The Tale of the Crimson Clown

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Midnight Society

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Air Date: Saturday, April 9, 1994
Storyteller: Gary (Ross Hull)

Frame: At the Midnight Society clearing Frank (Jason Alisharan) tries asking Sam (Joanna Garcia) on a date, trying just a little too hard, when things are disrupted by Tucker (Daniel DeSanto) riding piggyback on Gary, and when asked about it, Tucker mentions that he's blackmailed Gary into being his servant for a week after finding an embarrassing poem. Gary, who's up for storytelling that night, uses it as an opportunity to teach Tucker a lesson in the simple case of "what goes around comes around."

Story: Mike (Christopher Redman) is a good kid who takes on the responsibility of a paper route to save some money to buy his Mom (Suzie Almgren) a birthday present. His little brother, Sam (Michael Barry), on the other hand, is a selfish brat. When Mike drags Sam out to go shopping with the money he saved, however, things come to a head when Mike finds his saved money missing, and he uses a creepy antique clown to try to scare Sam, suggesting it goes after bad kids. What started as a gag seems to go a bit far, however, when it appears to Sam that the "Crimson Clown" really is out to get him.

Review: On a top 10 list of terrible characters this show has to offer, Sam is, bar none, the absolute worst, with all the bark and absolutely no bite. This kid has an attitude that makes your hair stand on end. When the scary stuff starts happening, it's hard not to root for the clown to get him, although that's really the only cool piece of the whole episode, slightly reminiscent of 'Poltergeist.' However, the rest of it is best paralleled with something like 'A Christmas Carol,' where it's all about trying to turn a kid from being bad to good, using harsh lessons, and in the end, you still somehow manage to look at Sam with disdain.

Final Rating: Nervous

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