R.L. Stine's the Haunting Hour (2010–2014) User Reviews

Surprisingly good (and creepy!) show

[Shattered_Wake · 8/10 · 13 May 2012]

I'll be clear here. . . I'm 24 years old, so I'm not exactly this show's target audience. However, I grew up with 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?,' 'Goosebumps,' 'Tales from the Crypt,' etc. Therefore, when I heard about this show, I thought I'd give it a shot. Even though R.L. Stine usually writes pretty standard fare, I've always enjoyed his work and still to this day have his entire original Goosebumps collection from my childhood.

My advice, if you're a fan of stuff like the shows I mentioned: Just check out the first story entitled "Really You." Technically it's two episodes, but it's really worth the time. As I'm already creeped out by dolls in general, this was really effective.

I'm not all the way through the series to date, but I'm still satisfied with what I have seen. Young or old, definitely check this out. There isn't enough good TV for kids these days, but this is something worthwhile.

Very Creepy and Disturbing Show

[kdnor2011 · 8/10 · 4 April 2012]

Despite growing up in the 90s, I didn't watch Goosebumps when I was a kid. I didn't see it until Cartoon Network started airing them in 2007. While not the most terrifying show, Goosebumps did do a good job of being creepy and sometimes really disturbing. And now R.L. Stine has brought us a new show, that is just as creepy and disturbing as Goosebumps.

Each episode follows a different main character as they are either a complete jerk, or know someone who is a complete jerk. They do something wrong, and begin to get supernatural punishments, and most of the time it ends with a twist.

A lot of the twists are done very well, and I'm not going to lie, this show has both made me jump, and left me in shock at some of the stuff that happens. The show is really good at making the kids jerks, but you want them to make it through.

The Hub has earned it's place beside Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickeloadean as a great channel for kids.

Excellent horror series, good for all ages

[jdollak · 9/10 · 3 March 2017]

After stumbling onto this show on Netflix, I decided to watch it without too much enthusiasm. I assumed it would be similar to Are You Afraid of The Dark - which was a good show when I was a kid, but is much more dull as an adult.

This show is really good. I watch lots of horror, and I'm very aware when a movie or a show is recycling ideas, or an episode is being written like a Mad Libs.

This show upends some of that. There are some predictable episodes, but the stories are mostly told from the kids point of view. They aren't shortchanged into being caricatures of kids, either. They don't talk like idiots, they have specific concerns.

There is a wide variety of casting. There are plenty of girls and boys, lots of minorities, and they are careful to not put them into stereotypical roles. This may not seem like a big deal, but it's very refreshing. It injects a little bit of spice into the way these stories play out.

Where the show really shines is that it isn't afraid to go into dark or weird places. Episodes twist around, many of them don't end happily - although some do. This helps keep the viewer guessing.

I'm 36, and I've watched every episode. It's solid. And I want to rewatch them.

I think this is an important series. It's serious enough that it exposes younger viewers to what quality horror can be like, without the episodes being too scary. And that's something that isn't available out there.

Some Episodes Are Really Good

[byson5186 · 9/10 · 18 October 2014]

