The Tale of the Hatching

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Air Date: Saturday, September 25, 1993
Storyteller: David (Nathaniel Moreau)

Frame: Things open up with David poking at the campfire, looking depressed, as he mulls over the fact that he's moving soon and starting at a new school. Frank (Jason Alisharan) and Kiki (Jodie Resther) end up giving him a hard time about it. However, David manages to stand up for himself by reminding them of how hard it can be when you don't know anyone and have to start over again. However, the good news is that his situation inspires his story, which is also, sadly, his last, thus retiring my favourite Midnight Society member.

Story: Siblings Augie (Illya Woloshyn) and Jasmine (Heather Brown) are sent to a boarding school while their parents go away on business for six months. Within the halls of "The Black Brook School," the staff all act strangely, hating any high-frequency noises and feeding the kids a strange substance called "spunge," which everyone but them happily consumes. On their first night, their peers get out of their beds, seemingly brainwashed by something, so Augie and "Jazz" follow them and discover that there's more unusual stuff to this school than they could have possibly imagined.

Review: I like David's stories, but unfortunately, I'd have to consider his last one to be his weakest. While the story maintains a decent creep factor, these siblings aren't among the series' most likable characters, and the pace is slow, accompanied by poor dialogue (which comes as no surprise with this show) and an irritating tone that repeats throughout the episode. That tone exemplifies the idea that just because something works the way it should, it doesn't mean I have to like it. Despite it being one of David's weaker stories, however, it ends bittersweetly, knowing David, the one I probably related to most, won't ever be back.

Final Rating: Spooked

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