The Tale of the Room for Rent

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Midnight Society

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Air Date: Saturday, November 19, 1994
Storyteller: Sam (Joanna Garcia)

Frame: Kiki (Jodie Resther) comes running in late to the Midnight Society meeting, out of breath, and finds that she's somewhat unnecessarily winded, as it's Sam's turn to tell a story, and she's busy writing a message on a greeting card, and according to most of their reactions, the group is getting impatient and want her to get on with it. Sam, however, expresses no regrets in making them wait, because it's never a good idea to leave something undone, as there's no telling if you'll finish it. Kind of like getting to the story, but either way, she finally gets started.

Story: Jessie Dixon (Alyson Hildreth) lives with her grandfather, Samuel (Walter Massey), and likes to take on odd jobs to keep herself busy, one being taking care of her neighbour, a psychic named Sara Simpson (Sheena Larkin). Meanwhile, when Samuel falls ill, he posts a sign for a room for rent to make a bit of extra money. One night, when Jessie and her friend Alex (Melissa Altro) return from a movie, they go to Sara's house to collect Jessie's earnings, only to find her summoning the spirit of her old love, Jacob (Andreas Apergis), in some ritual. Much to Jessie's dismay, the ghost turns out to be her grandfather's first tenant.

Review: This is another episode that ends up making for a good, fun Halloween romp, along with a side of real sweetness, and a backstory involving what Samuel, Jacob, and Sara were all up to during World War II. Effect-wise, back then, one had to forgive a lot of the early CG, and I've always seen practical effects to be a bit more powerful for the era. However, as long as you can look past the effects and the occasional corny acting in the kids' parts, the story itself has a certain charm. It has an ending that's bittersweet, perhaps very predictable, but sometimes it's a nice change of pace when done right.

Final Rating: Scared

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