I don't hear this show being mentioned that often, but I'd definitely consider it a success. Why, because it's been on TV since 2010 and as of now it has about 70 episodes. Nowadays, a TV show that's on TV for more than one season seems like a success. It seems like everybody from Generation Y is familiar with the TV show Goosebumps, which aired in the '90s. I didn't watch Goosebumps too often as a kid. I've seen more of the episodes as an adult. R.L. Stine came up with another TV show you don't hear too often called The Nightmare Room, that show only lasted for one season and 13 episodes. Haunting Hour has almost as many episodes as Goosebumps. I've noticed some similarities between the writing in Haunting Hour and Goosebumps and to the people who have read the books or seen the episodes of either TV shows, we know that most of the episodes end in suspense leaving us with an unanswered question. Basically, every episode has different kid actors. We are familiar with some of the kid actors from movies and TV shows. Like Goosebumps, every episode has different characters in it. It's a little hard having episodes with different characters in each episode, I mean I like Spooksville where we know the main characters. I mean in these episodes we get to meet different characters in each episode and we don't get to know the characters as well as we do in the books. We often times want to find out what happens with the characters next, and we might never know. I'll tell you, this show has good effects and some story lines as it's interesting seeing the lifestyle of ordinary characters who have something with the supernatural. I'll tell you, like Goosebumps with the numerous episodes, some of the episodes are really good and scary, while other episodes aren't too good and seem more cheesy. The few episodes I've seen so far of this new season, Grandpa's Glasses, My Old House and Mrs. Worthington were great episodes. The latter two were definitely a couple of my favorite. My favorite episode I've seen in the series would be The Hole. I liked the characters in that episode, Rob and Carrie as they were cool characters and it's nice how Rob and Carrie get along as it's always nice to see brother and sister love. One example of that is when Carrie was scared in the new house during a thunderstorm Rob sleeps in the room with her, how sweet!! To me personally, I think the scariest episode would have to be Dreamcatcher. That episode reminded me a lot of Insidious. Basically, the Haunting Hour is an appropriate TV show without swearing, sexual references, alcohol, or drugs. I think it's supposed to be scarier than Goosebumps, I thought I read that online. But, the Haunting Hour can be a good show for you to watch if you're up to watching something scary on TV. I've seen most of the 70 episodes that have aired. not all of the episodes and I forget what happens in a lot of the episodes, but still it can be a good entertaining scary show to watch. I give this show a 9/10.

Stephen King would be proud

[kandrakole-745-5732 · 9/10 · 28 July 2013]

R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour is an starter anthology horror, Concerning anything from monsters to ghostly ice cream trucks.

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The good thing about this show is that you never outgrow it. I mean it's got some creepy stuff and some suggested violence, which your basic 7-10 year old can except, but enough creepy and jumpy scenes to satisfy an adult. So far I haven't seen an episode I'd rate under 3 stars, so they are mostly satisfying and fun.

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QUALITY: 9.5/10, Very good

Whhhhat

[culturedgraffiti · 10/10 · 4 June 2013]

I rented Volume 1 by chance at my local video store. And all I have to say is WOW. I love Goosebumps and Are you Afraid of the Dark but this show is even better. I can't believe it is not more popular! I blame at total lack of publicity. At least Goosebumps is on Netflix now. Maybe if it gets enough views someone will notice ;) I can't wait for new DVDS for this show. Hopefully they will come out soon! Right now only the first season is on DVD in three volumes. There are still two episodes missing from the 1st season that is still not on DVD. Also Channel 1 does not have any of the episodes currently posted. But it does have a movie that I have yet to watch.

OMG The best show on television.

[tjrtharp · 10/10 · 24 May 2013]

What can I say about The Haunting Hour that any other fan has not already said. Yes, the show draws from Canada's ginormous talent pool. fun fact: Our neighbor to the North has some of the best artists in the business. But, getting back to the business at hand. The Haunting Hour has great casting, adequate writers, and awesome production values. What's not to like? As in any anthology series, the hit-or-miss aspect is not forgone; even in Masters of Horror there were quite a few "misses." Some include "Scary Mary", "Walls", and especially "Pool Shark." Some of the biggest hits include "Wrong Number" (left me chilled-not easy to do-I'm jaded) and "The Dream Catcher." Stine should be proud that his product has become so ingrained in the popular culture. Kids love it, and Im not a kid, but I definitely love it.

Really good, then got silly!

[rohanumpleby · 7/10 · 12 May 2022]

