The Midnight Society made SNICK spooky — and changed the game for kids and horror.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?, the Nickelodeon horror anthology series, was one of the first to bring the genre to kids in a way that engaged and respected them. The show was focused on The Midnight Society, a group of tweens and teens who would gather around a campfire taking turns telling their scariest stories.

The tales shared on the show were adaptations of public domain fairy tales, urban legends and short stories that were brought to life by an impressive young cast that included Ross Hull, Daniel DeSanto and JoAnna Garcia Swisher.

Hull played Gary, head of The Midnight Society, from the pilot through the conclusion of the original series, returning for a cameo in the series’ first revival in 1999. DeSanto played Gary’s little brother, Tucker, who heads up The Midnight Society in the revival. Garcia Swisher played Sam, a tough girl also introduced in season 3 who had a soft spot for romance and would go on to date Gary later in the series.

Each character having their own interests and flair for storytelling is part of what made the series so intriguing for viewers. As Hull, DeSanto and Garcia Swisher tell PEOPLE, it made it special for the actors as well.

“I remember being really nervous because Sam was a tough girl and I mean I felt like it was taking on the role of a lifetime. I was like, ‘How am I going to pull this off?’ ” Garcia Swisher, 45, recalls. “But I loved it. She was a little rougher around the edges, at least in my mind, I found her to be.”

“I enjoyed that I got to annoy Ross, or Gary, on set every day,” DeSanto, 44, laughs. “I’ve known Ross Hull for a very long time and we still get to see each other at least once a year. Every time I see him, I just fall back into that little brother mode — not in a bad way, but it’s a familiar kind of thing. It’s nice.”

Hull recalls relating to certain aspects of Gary’s character at that time in his life. “I was pretty serious back then. I took myself seriously and I think that the weight of being the leader was tough. I never really was a leader in terms of the situation when I was in high school or anything like that. I really never really led anything. So it kind of felt like pressure sometimes that I had to keep everyone in line and in check, especially Tucker, Daniel’s character,” he shares.

Hull, 49, also enjoyed Gary’s penchant for magic. “The connection to magic and sorcery that Gary had with some of his stories were kind of interesting. I actually learned a few things from the scripts and kind of delved into some of those things.”

“Every character was different and I think really, that’s what brought us all together, those differences. We all melded in an interesting way.”

The show’s spooky episodes were as fun to put together as they were to watch.

“My favorite was the first time I got to sit in the storyteller’s chair. It was ‘The Tale of The Midnight Ride.’ I remember getting to throw that Carnation Instant Milk with sparkles into the fire,” DeSanto says. “It’s my first big memory of the show. There was something special about telling my first story.”

Garcia Swisher, who was introduced to fans with “The Tale of Watcher’s Woods,” agrees.

“I remember thinking it was so cool to be throwing Carnation Instant Milk on the fire to make it spark,” she laughs. “Then I remember … we shot the wraparound, so we didn’t really see the actors that were kind of bringing the stories to life, but we did one day and I was terrified. I was like, ‘This is so scary. These people are so good.’ ”

Hull says it was his return to the revival that stands out to him.

“When I came back for, when Daniel’s character Tucker had taken over as The Midnight Society leader, but Gary made a return in “The Tale of the Silver Sight.” That was a three-part episode, so that was kind of interesting too, to meet the new cast and interact with them. It was outside of the campfire environment, for some of it anyway, and it was kind of an adventure that each member of The Midnight Society took on. So that was a cool experience, to come back.”

Many millennials, including creators who have gone on to contribute to the genre, credit Are You Afraid of the Dark? for piquing their interest in horror and thrillers.

“I just thought it was really such a cool thing that they were able to make a show that sort of rooted in horror but for kids, but also kind of pushed the limits and it didn’t talk down to the audience,” Garcia Swisher says.

“It was like, ‘We know you can handle it.’ And I think that was really cool. It was exhilarating as a kid to be able to watch stuff like that. It never was making a show for kids. It never felt like that to me. And I always felt really proud of that.”

DeSanto says he’s been honored to meet creators and fans who attribute their love for the genre to the show.

“Almost a year ago today I was in St. John [Canada] shooting something and they have Fogfest, which is a film festival completely dedicated to the horror genre. A friend of mine was hosting, so I got to see a couple. I saw one film and I met the director afterwards and he was like, ‘I can’t believe you were in Are You Afraid of the Dark? For me growing up, that was a huge reason of why I’m in the horror genre now and why I made this movie and why my next film is going to be that.’ ”

He continues, “It’s weird to see the impact this many years later. There’s a whole generation that grew up on it that now are keeping it going.”

Hull says it’s been “hard for me to understand or fathom” the show’s impact. “I was part of it, so I had my own experience, but obviously people have connections from watching the show. I’ve heard from people that are now directing in the horror genre that were inspired by Are You Afraid of the Dark? to start filmmaking, to start getting involved in it. I love it. I love the horror genre. I think there’s something exciting and exhilarating about watching a film, especially in an actual theater or with friends that’s going to scare you and you know that’s going to happen. It’s kind of like a roller coaster ride and I don’t think there’s any feeling like that.”

Laughing, DeSanto adds, “There’s no way we could get away with that show, I think, today. So thank God it was then and it was ahead of its time.”

Throughout the show’s run, there were a number of timely guest stars, including Neve Campbell, Tia Mowry, Ryan Gosling and Melissa Joan Hart. However, the trio reveals the cast “never really got to meet” any of them.

“We shot the campfire wraparounds all within two or three week chunks,” DeSanto explains. “They’d film them back to back, so the only time we would see them would be if they showed up for a test. You also didn’t know who Ryan Gosling was or any of these people, so now it’s cool to say.”

“We were kind of our own separate entity,” Hull agrees. “Sometimes we’d see some sets being built or a camera test. We might see them briefly, but we had to get back to work and get back to campfires, so we didn’t have a whole lot of time.”

The three say it’s not unusual to encounter fans who remember the show fondly today.

“A lot of times it’s someone who remembers getting together with their friends to watch or sneaking around to watch the show without their parents knowing,” Hull says.

“I’m a meteorologist with Global News now and not everyone knows I was on the show. Some of my colleagues will know me as the meteorologist. Then someone will tell them and they’ll start looking back and it’ll kind of click in. They’re excited about the fact that I was on that show back then too.”

“The fact that it’s still so vibrant and important to them this many years later and new generations of people watching the show too,” he continues. “I’ve met a bunch of Nickelodeon fans and it was just unbelievable how much they still love the show and how much it meant to them. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Garcia Swisher says her friends thought it was “cool” that she was part of the cast and that enthusiasm has followed her from fans of the show in the years since.

“People will be like, ‘I love Are You Afraid Of the Dark?’ And I’m like, ‘Man, that’s a flash from the past. I love that,'” Garcia Swisher says.

“It’s nice. I feel like I hear that often. It’s one of those shows, where people are like, ‘I grew up on that show.’ It’s always something super specific that’s super meaningful in someone’s memory or life in their younger years, so it’s always fun. I remember thinking, ‘This is so well done and so special and so beautiful.’ We got to do a lot of really fun things together.”

Source: People