# 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, 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.
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.
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.

## Production

Prior 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

Like 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

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 22 | 22 | October 29, 2010 (2010-10-29) | May 14, 2011 (2011-05-14) |
| 2 | 18 | 18 | October 1, 2011 (2011-10-01) | February 4, 2012 (2012-2-4) |
| 3 | 26 | 26 | October 13, 2012 (2012-10-13) | December 21, 2013 (2013-12-21) |
| 4 | 10 | 10 | October 4, 2014 (2014-10-4) | November 29, 2014 (2014-11-29) |

## Home media

| Name | Release Date | Episodes | Region | Additional Information |
| Volume One | September 4, 2012 | 5 | 1 | Episodes include: Really You, Part 1; Really You, Part 2; A Creature Was Stirring; The Dead Body; and Nightmare Inn. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes. |
| Volume Two | September 4, 2012 | 5 | 1 | Episodes include: The Red Dress, Ghostly Stare, The Walls, Game Over, and Alien Candy. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes. |
| Volume Three | February 5, 2013 | 5 | 1 | Episodes include: Fear Never Knocks, Best Friend Forever, Black Mask, My Sister the Witch, and Catching Cold. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes. |
| Volume Four | February 5, 2013 | 5 | 1 | Episodes include: Wrong Number, Afraid of Clowns, Pool Shark, Lights Out, and The Perfect Brother. Bonus features include: Original Promos and Behind The Screams of select episodes. |
| Volume Five | September 3, 2013 | 5 | 1 | Episodes include: Scary Mary, Part 1; Scary Mary, Part 2; Pumpkinhead; Flight; and Swarmin' Norman. |
| Volume Six | September 3, 2013 | 5 | 1 | Episodes include: Creature Feature, Part 1, Creature Feature, Part 2, Brush With Madness, Sick, and Mascot. |

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2012 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 14-17 | Ricardo Hoyos | Nominated |
| 2012 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 11-13 | Baljodh Nagra | Won |
| 2012 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 11-13 | Dakota Goyo | Nominated |
| 2012 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 11-13 | Jason Spevack | Nominated |
| 2012 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 11-13 | Ava Rebecca Hughes | Nominated |
| 2012 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 11-13 | Jessica Mcleod | Nominated |
| 2013 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 14-21 | Donnie MacNeil | Nominated |
| 2013 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress Ten and Under | Alissa Skobye | Nominated |
| 2013 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Costume Design/Styling | Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh and Natalie Simon | Won |
| 2013 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Hairstyling | Trudy Parisien and Cara Doell | Won |
| 2013 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Series | Dan Angel, Billy Brown, Harvey Kahn, Kim Arnott, Jane Stine, Joan Waricha, Charles Lyall and Dawn Knight | Won |
| 2014 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 17-21 | Laine MacNeil | Nominated |
| 2014 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 11-13 | Rowan Rycroft | Nominated |
| 2014 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 10 and Under | Jena Skodje | Won |
| 2014 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Series | Dan Angel, Kim Arnott, Billy Brown, Harvey Kahn, Dawn Knight, Jane Stine, Joan Waricha, Charles Lyall and Oliver De Caigny | Won |
| 2015 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Series | Dan Angel, Kim Arnott, Billy Brown, Harvey Kahn, Dawn Knight, Mandy Spencer-Phillips, Ted Biaselli, Allen Lewis, Margaret Loesch, Juliet Smith, Jane Stine, Joan Waricha, and Marnie Young | Won |
| 2015 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design | Teresa Weston, Michael Corrado and Josh Plaw | Won |
| 2015 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Children's or Pre-School Children's Series | Margot Kidder as Mrs. Worthington | Won |

## Music

American actress Debby Ryan recorded the song "Made Of Matches" to the episode "Wrong Number", that Ryan appears as a singer. The song was written and produced Ryan. A music video was premiered on The Hub on February 4, 2011, directed by Neill Fearnley with scenes from the episode.

## Books

In 2001, Stine released The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night, a collection of 10 short stories featuring illustrations by various artists. 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.