A brilliant show, that's underappreciated and underrated, I think more people should try and watch this show!. " Flight " was my favourite episode because it was intense, scary and claustrophobic. The guy was dead and the boy sat next to him, with a grim reaper near them was pretty damn scary!. Whilst on the plain hence the title " Flight ". The script was absolutely brilliant, the acting and performances even for a kids show was seriously " Top Notch ". The show also has plot-twists that will honestly surprise you. The Shark episode whilst being pretty rubbish, had a great story man turns into shark in the water, and man when out of the water which was a brilliant concept and idea the execution was rubbish. The Episode was rubbish because of the bully mainly!, had no character development, unkind without having a reason for being one in hindsight it's fine but in execution its not. " Lilly D " episode is really creepy, the plot twist at the end of part 2 was utterly brilliant and turned up the creep factor massively. Diary of a Wimpy kid meets Ice cream instead of Cheese. Honestly an intense ending made it a brilliant episode to watch. A mysterious Ice cream truck goes to the boys road, and he's the only one that sees it. He then goes to get some ice cream. After he gets ice cream. He just can't stop it as it's irresistible and tastes like no Ice cream known to man, and nobody believed him about it. " Uncle Howee " show was Awful. It played out as this an annoying TV show on the telly that just couldn't get turned off no matter what. It was painful to watch. No scares, lacks any creepiness to it, and poorly acted. And the story was just irritating to watch I could hit myself with a brick and that would be more useful then watching this Dog for 23 Minutes. Honestly whoever's idea was that should of been sacked the moment the idea popped out of that person's head. Not releasing straight to video. How it gets a higher rating then a lot of episodes is beyond me 7.5 for that? I mean seriously. " The Dead Bodies " sequel to the " Dead Bodie " was a very good episodes. The characters had depth. The story was interesting and engaging through out the love interest was nice. The bullies were a cool idea as well. The fact that the episode had history to it was very interesting the dynamic of the duo was really cool. With the best script in the entire show made it that more impressive. " Detention " was intense. The whole sub plot of the students actually forgetting how they got to Detention was scary. And the fact they had no way out of there school was just even more intense and another chlostrophobic episode. " Checking In " could of, should of been good but it lacked any spark. The characters were bland and uninteresting and had no charisma to them what so ever. The kids were moaning the whole time " Fun " that was me being sarcastic because it really wasn't fun to watch those moaning dweebs. The fact that the mums and dads didn't like there kids after a few days in that Hotel was really not that good. Should of been a lot stronger. Helloween episode was really interesting " Pumpkinheads " was arguably the scariest episode. With people having there heads chopped off to be turned into Pumpkinheads was really scary. With kids going in without even realising. And tacking the pumpkins. Then being followed buy the Pumpkinheads almost dying in the episode was really scary. " Scarecrow " however was really not interesting at all. A strange man giving a girl a Scarecrow so she can scare the birds was nice. But his acting was about as convincing as a tree. And the performances buy the characters/ actors really didn't interest me that much. It's a 3.7/10 at Best. The less said about the train episode the better. " The girl in the painting " had a nice concept. Was one of the better episodes of the entire siries. A girl finds a painting in the dump and decides to grab it. After a few days she comes obsessive over it and moreover the actual " Girl " in the painting. She then asks the girl whose obsessed with the painting is asked to come. After that she's eaten buy a giant Lizard like creature I pressume. " Creature Feature " had a sort of 1980's style about it. A boy is obsessed with strange comic books and would rather do that then go to the beach. They then find the movies, that he loves so dearly in the fog, just before they get to the beach. They then go inside the place. Then the guy whose obsessed then goes into a camera. Then he's suddenly finding himself in the picture. If you want me to give in depth thoughts on the episodes then give it a thumbs up, if not however then just leave it. " Clown " episode was so weird and oddly executed. But the main premise is down to the character having a fear of clowns. Then the plot twist at the end of the episode he turns out to be a clown himself was a plot twist and a half. " A creature was Stirring " was horrendous. Kids overly obsessive over these phones. Family conflict Stirs in this episode, basic concept, basic episode, basic stuff here nouthing special..., just so happens to be set on Christmas. The episodes with the mummies were god awful, I can't even remember any of those episodes. But I remember that the characters were awful. Goosebumps meets The haunting hour. " Black Mask " reminds me of " Say cheese and Die " episode. As " Black mask " contains a group of kids that find a black mask. The kids then put it on and instead of showing them awful stuff that happens in the future like " Say cheese and Die ", it shows the awful things that are about to happen. The Hotel for one night with the wolf was really lacklustre,with the girl not wanting to be there. Basic Costume, Basic script, Basic idea, Basic effects, Basic designs for the costumes basic everything, you were starting to see a pattern there. The Chinese episode is horrible. " The Red Dress " was a creepy episode. With a girl desperately wanting the dress. Then gets it over night. Then she is punished, she turns blind. " The Wrong Number " absolutely brilliant episode. With two nasty girls, one of them gets punished for it. Classic horror story. From Ghost stories, to rock bottom episodes, ha like my joke there. Let me know if you like any of these jokes or just give me a patronising smile. From Wolfes, whiches, Lizards, creepy tales. It's a good show. That's well written, grounded, and has phenomenal stories also might not be they best but still Entertaining!

