WE INTERRUPT OUR WEEKLY RECAP AND REVIEWS FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH BRETT WILSON AND JD GRAVATTE TO PROMOTE AN AWESOME AYAOTD? KICKSTATER CAMPAIGN.

Troy: Welcome to our weekly AYAOTD? recap and review articles, Brett and JD!

Erin: For those who don’t already know, Brett and JD have launched a Kickstarter campaign for Scary Tales: The Ultimate (Unofficial) Guide to ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ -- an episode guide which includes original artwork by Brett, interviews with cast members, and even a foreward by D.J. MacHale!

Brett: Thanks for having us, Erin and Troy! It’s a pleasure to be here and talk AYAOTD with some fellow fans :)

JD: Thanks for having us guys! It’s really exciting to be included in your weekly column.

T: Congratulations on the Kickstarter already being funded, and still rising. There aren’t any stretch goals listed on the site, but do you have anything planned?

B: That’s a good question, Troy. That topic has been discussed at length on multiple occasions among my team and I, and we’ve decided after much deliberation to just keep the focus on the book itself. There were some talks of items like stickers, shirts, and other merch, but we feel it’s best to offer those separately in the coming months instead.

JD: Like Brett said, the book has been in the works for so long that we want to keep the focus on that. There are also some pretty incredible additional rewards available through some of the higher tiers of the Kickstarter.

T: I could not be more excited for new AYAOTD? content. As a very amateur artist myself, I love your artwork, Brett. I know there’s no real answer, but rough ballpark average, how long did it take to conceive of an episode’s art until it was finalized on your computer?

B: Thank you, I appreciate that :) Oh geez… that is a tricky question, because there’s no simple answer to that (or at least a short one). When I started this project back in October 1, 2017, it was just some loose sketching to see if I even wanted to explore this idea. Once I decided to make a series out of the artwork, which was dubbed “91 Days of AYAOTD”, each piece took roughly 8-12 hrs to make. However, there’s a catch; this was the average of just the first round of drawings! You see, along my journey, I’ve had some software and hardware issues, in addition to file format issues. My computer even broke down half-way while I was in California, and this book never would’ve happened if it weren’t for some quick thinking and a friend rushing to my aid. Each time these complications had risen, it would either make my current artwork too blurry or pixelated to show to anybody. Being the perfectionist I am, I wouldn’t stand for displaying low-quality work. So, I took the burden upon myself to redraw everything not just once, not twice, but THREE times over the past three years of development. If I were to do a more accurate calculation, we’re looking at around 40hrs per illustration, and that includes: 2-4 rough sketches, 1 refined sketch, a low-res 1.0 inked version, a 2.0 inked version, and a finalized 3.0 inked version. This wasn’t by design, but rather me adjusting to the setbacks so I could finish this book at all costs. So, if you combine all that time with the time it took for me to illustrate all the other sections and graphical elements constantly added in and refined to perfection, we’re looking at an upwards of 15,000 hours spent on everything (makes me wish I got compensated for all those hours, but you know, that’s the price I pay for the fans).

E: Holy cannoli! Did you find yourself refining/improving the illustrations each time you had to redraw them? Did any of them change significantly?

B: Very much so. Each time I found myself re-drawing each episode, it wasn’t just a straight trace. Due to my perfectionist nature (even if I try my hardest to abandon it), I always found ways to look at the same art with a new set of eyes. In some cases, a concept may be further refined with not only cleaner lines, but correcting the perspective of the piece a bit, adjusting some proportions of characters relative to objects (“A Door Unlocked” is the best example of this) adding in additional or entirely different shading to create a more dramatic effect, and just all-around polish. While it sucks I had to draw so many images to the point of putting severe strain on my drawing arm, each time I did it, the art only got better, never worse. In a few instances, I also felt certain pieces needed either the same subject matter shown from a different angle (see “Unexpected Visitor”) or just an entirely different subject altogether (“Twisted Claw”). All in all, despite the struggle, I’m very proud of the final product, and for anyone who gives this book a serious read, they’ll see a healthy helping of all the sketches, concept art, and final illustrations I’ve created along this journey.

T: The AYAOTD? fan community seems to be growing every single day, and I think this Kickstarter campaign proves just how impressive that is. The first Kickstarter wasn’t successfully funded, and this one surpassed your goal after just a week. I discovered that first Kickstarter a few months too late, and Erin found it a year later. Fast forward and now we each learned about this campaign within hours. I think that’s a testament to how much the community has come together the last year and a half.

B: For sure (though it was funded in 3 days, not a week) ;) There wasn’t much activity back then (almost none when I first started my journey), and I was also on my own just barely scraping by, so the initial Kickstarter didn’t have much traction behind it - even when promoting it to friends and family. This time was different, however. This time, I took my time; I got help from the AYAOTD Army; I kept the passion alive and did side-jobs to hold me over until now, and what we see now is the result of persistence, plus faith. It’s a beautiful thing to see dozens of fans come out of the woodwork to celebrate our common cause, and with this book, I can confidently say that we made “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” history - together as community and creator.

JD: Troy, I think you’re right. The fan community is growing every day. Honestly, I found Brett through his art and he brought together our small group of really passionate fans that have worked together to make this final push to get the Kickstarter together and funded for the book. There is so much passion and nostalgia for the show right now and that is exciting to see.

