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
- ^ "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces Winners for the 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy® Awards" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. June 14, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ "35th Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
- ^ "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces The 41st Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. May 1, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 8, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces Winners for the 41st Annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy® Awards" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. June 21, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- ^ "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces The 42nd Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. March 31, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 26, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
- ^ "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces Winners for the 42nd Annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy® Awards" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. April 24, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
- ^ "Debby Ryan is 'Made of Matches'". iGossip. 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ^ Debby Ryan [@DebbyRyan] (2011-04-06). "writing has always been a release for me, & lately I've fallen in love with the music production. knitting together my stories & feelings." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Debby Ryan – Made of Matches". Cartoon Doll. 2012-10-23. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ^ "As Featured in R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Wrong Number by Debby Ryan". iTunes. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Debby Ryan Rocking New Video 'Made of Matches'". Fanlala. 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ^ Stine, R. L. (2001). The haunting hour. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-623604-5. OCLC 47216241.