Rating Stands at: 7.5/10 Enjoy it whilst it Lasts!

A really fun show

[doomedmac · 8/10 · 31 March 2021]

As far as Children's Live-Action shows go, this is easily one of the best. Intelligent, fun, and occasionally creepy. Give it a shot.

Really not bad

[urbanoh · 7/10 · 1 February 2022]

This really isn't a bad series, there certainly more good episodes than bad ones. You could also tell that the crew had more money than the crew of Stine's previous series.

This is a disturbing, horrifying show. 10 stars!

[gir-fan · 10/10 · 3 March 2012]

I just recently started watching this show, and I have to say it is really good. I mean it, I almost died from fright on that "Really You" episode when Lilly D popped in front of the hidden camera. I highly recommend this to horror lovers, especially these episodes; "Really You" (Part one and two), "Scary Mary" (Part one and part two) and "The Return of Lilly D". (Yes there is a sequel) If it is not on TV(The Hub/9:30 Teletoon Sundays) you can watch it on You Tube. Also, be warned that not much episodes have happy endings, mostly scary endings. Now I tune in every Sunday on Teletoon to watch R.L Stine's The Haunting Hour.(I don't have The Hub). This show is a lot like Goosebumps, but it scarier. I usually don't like horror shows, but this one blows the top.

10/10.

Basic

[ginlabgainz · 3/10 · 26 August 2021]

Stories are the sort of stuff kids make up .. terrible costume's..very basic horror which would not scare anything, no totally original stories,you have seen them all before..dolls, alien's, gremlins...boring .. R L Stine's horrors are not as good as the reviews make out..apart from fear street the rest are actually terrible..

Actually pretty good

[crazyorconfused · 9/10 · 30 October 2020]

I'm an adult and If I had cable I would still watch it. Some of the episodes were kinda disturbing and unsettling. I miss watching it.

Hour of Horror

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 5 September 2020]

This is another under the radar gem and one of my favorite anthology horror shows. R.L. Stine a honorable mention in favorite horror authors has done it again, as much as I like the "Goosebumps" TV show personally I like this a lot more. Let alone the fact this is a horror anthology show and one for family/young audience which I honestly feel both things have been sorely missing, and no doubt need a serious resurgence.

One of the reasons I like this a lot more is the fact that the budget is a little higher than the previous show "Goosebumps" which of course means production value is up to par. Ok, maybe not all it's a cable show after all, but it's the one that work that count the most mainly make up effects.

However, what really powers this are the stories which are true to the spirit of R.L. Stine. It's still the kids, preteen, and teen horror fare of his but here it's a little darker, even a lot more suspenseful and have some genuine scares, just really takes the next step as there are some dark twists in some of the stories which are unexpected and sometimes things don't come out alright. This is true with most of the stories of folklore and Grimm's Fairy Tales, but these things show that in the realm of horror there are no guarantees, and no one is truly safe.

Also, this show consists of young actors most of them actually are capable and even have talent. They also consist of a lot of familiar faces you probably have seen and heard about before like "Makenzie Foy", "Bailee Madison", "Ariel Winter", etc. This makes watching the show all the more fun sort of like looking at a "Where's Waldo" illustration to spot most to all the familiar faces; some of those familiar faces actually had their start from this show which is true about most actors and actresses actually having their start in anthology horror. And the one's I picked I really like as I think their capable actresses, have done well after this show along with many others and hopefully continue to have more in the future.

This show has a lot of memorable tales, like in every volume of an R.L. Stine book each is colorful and always something different you never really know what kind of story to expect.

I'll just pick out a few of them as there are so many of them and like anything anthology horror tale are worth a try.

Uncle Howie: This is your classic E.C. Comics tale, I really like how they can make a children's TV figure and all the other character seem sinister and scary. But it has to do with an older brother whom is a selfish douchebag with a capital D, and on the abusive side as he's mistreating his little sister. And of course, in E.C. comics fashion what goes around comes around hard.

