R.L. Stine's 4 four-season show The Haunting Hour was a step above his already beloved children's horror show Goosebumps, as its stories were creepier and were designed for older kids and teenagers. Ergo, the scares were amped up. The episodes were crafted as hour-long ghost tales meant to scare the younger horror-loving crowds but the show never went too over the top.
Stine's show fed into the nightmares of 90's kids. With this show and Goosebumps, the author inspired other popular kid-themed horror shows such as Are You Afraid of the Dark?. Many Haunting Hour episodes were top-notch and here are the ten spookiest.
My Sister The Witch (Season One)
A young boy's older sister comes back from boarding school. Nothing is as it seems, as her brother notices that her behavior has changed greatly. After a few incidents that go against her character, the boy begins to suspect that his sister has become a witch.
This episode plays like an underrated episode of The Twilight Zone. The boy's seemingly normal home life begins to unravel as he tries to prove his sister is a witch. With a nice twist at the end, the segment is an effective little chiller.
Catching Cold (Season One)
A boy becomes unhealthily obsessed with a ghostly ice cream truck that only haunts him. In a fun and not so distant way, this episode is the youngster version of the popular Masters of Horror episode "We All Scream for Ice Cream" starring William Forsythe as a demonic and deadly clown who lures the children in with ice cream.
All kids love ice cream. Children seem to be born with a desire for the frozen treat. It is that very thing that brings evil to the young boy's life. His need for the dessert blinds him to the horror that threatens to destroy his world.
Wrong Number (Season One)
Two entitled and bitchy high school brats prank call an old woman in an apartment building and constantly mock her. What they don't realize is that she is a witch and the repercussions for messing with her will be dire.
This segment tips its hat to Sam Raimi's horror work as it doles out some real scares mixed with a few gruesome moments. The girls are well-acted and the old woman is a frightening character. This particular episode would be a great companion piece with Raimi's 2009 horror classic Drag Me To Hell.
Red Eye (Season Three)
A young girl has a father whose business causes him to travel around the world throughout much of the year. The girl discovers in horror that there may be a demonic force following him and it may also be inhabiting their home.
This segment takes its queue from the style of Joe Dante, as it shows a seemingly normal suburban family who becomes haunted by a force from another world. The episode infused with the humor of Dante but one can feel the influence of films such as Gremlins and The Burbs.
Fear Never Knocks (Season One)
The rule in the house is to never go into grandpa's locked office. Never. Guess what? The grandkids, a brother and sister, go inside and find a machine meant to record your fears. They think it will be fun so they do just that. They don't know that the machine brings your fears to life.
Ariel Winter stars as the sister and Quinn Lord is the brother. Both give realistic performances, each of them getting ample chances to scream their heads off. A fun romp of an episode that is reminiscent of the playful horror films of the 1980s.
Pumpkinhead (Season Two)
A killer farmer kidnaps children for his pumpkin patch, using their heads to fill the rows. Some kids trespass in the patch trying to see what goes on there. The farmer comes after them.
The premise for this episode is silly and there is no real reason given for the farmer doing what he is doing but the set design is well done and the episode gives its audience some viable chills and thrills. This makes for a great Halloween-themed episode.
Dreamcatcher (Season Two)
At a summer camp, two friends are terrorized by the Dreamcatcher, a creepy bogeyman who haunts them at night. Dreamcatcher was the episode that allowed the show to explore the world of summer camp horror only this time with kids on the verge of being teenagers.
This was an eerie episode. The bogeyman slithers through the dark with his maniacal face grinning a devilish grin and his insect-like body making him an absolute monster. His design looks like Salvador Dali crossed with the characters from the world of David Lynch.
Scary Mary 1&2 (Season One)
This episode brought to life the old kid's urban legend of "Scary Mary", who, if you say her name three times while looking into a mirror, will appear and steal your face. Do you think they try it?
episodes actually went for the creepiness in their scares and in Scary Mary's design. So much so that this was the first episode of the series that had to post a disclaimer warning viewers of its intense content.
Really You 1 & 2 (Season One)
The first season began two days before Halloween in 2010. The inaugural episode was the two-parter, Really You, a creepy doll horror story of a sweet little girl named Lilly who lives in a quiet suburban neighborhood with her loving parents and older brother. After getting a doll that is an almost life-sized replica of herself, she becomes strangely obsessed, as does her mother. When dad goes away on business, Lilly's brother and his best friend discover the doll may be "alive" and set out to find where it was made and how to destroy it.
The effectiveness of the episode is marked by good acting and a creepy design of the killer doll. A genuine sense of unease is felt in the scenes where the Lilly doll is present in the room. It was the first and still counts as one of the best episodes of the series.
Scarecrow (Season Two)
The most frightening episode of the series is season two's Scarecrow, which is great enough to have been a feature-length film. The daughter of a farmer, whose lands are drying up, meets a mysterious stranger who gifts her a scarecrow that she believes will help her farm thrive. What the scarecrow actually brings about is the dangers of the end of times.
This is a dark and absolutely bleak tale that was probably too heavy for its intended audience. Two different endings were shot and both of them are bleak. A Google search will take fans to the original ending. Fate is explored in this truly a well-written segment with a score that pays tribute to the film scores of John Carpenter and a finale that will keep the audience up at night.