I was on Nickelodeon in the Nineties – this is what it was really like

As the leader of the Midnight Society in the classic Nick show ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’, Ross Hull helped scare kids all around the world. Now he reveals what it was like to be such a key part of so many of our childhoods...

Jodie Resther (Kiki) , Ross Hull (Gary), Raine Pare-Coull (Betty Ann), JoAnna Garcia (Sam), Jason Alisharan (Frank) and Nathaniel Moreau (David) taking time off between filming scenes for ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ (Ross Hull)

Picture the scene: it’s 1994, and you’re 11 or 12 years old. It’s a little past your bedtime. But Mom is letting you stay up late because your favourite TV show is on.

The opening credits roll – spooky music over images of a haunted swing set and a sinister-looking puppet – and you see a dark woodland clearing full of kids about your age. One of them – the tall guy with glasses – takes a strange power out of a burlap bag, and tosses it into the fire, which flares up impressively. “Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story…”

The show was Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and I was the guy with the glasses: Ross Hull, known to audiences around the world as Gary (no last name). The series was a horror anthology made for kids, wherein each episode the Midnight Society – a diverse collective of high school-aged kids – would gather in the woods to tell a scary story, which would make up the bulk of the episode. Because I was part of that framing device, I was in virtually every episode of the original run of the show – sort of like a well-moisturised Crypt Keeper.

A promotional postcard for ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ (Ross Hull)

I started out in modelling, TV, and theatre at quite a young age. My first gigs were unique compared to the “normal” stuff my friends in school were doing at the time: I was a model for Zellers, a Canadian discount department store, and my first commercial was for Duncan Hines cookies. There wasn’t a huge amount going on in Canada in the early Nineties, but US shows would sometimes come out here – I fit the bill for one of them, and thought I’d give it a shot.

To my amazement, I got the part! Shooting for the pilot didn’t take long, since the Midnight Society scenes were all confined to the one set. They built a fake woodland area in a warehouse and shot all our scenes in one day – yes, I hate to break it to you, but those iconic woods are just a series of backlots with a few fake trees for set decoration. Hollywood magic, baby!

Once the show got picked up, I became fast friends with my co-stars. That’s the way it often is with child actors – you’re in the trenches together, doing these long days, and you start to bond. That was true even though we were such a wide range of ages – I was 17, but the youngest among us was only 12. Sure, there were little mini-rivalries and jealousy over who had the most lines, or which character would be introducing the story that week, but we had each other’s backs.

While people have a lot of nostalgia for Nickelodeon as a company, I’m aware of how that perception has changed in recent years, particularly with the release of the documentary Quiet on Set. I have nothing but love and sympathy for the people whose experiences in the industry have been incredibly negative. Being a child star is difficult enough – you’re being asked to act like an adult, to do 12-hour days on set, to stay professional when all of your friends are just being regular kids.

Knowing that there are people who had to deal with all of that, and then to also be surrounded by people who didn’t look out for their best interests breaks my heart. I was very lucky that our set was always incredibly professional – me and show creator DJ MacHale stay in touch to this day and the experience was one I’ll never forget for all the right reasons. I made lifelong friends, particularly Daniel DeSanto, who played my little brother Tucker – he really is like a brother to me.

It’s funny, being known for something that doesn’t really exist anymore. I don’t just mean the show – that whole genre of “horror for kids” kind of died with the internet. Maybe the two are related – back then television was appointment viewing. Channels would have marathons, and people have told me they’d invite their friends over and make a night of it, being scared together and freaking each other out.

Sometimes the content might have crossed the “scary” line – DJ MacHale actually had trouble pitching it at the time, and told producers it would be more focused on fairytales than ghost stories – but because viewers didn’t have the choices that they do today, they were more likely to expose themselves to content they might not otherwise have given a chance. Now you can stream whatever you like, and tailor everything to your specific interests. That’s great, but it also means you’ll never know if that weird horror show might end up being one of your favourites. I’ve met directors and writers who make their own horror content now, who got into the genre because of our show.

Ross with pet dogs Jasper and Louie (Ross Hull)

I’m still happy to talk about the show whenever it comes up – I’ll do documentaries, conventions, and reunions whenever they arise. But my real passion now is my current work, as a meteorologist for Global News, the Canadian news network.

I know it sounds like a strange pivot, but when I left Student Bodies (another fantastic Nineties show), I decided to finish my education, and I always had a real passion for broadcast journalism and science. An internship at a 24-hour weather network got me immersed in the world of meteorology, and it’s been my life ever since. I’ve been a meteorologist at Global News for 10 years now, and it’s been as rewarding an experience as any acting gig. I even get to work with my two dogs The Canadian Bros, who in exchange for some treats help me out with the forecast on-air!

That’s not to say that I don’t think about going back sometimes. I love the process of creating art, but the audition process is something I’m not keen to grapple with again. Who knows, maybe if the right thing came up down the line? You never know.

But for the time being, all I’ll say is: I declare this meeting of the Midnight Society closed.

Ross Hull is a meteorologist for Global News