Girl in the Painting: This is a great one (in my book anyway), I really like how it's a combination of supernatural, fantasy, and psychological. A girl has a desire for the upper-class life and all the glamour and goodies it has to offer. But as an old saying goes nothing is what it seems.

Old House: Another great one (again in my book) as it's a combo of both the supernatural and psychological. On a girl obsessed with staying in the house their moving away from, though from what happens throughout the story, it will make moving seem like a blessing.

Lilly D: This was the first and still one of the best in my book. It's your typical doll horror but a good one as a spoiled rotten girl gets a life size doll as a gift but gets more than she bargains for as the doll is playing with her life.

It would be cool if this show came back though put it on the premium channel "Shutter" as part of a family or teen horror block, not just reruns of the show but new seasons and of course with some new young actors and actresses as long as they can actually act. But maybe a live action series based on R.L. Stine's "Fear Street" can also be made and have some of those actresses that did "The Haunting Hour" do the tales in that show as their now the right age for it. Well both these things are thoughts to consider.

You better beware for in this hour, your in for a scare.

Rating: 4 stars

Goosebumps

[brandonneicke · 9/10 · 6 December 2021]

Watching this show gives me goosebumps. No pun intended. Not gonna lie I'm biased to any horror movie/tv show being PG-13. In my opinion you can't really create scares or true terror on a rating like PG. That being said the most scared I have ever been in my life was watching goosebumps. Are you afraid of the dark. This show is right on those lines. Something genius about R. L Stine was his ability to tap into our minds and know our true fears. It's like he knew what every persons worst nightmare was and he was able to create it without blood and gore (Even though I love those movies the most). As a wanna be writer I will forever be inspired by R. L stine . Honestly he's one of the most creative geniuses out there and this inspired work of his is very well done.

🤔

[bertie-08347 · 8/10 · 3 June 2020]

Good series, despite that is for certain age group I still enjoyed it as the stories are good but .... My only criticism is that only ONE episode had a family that wasnt white middle upper class, could have done with more black families and more ethnicity

Twenty Minutes of Terror

[SusieSalmonLikeTheFish · 9/10 · 2 July 2014]

Growing up there are always kids who can remember horror shows: Tales from the Darkside, Goosebumps, Twilight Zone, Are You Afraid of the Dark, etc. but in today's modern world, where garbage like Family Guy and American Dad dominates television, it's hard to find anything good. The Haunting Hour is a good choice, it's one of the few good shows of the 21st century.

Each episode features popular actors/actresses that deal with fear; dolls, ghosts, clowns, imaginary friends gone awry, bullying, rodents and zombies, among others. Rather than use swearing and fart jokes as some horror shows do, this one sticks to PG-7 and also has hidden lessons in each episode. The effects of bullying, the needless desire to be superficially beautiful, facing your fears, making and keeping friends, all these are in the episodes. Actors like Bailee Madison, Booboo Stewart and Debby Ryan that kids enjoy seeing are frequently guests in the episodes, such as Pool Shark, Really You and Wrong Number. the actor who played the salesman in the Scarecrow episode was also very talented and effectively creepy. Some episodes are intended to be comedic, like Uncle Howie, Big Yellow and Poof De Fromage, while there are episodes meant to strike fear, such as the Hole and Dreamcatcher. The only issue is repeatedly using actors from Diary of a Wimpy Kid and other popular movies makes the episodes have an unrealistic feel to them, when you watch the Cast or Catching Cold you keep thinking, "hey, that's the Rowley fatty from Diary of a Wimpy Kid!" it's hard to picture them as another character in this show. Also episodes like Pumpkinheads and Dreamcatcher are not scary to adults, but could be very frightening to younger kids. For this reason I suggest if you're a parent, watching the show with your child. Overall a very good show, I wouldn't say the best but in this day and age it's pretty good! I hope it isn't cancelled, it's great that there's a horror show like this on the air.

(why though, do all the kids on THH have cell phones? Every time I watch this and there's a character texting or chatting on a phone, it makes me want to reach right through the TV, swat it out of their hands and shout, "lose the cell phones, you lot of sheep! Just because it's the 21st century doesn't mean you all have to act like robots and conform to your I-Phone addictions!" Does THH have a contract with Apple Inc. or something?)

Some Episodes Are Good Enough For Everyone!

