Friday, June 27, 2014

Are You Afraid of the Dark? on DVD

For longer than I like to remember, Are You Afraid of the Dark? escaped having a Region 1 release in the United States. In the last year, this has changed. But in the past week, things have changed even more. First, a quick history lesson.

The show started to be released in Canada back in 2006 with the final season being released in 2008.. All seven seasons of the show were released, including a "Best Of" set. But those quickly went out of print and cost more than they are worth from third-party sellers.

In 2007/2008, the first four seasons of the show were released in the UK. The last season of the original run and the two seasons of the revival were never released.

In 2012, I was lucky enough to get season 1 for a little over about 1/10th of what it was going for and the "Best Of" set. Later that year, I got season two for roughly the same cost. I was thrilled to have some of the most classic episodes now in my possession.

Something seemingly wonderful happened in September of 2012. Amazon began taking preorders for Volume sets of the show, both containing 7 episodes.


However, they were not released for a long time.

Yet in Canada, the show began to be re-released in 2013 with seasons 1 and 2 being released within four months of each other.



A little over a year after Amazon began taking preorders, Volume 1 was released. As I had preordered, I was surprised when I got my shipping notification. About five months later, Volume 2 was released. As nice as the volume sets were, the episodes were from various seasons, which was confusing to say the least. It seemed all hope was gone, until two days ago.

tvshowsondvd.com posted a story about how season 1 of the DVD was released. It was almost too good to be true, but folks...I received this set today and I can't tell you just how great it is!

BUT WAIT! While finding all the correct dates for this article, another one appeared! Season 2 is also available from Amazon! My order is placed and I can't wait! Does this mean we could potentially have all the seasons by the end of the year? One can only hope.

But let me give you a little heads up on a few details about these sets.

 Canadian Release
(I own this release from Canada. I'm not sure how the newer release is different.)

US Release

The Canadian release features audio in English, Spanish, and French. However, there are no subtitles. This release also features something I personally am not a fan of. Instead of just the classic opening, they include a compilation of shots from other seasons/episodes featuring the closing credits music. It's jarring to have the opening and episode separated like that.

The picture is also slightly different from the US release. In some episodes of the US release, the skin tones are warmer, but in others, the Canadian release as the warmer tones. A bit confusing, I suppose.

US Release
Canadian Release
The US release features the intact opening and also featured subtitles. However, there is only an English audio track. As I do not speak Spanish nor French, it does not effect me, but it is something to consider if you do. Also, the episodes are on two discs, instead of three. As the data on the discs varies only slightly, it doesn't seem to effect the image at all.

 US Release
Canadian Release

The US release also features the episodes in correct broadcasting order, where as the Canadian release does not.

It's all very exciting. I'm extremely glad that Are You Afraid of the Dark? is finally out on DVD for the masses to enjoy. But you won't find this in stores, it's strictly on Amazon.

So, grab a blanket, get some popcorn , and don't forget to turn off the lights...because The Midnight Society is back.

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