As a followup to my ranking of every Midnight Society member a couple months ago, I’ve decided to rank every season from Are You Afraid of the Dark? as well.

The “revival” series, aka seasons 6 and 7, often get over-looked and even disrespected, due to the absence of the ’90s-feel which bleeds out of the first 5 seasons. Though at times not as good, the discrepancy of quality isn’t as vast as you would expect, and often times even exceeds that of the original. Hopefully this list encourages you to check out some of those episodes.

After going through and watching the Nickelodeon series from start to finish, I gave each episode a rating from 1 to 10–with the average episode being a 7.71, which speaks volumes on the quality of this show. Then I averaged the scores from each season to create each season’s overall score.

Also, this list obviously doesn’t include the 2019 Are Your Afraid of the Dark? reboot mini-series.

So without further ado, here’s my ranking of every season of Are You Afraid of the Dark?:

 

7. Season 7

Average Score: 7.09

Since counting the three-part episode Tale of the Silver Sight as one, this season gets a much lower rating (it would have otherwise been tied with the 5 spot with a 7.54 average). Containing perhaps one of the best episodes in the show’s run, season 7 also suffers from having the worst episode in the entire series.

Best Episode:

Tale of the Silver Sight (10)

Worst Episode:

Tale of the Laser Maze (3)

Other Highs:

Tale of the Night Nurse (9)

Other Lows:

Tale of the Reanimator (5)

Tale of Highway 13 (6)

 

6. Season 5

Average Score: 7.31

For every great episode this season, there seems to be an equally below par episode, including some of the lowest in the original series, which unfortunately affects the overall score.

Best Episode:

Tale of the Night Shift (10)

Worst Episode:

Tale of the Unexpected Visitors (4)

Other Highs:

Tale of the Dead Man’s Float (9)

Tale of Station 109.1 (9)

Tale of C7 (9)

Tale of The Vacant Lot (9)

Other Lows:

Tale of the Manaha (5)

Tale of the Chameleons (5)

Tale of a Door Unlocked (5)

Tale of the Jagged Sign (6)

 

5. Season 1

Average Score: 7.54

Though filled with some truly iconic episodes, season 1 also suffers from needing to work out some kinks. There aren’t any truly terrible episodes, yet some are certainly divisive, with a majority being pretty average.

Best Episode:

Tale of Laughing in the Dark (10)

Worst Episode:

Tale of the Captured Souls (5)

Other Highs:

Tale of the Lonely Ghost (9)

Tale of the Dark Music (9)

Tale of the Prom Queen (9)

Other Lows:

Tale of the Nightly Neighbors (6)

 

4. Season 6

Average Score: 7.62

With an average score just below the series average (7.71), the 6th season is incredibly underrated, boasting some of the best episodes of the revival series, with some even rivaling the classics from the original. There are a lot of really great episodes this season, especially towards the latter half, but season 6 also contains the 2nd worst episode of the entire run of the series.

Best Episode:

Tale of the Forever Game (10)

Worst Episode:

Tale of the Misfortune Cookie (3)

Other Highs:

Tale of the Zombie Dice (9)

Tale of the Gruesome Gourmets (9)

Tale of Oblivion (9)

Tale of Vampire Town (9)

Tale of the Secret Admirer (9)

Tale of Bigfoot Ridge (9)

Other Lows:

Tale of the Virtual Pets (5)

 

3. Season 3

Average Episode Rating: 8

With the most perfect 10s (including my favorite episode) of any season, it’s a surprise season 3 isn’t higher. But there aren’t any 9s, and the next two seasons on this list don’t have any episodes below a score of 6. Between the two best seasons of the series, you could say season 3 is right in the sweet spot of the show’s run.

Best Episode:

Tale of the Dollmaker (10)

Worst Episode:

Tale of the Guardian’s Curse (5)

Other Highs:

Tale of the Dream Girl (10)

Tale of Apartment 214 (10)

Tale of the Quicksilver (10)

Other Lows:

N/A

 

2. Season 4

Average Episode Rating: 8.08

An 8.04 if you count the two-part Tale of Cutter’s Treasure as one episode. The worst episode this season still rakes in a 7, so there aren’t any low points.

Best Episode:

Tale of the Quiet Librarian (10)

Worst Episode:

Tale of the Silent Servant (7)

Other Highs:

Tale of the Unfinished Painting (10)

Tale of Cutter’s Treasure, Part 1 (9)

Tale of Train Magic (9)

Other Lows:

N/A

 

1. Season 2

Average Episode Rating: 8.31

Easily the best season in the series. The worst episode is the first of the season. After that it’s smooth sailing with only three other episodes below an 8.

Best Episode:

Tale of the Midnight Madness (10)

Worst Episode:

Tale of the Final Wish (6)

Other Highs:

Tale of Locker 22 (10)

Tale of the Magician’s Assistant (10)

Tale of the Dream Machine (9)

Tale of the Dark Dragon (9)

Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle (9)

Other Lows:

N/A

 

Let me know what season you think is the best!

 

Similar: Ranking Every Storyteller on ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’