[Spencer-Staggs · 8/10 · 15 April 2021]

"R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour" is a great series because some episodes are so good that the show can even shake adults! Let's take a look at some of my picks for these types of episodes:

Brush With Madness: Okay, so it's been a long time since I've seen it, but the ending still sticks in my head. Dylan Minette plays a teenager who's name I have forgotten, but anyhow he meets his favorite comic book author. Minette then steals the guy's paintbrushes, but what he doesn't know is that these brushes bring whatever is painted to life. Now what the episode does fantastically here is bring a VERY realistic psychopath to life. Once the psychopath catches the Minette and his girlfriend he promptly grabs a woodsaw (at least I think that's what it was) and murders the two.

Catching Cold: In this episode we meet a kid who's name I forgot (lol). The kid is played by Robert Capron, from "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" fame, anyway when he starts seeing the Kreemy Kold ice cream truck he wants some ice cream from it. Once he finally does get some ice cream from it however, he begins to slowly loose his sanity as he can't live without Kreemy Kold, and he wants more. A lot of things play out here, and then he finally catches the ice cream truck. Inside he finds an overweight bearded man. Earlier in the episode a mailman overhears the Robert Capron's character talking about Kreemy Kold and tells him the story of Jimmy Jeffries, a boy who also spoke of the truck, but disappeared. It turns out the man in the Kreemy Kold ice cream truck is Jimmy Jeffries, and now Robert Capron will take his place since the truck needs a soul to run off of. Once Jimmy gets out of the back of the truck, the truck then closes the back, and as Jimmy explains what is happening he then absolutely breaks into complete insanity repeating the words "It's all you can eat!".

Mascot: This one must be watched. I will not spoil it in this review. Search it on YouTube and watch it. Search: "Mascot The Haunting Hour"

Scarecrow: This episode literally details the end of the world. And it is unlike any other story that does this, which just makes it creepier. It is also an episode that is harder to explain since it all happens quite subtle.

That's all for now.

Worst TV show ever

[jafjc · 2/10 · 22 November 2020]

This is sucks I like goosebumps and BORNING too bad

More good than bad

[zafirahr-12106 · 8/10 · 21 September 2021]

I'd say that compared to Stine's previous show (Goosebumps), there's much more good episodes than bad.

Light version of Twilight Zone..

[homeflash · 9/10 · 6 December 2021]

I have not completed all the episodes yet, however, so far, I have watched about 8 episodes. Some give you surprise ending like Twilight zone. Some are kind of kid's stuff. In a way, this is not scary. But entertaining in some way.

If you like mystery, and like "get to the point" show or story (about 30 mins) average, this is the show for you.

A stronger series

[warnerc-49330 · 8/10 · 12 October 2021]

Though not every ep is a hit, it's overall a stronger series than Goosebumps.

Honestly kinda scarred by this

[cshadowens · 10/10 · 8 April 2021]

Imagine: summer school your teacher turns this on. You guys have watched the doll episode a few times. It's kinda scary because You have an American girl doll at home.

No that's not the episode that haunts my dreams. It's The walls. That episode scared me so much I left the room crying. I to this day wake up in a cold sweat.

Great show overall!

Great series! But episode 2.6 (brush with madness) NOT kid-appropriate.

[jramza-1 · 8/10 · 3 October 2016]

I love this series. Watching it with the kids in October - a tradition.

But I saw episode 2.6 (Brush with Madness) with my 2 kids and 3 of my friend's children. One of them, the oldest (aged15) responded, at the end of the movie: "this is more like (the movie) "Saw" than a kid's movie." I totally agreed. The ending was disturbingly violent - disturbing is fine for a children's horror genre; it goes with the genre. But disturbingly violent - not cool. Nope - not cool AT ALL. (Spoiler alert) I was genuinely put off by the ending, in which a teen aged boy and his girlfriend are (off camera) sawed in half. This is not appropriate for any film under an "R" rating, in my opinion. I did not expect this. The film has a warning that the film may not be suitable for children under 7; this episode was inappropriate for any child. Nobody under aged 17 should view this without a parent - and the graphic depiction at the movie's end should have been better warned of in advance. Cool concept. Well acted. Well written. But this was NOT WELL-TARGETED FOR ITS TARGET AUDIENCE OF CHILDREN.