| The Tale of the Lonely Ghost | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 , Episode 3 | |
| |
| Air date | August 29, 1992 |
| Written by | Naomi Janzen |
| Directed by | D.J. MacHale |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous The Tale of Laughing in the Dark |
Next The Tale of the Twisted Claw |
The Tale of the Lonely Ghost is the Third episode of the First season of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, as well as the Third episode in total.
Cast
Midnight Society Cast
- Nathaniel Moreau as David
- Rachel Blanchard as Kristen
- Jason Alisharan as Frank
- Ross Hull as Gary
- Raine Pare-Coull as Betty Ann
- Jodie Resther as Kiki
- Jacob Tierney as Eric
Story Cast
- Laura Bertram as Amanda Cameron
- Laura Levin as Beth
- Jennie Lévesque as The Lonely Ghost
- Pauline Little as Aunt Dottie
- Sheena Larkin as Nanny
- Bethanny Nurse as Sally
- Jessica Kardos as Beth's other friend (uncredited)
Intro
Kristen is walking to the clearing, and she almost seems lost. Then David bumps into her startling her. He apologizes and gives her a birthday present. Then at the clearing Eric is tossing popcorn and catching it in his mouth. Kiki sarcastically comments him on it about being such a productive talent.
Then Frank pours water down his throat. Eric snaps at him, saying that he could have made him choke. They almost break out into a fight, when Gary breaks it up. David and Kristen arrive, apologizing for being late. Kiki is laughing explaining to them what they missed and how Eric and Frank were almost about to fight. Then as David sits down on the storyteller's chair Betty Ann hands him the pouch of campfire dust. She tells him to hurry, since the natives are getting restless.
David explains that his story is about two kids who don't get along. This is because they are so different from each other. And a love that is so strong, it can survive anything; even death forever! David, throws in the campfire dust to make the fire more intense while he submits her story for approval of The Midnight Society. He calls her story, The Tale of the Lonely Ghost, and begins his story.
Story
David tells this story. The story is about a teenage girl named Amanda Cameron. Her parents were busy studying carvings up north. So Amanda was brought over to spend the summer with her Aunt Dottie and snobby cousin Beth, who wants nothing to do with her. Beth is seen looking out her window while talking on the phone to a friend. She rudely criticizes the clothes that Amanda is wearing. Then Amanda walks into Beth's bedroom. Beth tells her to hang out with her and her friends, there are several conditions: She cleans up Beth's room and never touches her stuff. Also, she must prove that she is not a total zeeb (Zeebo pun for geek). Also she must not to tell on her to Aunt Dottie or her Nanny. Also that she spends a night in the abandoned house next door alone.
Later that night, Amanda is writing a letter to her parents and confronted by Beth's nanny. She starts a conversation with her, but Beth interrupts them. She tells Amanda that she hates her nanny and wants her gone, and that she is crazy from an event in the old house next door. The next night, Beth and her friends take Amanda there and explain the legend behind the supposed haunting: Years ago, a little girl lived in that house and was constantly taunted by the other kids because she couldn't speak. One day, her mother found out that her overseas husband was sick. So she sent her daughter to her grandmother's house while she went away to help him. But while the girl was walking, she was caught by mean kids. They chased her back home and locked her inside her bedroom. Unable to contact anyone, she died of starvation, and is now said to haunt the place as a ghost.
Then they tell Amanda that she needs to spend the entire night in the little girl's bedroom. It is the initiation for joining their club, and they all had to do it too. They remind her, that they will know if she is still there. Because she needs to keep shining a flashlight at the window all night long. Amanda reluctantly takes up the challenge. This is because she would rather spend the summer hanging out with them. Instead of being all along as a scared outcast. So she slowly heads off to enter the house. As she does this, Beth and her friends all huddle together laughing. They cannot get over the fact that she actually believed that all did this challenge to. Then they run off.
Amanda enters the house, finding the girl's bedroom. She hears scratches, and turns around to find "Help me" written backwards on the wall. The ghost of the little girl appears in the mirror. As she approaches Amanda she is nearly scared to death from the sight of her. She ran out of the house, back to her aunt's house. When Aunt Dottie gets back from working late, Amanda tells her all about the writing on the wall and the ghost Beth told her about. Not one to believe in ghosts, and thinking it was an act of vandalism, she sends her and Beth next door to clean the wall.
When they arrived there, they're both surprised to find more backward "Help me" written on the walls. Beth gets furious with her, believing that she did all of it on purpose to get her in trouble. Then the mirror magically changes into portal from the time period of the ghost. Beth gets hypnotized by the mass size of the girl's doll and stuffed animal collection. So she slowly walks in to play with them and then vanishes. Then the ghost of the little girl walks out again. Amanda once screams, being all scared and huddles.
