"Real Scary Stories" and "UM"

[Beetlejuice69]

Anyone remember a kids show on the Family Channel called "Real Scary Stories"? It was a lot like UM in the since that the segments were documentary-style and based on supposedly true encounters the kids telling the stories had with ghosts. Anyway, that show was really scary and I was wondering if anyone knew whether or not any ghost segments from that show were featured on UM. To be perfectly honest, I thought the show was too intense for kids to watch; some of the kids on the show got really, really terrified from their encounters.

The scariest one was when a bunch of kids were scoping out the remains of a factory that blew up the woods a couple of decades ago. The camera crew that was with the kids, as well as the kids' own cameras, caught an infestation of orbs...which followed them home in the final shot. ALL 100% REAL FOOTAGE.

Spooksey.

[Frontierfling17K]

I most certainly remember that show! It aired on the Family Channel in the spring of 2001 every Saturday and Sunday at noon. I think it made it's debut a short time before that like maybe in the late fall of 2000. Anyway I watched it every week and found it quite interesting. Each episode would begin with a dark screen full of smoke and the words (narrators with eerie voices would speak them) "Imagine hearing an odd sound that can't be explained, or seeing a shadowy figure move but no one is there. A light flickers, you feel a cold breat on your neck. Is it your imagination, or is it REAL?" appearing on screen. Then the title Real Scary Stories would appear. It featured kids would exploring different places around the world which were congested in paranormal activity. These included Alcatraz Prison, Winchester Mystery House, Queen Mary (a docked cruise ship in Long Beach) Eastern States Penetentiary, ghost towns of the Western US, an underground city in the UK and various homes, and landmarks. In one episode three kids, each holding their own cam recorder went into an old house in an abandoned South Daokota town and took assigned positions in different rooms recording supernatural footage. In another episode a young girl spend a night alone on a haunted island off the coast of Maine. Then a young boy spent a night in a haunted Colorado hotel room, and made friends with the ghost of girl his age who died there. He liked this experience so much that he talked the hotel manager into letting him and a group of his friends spend another there alone so they could see this girl, and the boy could introduce them. I can remember many more, but I'll get to those later. I can see that it could be actually quite morbid for young children as they often are scared of the dark and face problems getting to sleep at night. This show could easily make these terrors far more intense in the minds of children, and both them and their parents (who have to help teach them not to be afraid of the dark) at least ten times as miserable, so I agree that unlike most shows on the Family Channel (today the channel has a different name) this one should not be advised as being geared toward every family member!

[Frontierfling17K]

Well I'm finally back. So sorry it took over two months for me finally to return but I would now like to continue what I was writing. As I said in my previous reply I most certainly remember that incredible series on the family channel called Real Scary Stories, and am currently mystified as to what happened to it. It only kept up for one season (I think) and the left the air completely. It supposedly was not very popular but I wish it would at least be released on DVD or VHS so that all of who enjoyed it can re-live fond memories. Unlike other paranormal documentary series like Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, Encounters: The Hidden Truth, and others this one outlined it's story segments from a less mature perspective, and while remaining serious not yanking our chains about what was real and what was unreal it was a bit more on the humorous or young-at-heart side. I think this was because almost all the individuals interviewed or featured on it were either teens or children who always clearly knew ahead of time never to doubt the possibility of the existence of what they were pursuing or pondering. I sure like to hear from them who participated on what their parents/teachers/guardians etc felt about them going on television and revealing to everyone worldwide that they believed in this alternate side of reality, and were not hesitant about interacting with it!

[Beetlejuice69]

You know, I didn't think when I created this thread that it would be THIS long until I would post a response. Sorry about that.

Anyhoo, I was talking to a friend of mine who works at Suncoast if they remembered this show, and they told me that it gave them nightmares every time. She mentioned that episode about the boy who met a ghost in his hotel room. Was it at a Holiday Inn? My friend mentioned an episode I must have missed about a boy whose parents bought him an old bed which was supposedly haunted by a dead boy. The boy would come to him and either it or the living boy would write messages the ghost wanted to say. SCARY!