The Nightmare Room

*The Nightmare Room*
The Nightmare Room
Genre	Anthology; Horror ; Fantasy ; Adventure ; Science fiction ; Supernatural
Created by	R.L. Stine
Narrated by	James Avery
Composers	Kristopher Carter; Josh Kramon
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Paul Bernbaum; Brian Robbins; Jane Stine; Michael Tollin
Producers	Chris Castallo; Billy Crawford; Joe Davola; Dan Kaplow; Shelley Zimmerman
Cinematography	Michael Negrin
Running time	30 mins. (approx)
Production companies	Parachute Entertainment; Tollin/Robbins Productions; Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	Kids' WB
Release	August 31, 2001 –; March 16, 2002

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.

Reruns of the series started airing on Chiller on January 7, 2013.

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, Frankie Muniz, Tania Raymonde, Justin Berfield, 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. Actress Kaley Cuoco (later known for her roles in the shows 8 Simple Rules and The Big Bang Theory) also had a part in one of the episodes.

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 attacking her and what her father is doing in the backyard shed.
The Howler: Self-proclaimed electronics geek Spencer Turner buys a machine called "The Howler" that lets humans communicate with the dead...and summons a ghost family who want to kill his friends and family.
Shadow Girl: A bored girl named Selena discovers that she is really a superheroine named Shadow Girl, and, like all superheroes, 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 teacher gets four of his students and try to discover 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 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.

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. Stine

Despite the claim of being R. L. Stine, the narration was provided by James Avery of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame. Avery also did the closing narration for each episode.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
1	"Don't Forget Me"	David Jackson	Story by: R. L. Stine Teleplay by: Paul Bernbaum	August 31, 2001	001
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.
2	"Scareful What You Wish For"	Anson Williams	Naomi Janzen	August 31, 2001	002
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 thanks to a birthday entertainer's seemingly fake spell — and not willing to let his human friend go in the end Dylan is turned into a doll and his mom and friends sees the horror and screams in horror and the outro plays. Also starring Tania Raymonde, Marcus T. Paulk and Betsy Randle.
3	"The Howler"	Steve Dubin	Story by: R. L. Stine Teleplay by: Scott Murphy	September 29, 2001	003
Three kids (Cara DeLizia, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Jermaine Williams) find a strange machine called "The Howler" that lets them communicate with ghosts, but the ghosts that come out need three human bodies to possess.
4	"Tangled Web"	Ron Oliver	Paul Bernbaum	October 6, 2001	004
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.
5	"Fear Games"	Ron Oliver	Story by: R. L. Stine Teleplay by: Paul Bernbaum	October 13, 2001	005
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 first book of The Nightmare Room Thrillogy called "Fear Games".
6	"School Spirit"	Rich Correll	Scott Murphy	October 20, 2001	006
A group of students serving detention must help the ghost of a teacher whose contributions are being buried and forgotten. Starring Madeline Zima, George O. Gore II, Keiko Agena, Jeffrey Licon, Jenny Gago and James Karen.
7	"Full Moon Halloween"	Rich Correll	Story by: R. L. Stine Teleplay by: Naomi Janzen	October 27, 2001	007
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.
8	"Four Eyes"	Michael B. Negrin & Brian Robbins	Scott Murphy	December 1, 2001	008
In this take on the cult horror satire film, They Live, 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.
9	"Locker 13"	Ron Oliver	Story by: R. L. Stine Teleplay by: Richard H. Rossner	December 8, 2001	009
A superstitious 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 Teleplay by: Paul Bernbaum	February 2, 2002	010
Alex (Drake Bell) 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 Teleplay by: Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin	February 23, 2002	011
A boy's encounter with a carnival fortune teller leads to a chain of disasters that point to him as an evil entity. 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 Bernbaum	March 9, 2002	012
A group of kids at summer camp find themselves in another camp that's been suspended in time thanks to an Indian spirit. 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 Bernbaum	March 16, 2002	013
The group of kids from the previous episode must contend with Indian spirits that have captured the kids of Camp Hawkwood. Also starring Frankie Muniz and Kevin Meaney.

Releases

On August 20, 2002, 8 episodes were released on 2 DVD volumes. 5 episodes remain unreleased.

Name	Release Date	Episodes	Region	Additional Information
Camp Nowhere	August 20, 2002	4	1	Episodes include: Camp Nowhere, Pts. 1 & 2, Don't Forget Me, Full Moon Halloween. Bonus Features include: The Nightmare Is Yours: Shrink or Swim, Do You Dare?, The Nightmare Files, Trailers.
Scareful What You Wish For	August 20, 2002	4	1	Episodes include: My Name Is Evil, Scareful What You Wish For, Tangled Web, Fear Games. Bonus Features include: The Nightmare Is Yours: Haunted Cave, Do You Dare?, The Nightmare Files, Trailers.

Awards and 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

External links