E: Do you think the increased interest in AYAOTD? content was kicked off by the limited series Nickelodeon aired last year or by nostalgia for a classic series hitting a bunch of ’90s kids all at the same time?

JD: Erin, I think that the limited series had a huge impact. Even if you didn’t like it (I am on the side of really enjoying it and appreciating it for what it is while still wishing that it had more ties to the original), I think it made a lot of people remember the original show and look into how to watch it and what other content is out there related to it.

E: Oh, I loved it. Team Graham for life!

B: My sentiments are similar. The “Carnival of Doom” mini-series was a solid offering of AYAOTD? in the modern era, yet part of me wished it still held true to some of the old conventions us ’90s kids are already accustomed to. On its own, it’s an enjoyable watch with the family. As a part of the AYAOTD? timeline, there are some parts that could be improved to integrate it into the series’ legacy better, mostly story and character quirks.

T: JD, can you tell us about your contributions to the book?

JD: I would say my biggest contribution has been securing interviews. When I came on board, Brett already had some pretty great interviews, but I really worked to track down people through social media, and their agents, and really any means that I could. I was surprised how successful I was and how willing so many people were to help us out. It really shows how passionate the people involved with the show were and how many fond memories they still have.

T: I’m really excited that there’s some surprise interviews in here along with the obvious like Ron Oliver, who we’ve chatted with, too. Can you give us a few hints at some of the other interview subjects? B: I’m gonna be very tight-lipped about this since we have assimilated more interviews spanning across the entire AYAOTD? spectrum that I could ever imagine when first starting out, and I would rather leave it a surprise for those who have backed the book already. We have a balanced mix of cast, crew, writers, and directors, so there’s something for everyone here. As for some heavy hitters, let’s just say… a certain glasses-wearing storyteller was first on our list ;)

JD: Like Brett said, we want to keep most of the interviews under wraps. But, in addition to that certain glasses-wearing storyteller Brett hinted at, we were also able to track down an extremely elusive actress. Let’s just say, she may have been using her spooky storytelling witchcraft to stay hidden all of these years.

E: *Squeeeeeee!* Cast interviews are always exciting, but I’m genuinely curious to hear from some of the crew members and writers. Though, speaking of the cast, which Midnight Society member do you identify with most? Is it the same member you identified with when you watched the series as a kid?

JD: When I was a kid, I WAS Gary. I was nerdy, I was super into writing and stories, I wasn’t that confident when trying to talk to the girls that I had crushes on. I also like to think that I was a bit of a quiet leader. As an adult, I actually found myself identifying with Frank way more than I thought I ever would. His tough guy act is such a clear “mask” he is wearing. He grows so much from the kid picking on Eric to the guy who admits to being afraid of the dark and teaming up with Gary for a shared Tale. Sure, he still picks on Tucker (we all get it, he’s the worst) and I don’t like his treatment of Sam, but I just feel like he had more going on in his life that we don’t get to see as viewers that was influencing who he was and how he told his stories.

B: Well said, JD. Frank is a solid choice, as he has many excellent tales to offer. As for me, I too can confess that I was a Gary growing up. Nerdy, tall, skinny, introverted, into magic, and a little eager to please the ladies. The nice thing about Gary is despite his character flaws, he takes his job to-heart. Gary keeps the group coming back for more for several years (both on and off-camera), and whether or not you like the guy, you have to respect him for keeping the campfire storytelling tradition going. (Spoilers?) When he returned for “The Silver Sight” in Season 7, all I could think of was what a legend he had become - someone as grandiose as say, Tommy Oliver from the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers series. Aside from Gary, I most identified with David - the quiet, sensitive romantic who often channeled his personal problems into his stories. Yep - that’s one way to make great art haha. At least he seemed to successfully woo Kristen in the process.

T: Erin and I have a tradition that I surprise her with a Christmas gift and she makes me pick out what she’ll get me. As soon as I saw the Kickstarter campaign, I knew it would be this year’s Christmas gift. I can’t think of a better gift for a ’90s kid than an AYAOTD? coffee table book. Did you plan to have this ready for the holidays or was it a very happy coincidence?

B: It feels like the stars aligned for us, in this case. As you’re aware, it was originally scheduled for a June 2019 campaign with an October 2019 release, but that fizzled out fast. This time around, with a year’s worth of experience added to our development, targeting October 2020 made it easy for us to get it shipped by the late holiday season in December, because the book is already done. All that we need to do between the end of the campaign and the end of 2020 is to bundle all the rewards, order the books, and ship them out as fast (and securely) as possible. Come 2021, everything is a done deal - feels like the perfect note to end the year.

JD: Once we really had finalized the bulk of the book content and looked at our timeline, it seemed like a perfect combination to be able to campaign in October and have the book to backers by the Holiday Season. Like you said Troy, we are hoping that people will get this as a gift to share with others in their lives who love AYAOTD? but may not see the Kickstarter on their own.

THANKS AGAIN TO BRETT AND JD FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND STOPPING BY THIS WEEK. CHECK OUT THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN, AND SOME OF THE GORGEOUS ARTWORK, HERE.