Then afterwards she calms down realizing that the ghost doesn't want to hurt her. All she wants is to give Amanda a locket. It has an old black and white picture of Beth's nanny on it. This reveals that Nanny is really her mother. So now Amanda figures that she wants her to bring her back to her. Amanda is still scared and she nervously asks her to unlock the door. Then she will go over and get Nanny for her. Then the Lonely Ghost trusts and believes her. So she opens the door and Amanda runs off. Beth is still trapped in the mirror. She is translucently appearing in it pounding and yelling for her cousin to let out.
Amanda runs back to the house to find that Nanny about to leave for a nursing home. She begs for her to go with her to the house. Nanny refuses at first saying she cannot because it will bring back too many sad memories. Then Amanda shows her her daughter's locket. Nanny is shocked to see this again, so Amanda leads her back to the ghost. Just as they enter the bedroom the Lonely Ghost is thrilled and ecstatic to finally see her again. She approaches Nanny while smiling with open arms. Nanny is shocked to see her after all this time, her ghost never left and apologizes for not knowing she was still here. Then they have tearful but happy little reunion.
Then she asks her mother in sign language to go with her through the mirror. Nanny happily agrees, and they enter the mirror. Amanda is watching them feeling so proud and happy that she has helped them. They slowly enter the portal and they are taken back to the original time period that the shared their lives in. From inside the mirror, they both appear as their young and happy selves alive and well again. Nanny is finally happy again at long last, as well the ghost of the little girl, who is no longer going to be lonely.
Now the portal closes, and it converts back to a wardrobe mirror. Beth is now stuck inside of it and begs her to let her out. Also Beth's friends who arrived shortly after the reunion ended are now there as well. Amanda and Beth's friends happily agree to only let her out on the condition that she won't be so mean and bossy anymore. Beth promises so Amanda lets her out. Then Sally tells Beth that they're going to have to make some changes in the group.
Ending
As the story ends, Kristen asks David what ended happening between Amanda and Beth. David reveals that Amanda ending up having a great summer. She even let Amanda hang out with them too. (Hinting the idea that she became their new group leader). Gary compliments David saying it was a good story and Eric, Kiki and Frank all nod. Then Gary declares their meeting officially closed. Then David puts out the fire with water from the red bucket. Then Gary reminds them all to return again the next week. Then they all get up to go home.
Frank insults Eric calling him a Zeeb (a Zeebo pun) and holds him in a painful headlock. Then he offers to buy him a soda to cool him off. Eric leaves with Frank walking in the headlock expressing pain. Then just before Kristen leaves, David reminds her about her present. She is excited telling him she almost forgot about it because his story was so good. When she opens the present. It is a necklace just like the one in his story. We can see the sentiment of his gift that it touches her heart and she thanks him. The final scene shows them running to catch up with the rest of the group.
- This was the first time David told a story.
- This episode was the first time that a reference to Zeebo. The second time would be in "The Tale of the Whispering Walls".
- Laura Bertram who played Amanda, reappeared again a couple years later as Laurel in the fifth season episode "The Tale of the Mystical Mirror"
- Laura Bertram is the older sister of Jennifer Bertram who appeared in the series revival's episode "The Tale of the Hunted" as Laura.
- Laura Levin who played Beth would later make two appearances as two different girls in Laura Bertram's main staring show Ready or Not.
- Jennie Lévesque who played The Lonely Ghost would later appear again in the first season as Christina Carr in "The Tale of the Dark Music".
- Bethanny Nurse who played Beth's friend Sally would later reappear in the show again in the episode "The Tale of the Closet Keepers" as the deaf girl Stacey.
- In the episode it proves that Bethanny Nurse is not really deaf in real life. Since her Character Sally can perfectly hear and speak to Beth and their friends.
- Pauline Little who played Aunt Dottie would later appear again in the show. The second time she appeared in the episode "The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle" as Ruth Buckley. The third she appeared again as The Librarian in the episode the "The Tale of Prisoners Past".
- Sheena Larkin who played Nanny would reappear in the show several times again. She next appeared as the Boss Hag in "The Tale of Watcher's Woods". The third time she reappeared as Sara Simpson in "The Tale of the Room for Rent". Then in the series revival, she appeared for the fourth time as Hermoine St. Claire in the episode "The Tale of the Walking Shadow. The final time she reappeared in the three-part season 7 premiere "The Tale of the Silver Sight" as Grandma Aggie.
.jpg "Ayaotd1 3 (1).jpg (99 KB)")
