
R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour is a kids’ show, a horror anthology series that clocks in at two seasons.
1—Dark
The thing this series does best is atmosphere. It’s always genuinely creepy. They do a lot with such a short time frame—less than half an hour (though there are a few two-parters). It’s a short story format, sometimes focusing on plot, sometimes focusing on character, but always with that mood.
2—Twisty
Not every story has a happy ending. I think just over half of them don’t. I also liked that not all the stories had a “moral” to their ending. Sometimes they were just creepy. There were some twist endings, and some worked for me, some didn’t. The one I remember most not working for me was in the episode “The Prefect Brother”. I’m the kind of person where the logistics of the twist ending make it totally implausible. I’m less inclined to nit pick magic and fantasy, but when it’s technological, it bugs me. On the other hand, I especially liked the ending of “Stage Fright”.
Conclusion
I liked The Haunting Hour a lot. Not every episode, but most of them. Recommend. But maybe not right before bed.