Are You Afraid of the Dark? (TV Series) The Tale of the Gruesome Gourmets (1999) User Reviews

The worst episode of the series

[EternalSummer247 · 1/10 · 22 July 2019]

There is nothing in the entire series that is, pardon the pun, hammier than this episode. I have no idea what the actors were going for here, but it definitely didn't work. There are some episodes that aren't as strong as others, but this one is just straight up painful. Watch only if you're committed to watching every episode. Otherwise, skip it.

"It's tasty, it's meaty - it's tongue!!!"

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 26 December 2017]

Oh man, all episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? are cheesy to varying degrees and that actually forms a large part of the show's tremendous charm, but the cheese-O-meter of this particular tale is off the charts! It's such a laughably dumb and overtly campy episode and was never one of my favourites as a kid, and I wouldn't exactly say it is now, in fact if the series had a genuinely bad episode this would certainly be the top candidate, but I don't know.. I've come to enjoy it for being such an awkwardly hilarious story if definitely not a spooky one, it's just a lot of goofy fun and it makes me laugh! It's all about these two brothers named David and Tommy who's mother is a landlady who lets out rooms, and a couple of extremely animated and super-eccentric gentlemen who are gourmet cooks move into their house, and through a truly odd set of circumstances the brothers are led to believe that the chipper new lodgers are cannibals, and embark on a mission to prove it that plays out like a slapstick comedy that's not funny in the way that it's supposed to be! It probably goes without saying but the characters of Mr Pim and Mr Collins very much seem to be a couple because I really couldn't see two grown men living together no matter how common their interests are supposed to be! It's quite subtly forward for the time! They might possibly be creepy if they weren't so damn peppy all the time! The boys laughing uncontrollably when they first meet them seems to be a genuine reaction.. It sure is an eerie idea to use for an episode though, because cannibals have existed and probably do right now! But the episode is directed in such a bizarre and random way that it's pretty impossible to take anything seriously, even the closing scene with the Midnight Society is off with Meghan taking a bite out of a sandwich made of tongues! My favourite thing about this tale is Chuck, he's so funny the way he phrases his words, his "I'm gonna burn you like toast!" Is one of the greatest things ever written in the show! He was awesome, such a humongous dude! I like what they did with the ending where it's suggested that the gourmets may have cooked Chuck, but it also could have been just more of their weird nonsense, so it's kind of up to the viewer to decide. I grew to like it a lot but I can see how some will probably just think it stinks. I'd say that if you're looking to revisit the show again after not having seen it in years, do not start with this one! Cute but approach with caution.. "You better scream toast boy!" X