It'll be interesting to see how we move on from Zeebo, but here were are with another Are You Afraid of the Dark episode to cover. Does it stand a ghost of a chance? Find out with episode #3: The Tale of the Lonely Ghost.
Pre-story stuff this time sees David stock-scare Kristen before the two engage in some good old Canadian teen-preteen awkwardness. David remembered Kristen's birthday is coming up, so he gives her a present, but she won't be able to open it until after the meeting. Meanwhile, Eric is tossing grapes in his mouth before Frank pours water down his mouth, which, yeah Eric's been established as kind of the smart alec of the group, he could have choked, so poor form. Speaking of David, he's our narrator for this week's story, The Tale of the Lonely Ghost.
We get our exposition out of the way as we learn our protagonist, Amanda Cameron's parents, a pair of scientists, are up north checking out Inuit carvings. Unfortunately for Amanda and the viewer, that's not where we're going today. Instead, Amanda's been sent to live with her Aunt Dottie and cousin Beth for the time being. While Dottie's nice, it seems less so for Beth, who won't even wave hello from the window. Amanda hears a banging coming from the house next door, but Dottie, a real estate agent, says that there's nothing to worry about since the place is empty. Though hardly a motivated seller. And given the "for sale" sign can barely stay up, it might be bit of an omen too many.
Back to the Beth issue. She mocks Amanda's clothing and dreads having her hang out with Beth's friends. Because Beth's friends are an exclusive club, and not any Zeeb can join. Funny that we get that term one episode after Zeebo, huh? Essentially "Not being a Zeeb" means that Amanda has to clean up after Beth and not snitch, which Amanda seems fine enough with. There's still the initiation though. Spend the night in the place next door, which is haunted.
Later that night, Amanda is writing a letter to her parents when an old woman shows up. This is Beth's nanny. Beth hates her nanny, warning Amanda that should she touch her that she'll never be allowed to touch Beth's stuff again, which I guess is instant Zeeb status? So, you know, rational thoughts. Beth's rationale goes from "I'm too old to have a nanny" to "she's spying on me" to "she must have been driven insane by the ghost of the house next door". But Amanda just feels bad for the old woman. Also, she still has that initiation to get through, which takes us to...
The night of the initiation. Beth relays the story of the ghost to Amanda. A long time ago, a little girl lived in the house. She was picked on because she was unable to speak. Her mother got a letter that her dad had gotten sick, so the girl was taken to her grandmother's. Only she didn't make it because some mean kids bullied her. She ran back to her house. She was locked in her bedroom and she didn't escape alive. Nobody was able to save her, so she died in the house. Beth gives Amanda the keys to the house and a flashlight, then leave, as we learn that they didn't actually go through with this, because given their characters, of course not..
Amanda wanders through the house until she finds the words "Help Me" written backwards on the wall. Then, suddenly, the mirror behind her turns into the reflection of the ghost girl, which is enough to send Amanda running home. So, the "initiation" failed. However, Aunt Dottie's not happy about the written words in the old house and sends Amanda and Beth over to clean. Since Amanda snitched, she's out of the club, which, let's be honest, blessing in disguise that.
When they arrive to the house, more "Help Me"s are written on the walls. The mirror glows again and Beth goes inside, only for the ghost to exit. The ghost corners Amanda, but gives her a locket containing a picture of the nanny. Amanda runs off to get the old woman while Beth's still stuck in the mirror. And with ample time to spare as the old woman is being sent away. Amanda catches her in time and shows her the locket, then brings her to the house where she is reunited with the ghost, her daughter.
The two enter the mirror where they're reunited at last and we get a rather sweet ending. Back to Beth who's still in the mirror however. And, conveniently, her friends arrive. Amanda tells Beth to stop bossing her friends around and she can be let go. Then she opens the mirror closet where she falls out. So, happy ending on that note too. The episode ends with Kristen opening her gift, which is a locket because of course it is. Still super mega happy ending for everyone!
The Tale of the Lonely Ghost is your standard haunted house story with very little variation on the concept. The story centering around a ghost girl being reunited with her mother is a nice take and does give us a genuinely sweet ending. As for everything else, it works fine enough. Amanda's likable, but lacks much character aside from being the good kid in comparison to Beth who is our snob character who has to learn the error of her ways, which I guess she did? I do kind of wish we did more stuff in the house as it feels like we don't get much time with the ghost or the house as we have to build on a lot of exposition. But when it delivers a fairly solid outcome, it's hard to complain about either. So while not the most amazing episode ever, it's hardly a Zeeb. The Tale of Laughing in the Dark gets a B+.
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