The Ghastly Grinner remains one of the show’s most iconic villains (Picture: YTV)

Are You Afraid of the Dark? successfully traumatised a generation of horror lovers with villains forged from the stuff of nightmares.

During its original run from 1992 to 1996, the iconic franchise created by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel told a new terrifying tale per episode that often saw children facing off against deadly supernatural foes.

From a monstrous entity trying to drag youngsters underwater to a cigar-toting clown that could give Pennywise a run for his money, Are You Afraid of the Dark? (AYAOTD) created some of children’s TV’s most horrifying moments.

Many have discussed the show’s scariest moments and one episode often comes top of the list – The Tale of The Ghastly Grinner.

But why was it the Joker-like bad guy has wormed its way into viewers’ collective psyche, spawning fan art and even tattoos among diehard AYAOTD fans? Grinner actor Neil Kroetsch spoke to Metro.co.uk about what propelled him into the pantheon of horror villains.

‘I think audiences respond to the Ghastly Grinner’s energy because he is otherworldly. I wouldn’t call them evil,’ he said.

The Tale of The Ghastly Grinner saw the fictional comic book character come to life (Picture: YTV)

Actor and director Neil Kroetsch played the famed character in the episode

‘He represents a realm that is often fascinated the human imagination. What if there are other beings in the being in outer space? What if ghosts do in fact exist? What if the trolls in Scandinavia are not just our imagination?

‘These things speak to an actor and mean you can make a connection with some of primal fear.’

He continued: ‘The children [who watched it] at that point are making slowly making the transition from childhood to pre-adolescence, and becoming more cognizant of the way of the world and how adults work, and that some adults can be menacing.

‘At that point, they love to be scared, but within the context of a safe, secure home environment.’

‘Maybe it’s a way of children dealing with a certain fear because they are dependent on adults and they need to be taken care of and educated by us. But some adults are not as nice as others.

‘All these fears like the boogeyman, the monster under the bed, and the fear of the unknown. I think the very young audience realised that they could come to terms with it.’

The Grinner wreaks havoc across town leaving a struggling comic book artist to work out how and why (Picture: YTV)

In the episode, illustrator Ethan Woods (Amos Crawley), a struggling comic book artist, donates the only copy of artist Sylvester Uncas’ (Danny Raboy) nightmarish novel The Ghastly Grinner to his town’s new comic book store.

However, he soon notices strange goings on around town and realised the Grinner himself has leapt from the pages of the book to cause mayhem in the flesh.

In the episode, Neil admitted that he was worried his young co-stars may be fearful of the Ghastly Grinner.

‘I was afraid that the young boy playing Ethan might have been afraid, but his mother was there. So that was that reassuring me because I knew I was going to get loud,’ he admitted.

‘My movements appear threatening but it worked out well. I’m a supporting actor and this was one of the rare times I played the lead.

‘There’s essentially a faith that has been placed in you that you can carry this role. It opened up a key to the creative energy that I found it very invigorating.’

Neil admitted he was worried his young co-stars would be scared of the Grinner while filming (Picture: YTV)

Neil admitted the show left his mind until 15 years later he was approached by a fan (Picture: YTV)

Neil revealed that after attending an audition for the role, which he described as a ‘stage actor’s dream’, he got the part and filmed all of his scenes in just one day.

After filming, however, AYAOTD didn’t cross his mind again until a fan reached out to him for an autograph which led him to watch the episode again for the first time.

‘I forgot about it, and then about 15 years later I got a letter from my agent saying a letter had arrived. I opened it up and it was from some young men in college in New Hampshire who wanted me to sign an autograph,’ he recalled.

‘I picked up some headshots but thought that was a bit cheesy, so I thought I would get some stills from the show. I had never seen it. So I found an old VHS and went to a place that converted it to DVD. I asked the guy to pick a couple of shots and give me some stills to sign, so I signed them.’

He soon realised that the children’s TV show had an avid fanbase even decades later, saying he ‘didn’t realise the extent’ that it had touched people’s lives.

‘I became aware of this fandom that I did not know existed, maybe because I’m not on social media, I don’t know,’ he said.

Neil learned that AYAOTD had an entire fandom still active to this day (Picture: YTV)

‘There are fan clubs, people even have tattoos of the Ghastly Grinner. I was astounded. I didn’t realise the extent of the phenomena. It’s very interesting.’

After Are You Afraid of The Dark’s initial run, it sparked two reboots from 1999 to 2000, and again from 2019 to 2022.

Audible has announced a new podcast series bringing in a new age of terror for fans.

But could we see the Ghastly Grinner return? Neil says he would be there ‘right away’ if he was asked to don his jester hat again, or take on another role.

‘I would love to [return], it was so much fun to do,’ he told us.

‘I know that there is a certain audience that would be eager for a new version of the Grinner, maybe a prequel or a sequel, whatever it might be.

‘I would be keen if that was going to happen.’

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Is available to stream via Paramount Plus on Amazon Prime Video.

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