- The Nightmare Room
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The Nightmare Room Genre Anthology
Children's
Horror
Fantasy
Adventure
Science FictionNarrated by R. L. Stine Composer(s) Kristopher Carter
Josh KramonCountry of origin United States Language(s) English No. of seasons 1 No. of episodes 13 (List of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Paul Bernbaum
Brian Robbins
Jane Stine
Michael TollinProducer(s) Chris Castallo
Billy Crawford
Joe Davola
Dan Kaplow
Shelley ZimmermanCinematography Michael Negrin Running time 30 mins. (approx) Broadcast Original channel Kids' WB Original run August 1, 2001 – March 16, 2002 Chronology Preceded by Goosebumps (TV series) (1995-1998) Followed by R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour (2010-Present) The Nightmare Room is an American children's anthology horror series that aired on Kids' WB. The series was based on the short-lived book series The Nightmare Room children's books created by Goosebumps author, R.L. Stine. The Nightmare Room originally aired from August 31, 2001, to March 16, 2002, in the United States. It was rated TV-Y7 for fantasy violence (FV) and scenes deemed too scary or disturbing for younger viewers in the United States.
Contents
Premise
The Nightmare Room is based on fears that children have, such as ghosts and monsters, which normally ended with comments by the narrator whose final words always were "the nightmare room", then a door with the The Nightmare Room logo would appear, closing. In many instances, the series resembled the television series The Twilight Zone with teens taking the role as the main characters, many of whom portrayed the characters were popular actors, including Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, Brenda Song, Shia LaBeouf, A.J. Trauth and Dylan and Cole Sprouse. In addition, Robert Englund (famously known as Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare On Elm Street films") played as various roles.
The Nightmare Room is Kids' WB's only live-action show and aired on the short-lived Kids' WB variant of Toonami, making it the only live-action show to air on the strand. The show was produced by Parachute Entertainment, Tollin/Robbins Productions, and Warner Bros. Television.
Book titles and summaries
- Don't Forget Me: Danielle Warner and her brother, Peter, move into a house where the basement is haunted by the ghosts of children who have been forgotten by their friends and families—and lure living children in by making their friends and families forget about them.
- Locker 13: Superstitious Luke Green gets assigned Locker #13 on his first day of school and tries to quell the bad luck that goes along with it by finding a good-luck charm. But the good-luck charm has a twisted secret of its own.
- My Name is Evil: A carnival fortuneteller accuses Maggie of being evil. Maggie brushes it off as a joke—until accidents occur in school and all signs point to Maggie as a suspect.
- Liar, Liar: Years of lying suddenly catch up with Ross when he finds himself in a parallel world where an evil twin tells him that he will die in two days.
- Dear Diary, I'm Dead: Alex Smith discovers a diary in his room that predicts the future, including his death.
- They Call Me Creature: Laura must find out why the animals she cares for are turning on her — and discovers a horrible creature living in her father's shed.
- The Howler: Self-proclaimed electronics geek Spencer Turner buys a machine called "The Howler" that lets humans communicate with the dead...and gets messages from three ghosts who want to possess Spencer and her friends.
- Shadow Girl: A bored girl named Selena discovers that she's really a superheroine named Shadow Girl, and, like all superheros, has an arch-enemy who wants her dead.
- Camp Nowhere: At summer camp, Russell rows over Forbidden Falls—and finds himself in a summer camp haunted by the ghost of an evil Indian spirit.
- Full Moon Halloween: It's a frightful Halloween night as a group of 5 teens realize that one of them may be a werewolf.
- Scare School: Sam is haunted by an imp at his new school who preys on new students.
- Visitors: UFO enthusiast Ben Shipley discovers that aliens are covertly invading Earth.
The Nightmare Room Thrillogy
- Fear Games: Twelve kids (April, Kristen, Marlin, Anthony, Dolores, Jared, etc.) with special abilities have been selected to take part in a reality show called Life Games, set on an island haunted by a psychotic witch.
- What Scares You the Most?: April (one of the contestants) is stranded on the island and must fight her biggest fears in order to escape.
- No Survivors: After her escape in What Scares You the Most?, April must return to the haunted island in order to rid it of the witch's spirits.
Episodes
# Title Directed by Written by Original air date Production
code1 "Don't Forget Me" David Jackson Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Paul BernbaumAugust 1, 2001 003 Danielle Warner (Amanda Bynes) along with her brother, Peter Warner, and the rest of her family, have just moved into a new house where the basement is haunted by the ghosts of children who have been forgotten by their friends and families—and lure living children in by making their friends and families forget about them. Once the child gets touched by strange goo by the forgotten children....they will start to be forgotten by their friends and family. 2 "Scareful What You Wish For" Anson Williams Naomi Janzen August 1, 2001 008 While packing away all of the toys from his childhood days before his 14th birthday, Dylan Pierce (Shia LaBeouf) is haunted by a strange little boy (played alternately by Dylan and Cole Sprouse) who turns out to be Dylan's favorite childhood doll come to life—and not willing to let his human friend go. Also starring Tania Raymonde, Marcus T. Paulk and Betsy Randle.
Note: This is the first of two episodes where the story isn't adapted from a Nightmare Room book.3 "The Howler" Steve Dubin Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Scott MurphySeptember 29, 2001 006 Three kids (Cara DeLizia, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Jermaine Williams) find a strange machine called "The Howler" that lets them communicate with spirits, but the spirits that come out need three human bodies to possess. First was taking over was Spencer's body. 4 "Tangled Web" Ron Oliver Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Paul BernbaumOctober 6, 2001 005 A boy named Josh (Justin Berfield), who has a reputation for lying, suddenly finds his outrageous tales coming true after a substitute teacher tells Josh that he believes everything he says. Also starring Steve "Sting" Borden and Naturi Naughton.
