DAWN & THE HAUNTED HOUSE

The Baby-Sitters Club

Season 1 (1990)

Somehow in my youth I never read a single Baby-Sitters Club book, though like any late 80s to 90s kid I was well aware of them.  The Baby-Sitters Club books were something rooted in the background of my childhood, found on library shelves and inside friends’ backpacks, most notable for their awesome covers and that baby block logo.  Despite the massive success of the book series the TV series was a one-season flop and was already a failure regulated to reruns when I first discovered it.  It was one of those midday Saturday afternoon shows found on the Disney Channel, aired only for the very bored and/or lazy.  Of course I watched it.

The best thing about the show, then and now, is its insanely catchy theme song.  Seriously, I defy you not to sing along…

To call “Dawn and the Haunted House” a Halloween episode is something of a stretch, even for my somewhat loose standards.  It falls into a haunted house subgenre that shows often substitute for an actual Halloween episode.  To even use the word “haunted” in this case is pushing it.  Dawn isn’t even really the central character, so basically the title should just be “And the…House.”  Still, it’s the closest thing to a Halloween episode the Baby-Sitters Club offered so I’ll take it.

The plot is your basic “misunderstood neighbor woman believed to be a witch but turns out to be nice.”  The girls in the titular club are leery of spooky neighbor Mrs. Slade.  While in the woods near her house they discover a sick dog and a weird pile of stones (very Blair Witch) and at the hardware store they witness her buying a shovel and… A BROOM!  Burn her!!!!  Obviously, she’s a witch.  I mean, she bought a broom.  

Do not buy a broom in front of these two.  Not even a mop.

At their spooky attic sleepover Claudia is weirdly defensive of Mrs. Slade.  So naturally her rational, loving friends deduce that she’s under a spell.  When they later see her in Mrs. Slade’s house they hatch a scheme in which Mrs. Slade is sent running to the woods to search for an imaginary sick dog while they rescue Claudia.  Who, it turns out, is just being tutored by Mrs. Slade, who is not a witch but a former veterinarian who just really cares about animals.  To the girls’ credit, I myself have confused many a veterinarian for a witch in my day.  They are practically indistinguishable.

The girl gang then rushes into the woods to rectify their mistake, eventually all barking like dogs to better attract Mrs. Slade’s attention.  So yes, you do get a scene of the various members of the Baby-Sitter’s Club all simultaneously barking like dogs in the woods.  Bonus!

There’s a nice little coda at the end in which the girls don monster masks to scare Claudia, which is about as Halloweeny as things get.

Heading off to dish out some more vigilante justice

 Halloween Quotient: 1

See It, Skip It, Own It?

This one is a skip, but hold out for the amazing Christmas diabetes episode (to come!).