Note: Based on Book #4 of The Nightmare Room, which had an alternate title, "Liar, Liar", and had a plot about a liar who is trapped in an alternate universe where he is being stalked by an evil twin who tells him that he will die.5 "Fear Games" Ron Oliver Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Paul BernbaumOctober 13, 2001 009 Five teenagers on a Survivor-esque reality game show must compete in island challenges—and fight a psychotic witch who haunts the island. Starring Lindsay Felton, Eric "Ty" Hodges II and Roger Lodge.
Note: Based on the three books of The Nightmare Room trilogy series called "Fear Games".6 "School Spirit" Rich Correll Scott Murphy October 20, 2001 011 A group of students serving detention must help the ghost of a teacher seeking retribution. Starring Madeline Zima, George O. Gore II, Keiko Agena, Jeffrey Licon, Jenny Gago and James Karen.
Note: This is the last of the two episodes where the story isn't based on any of the books in the Nightmare Room series.7 "Full Moon Halloween" Rich Correll Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Naomi JanzenOctober 27, 2001 010 A group of teenagers grow suspicious of one another when a werewolf is heard to be on the loose in their town. Also starring Michael Galeota.
Note: This episode features the same actors that starred in "School Spirit".8 "Four Eyes" Michael B. Negrin & Brian Robbins Story by R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Scott MurphyDecember 1, 2001 001 A boy's new glasses gives him the power to see aliens secretly living among humans and ready to take over the world. Starring Josh Zuckerman, Lynsey Bartilson and John C. McGinley.
Note: The premise of aliens covertly invading Earth was used in the last book of The Nightmare Room series, "Visitors".9 "Locker 13" Ron Oliver Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Richard H. RossnerDecember 8, 2001 007 A boy is terrified of the consequences when his school assigns him Locker #13, a locker rumored to give the owner eternal bad luck. Starring Brandon Gilberstadt, Boris Cabrera, Mary Stein, Ken Foree and Angus Scrimm. 10 "Dear Diary, I'm Dead" Steve Dubin Story by: R. L. Stine
Paul BernbaumFebruary 2, 2002 004 Alex (Drake Bell) is a normal boy that discovers a diary that predicts the future—including his death. Also starring A.J. Trauth and Brenda Song. 11 "My Name is Evil" Anson Williams Story by: R. L. Stine
Lee Goldberg & William RabkinFebruary 23, 2002 002 A boy's encounter with a carnival fortune teller leads to horrific consequences when the boy turns evil. Starring Shan Elliot, Kaley Cuoco, Melody Johnson and Beth Broderick. 12 "Camp Nowhere (Part 1)" James Marshall Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Paul BernbaumMarch 9, 2002 012 A group of kids discover that their new summer camp has been trapped in time thanks to the violent Indian spirits that haunt the campgrounds. Starring Allison Mack, Sam Jones III, Dan Byrd and Danielle Fishel. 13 "Camp Nowhere (Part 2)" James Marshall Story by: R. L. Stine
Teleplay by: Paul BernbaumMarch 16, 2002 013 The group of kids must contend with Indian spirits that have captured the kids of Camp Hawkwood. Also starring Frankie Muniz and Kevin Meaney. Opening narration
At the beginning of each episode, R. L. Stine gives an opening monologue of sorts — in a manner very similar to Rod Serling's iconic opening narration for The Twilight Zone — that acts somewhat like a theme song for the series.
When the lights fade and the moon rises, anything can happen. The world becomes a carnival of shocks and chills. A whirling merry-go-round that never stops, spinning faster and faster, taking you on a frightening ride. I'm R. L. Stine, don't fall asleep... or you might find yourself in The Nightmare Room.—R. L. StineAward nominations
Year Award Result Category Recipient 2002 Emmy Award Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing Michael C. Gutierrez, James L. Pearson, Tony Torretto, Susan Welsh, and Debby Ruby-Winsberg International broadcasters
Country Channel(s) International Title Australia FOX8 The Nightmare Room Brazil Boomerang and SBT A Hora do Arrepio Canada YTV The Nightmare Room France France 2 (2002–2004) Aux portes du cauchemar Italy Italia 1 L'incubo camera Japan NHK (2002–2003) ナイトメア・ルーム (Katakana)
Naitomea· Rūmu (Romaji)Latin America Boomerang Las aventuras del suspenso Portugal Nickelodeon (2002) A Hora do Medo Spain TVE2 La habitación de las pesadillas South Korea KBS 2TV 나이트메어 룸 (Hangul)
Naiteumeeo lum (Roman)United Kingdom CBBC The Nightmare Room United States Kids' WB! (2001-2002) The Nightmare Room External links
- The Nightmare Room at the Internet Movie Database
- The Nightmare Room at TV.com
- The Nightmare Room at epguides.com
Directors Writers Lee Goldberg · William RabkinEpisodes "Don't Forget Me" · "The Howler" · "Tangled Web" · "School Spirit" · "Camp Nowhere (Part One)" · "Camp Nowhere (Part Two)Categories:- 2000s American television series
- 2001 American television series debuts
- 2002 American television series endings
- American children's television series
- Anthology television series
- English-language television series
- Horror fiction television series
- Kids WB original programs
- Television programs based on children's books
- Television programs based on novels
- Television series by Warner Bros. Television
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