INTERIORS: Exploring The Magic Mansion from ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK

On September 19, 1992, the Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode titled "The Tale of the Super Specs" premiered on Nickelodeon's Saturday Night block of programs known as SNICK. It was only the sixth episode in the series thus far and I'd yet to miss a single one. I was 9 years old. 

The story deals with a cheap pair of novelty glasses that, when worn, allows one to peer into another dimension inhabited by malevolent shadow people. On its own it's certainly a favorite of mine and one of the more famous episodes for being genuinely creepy with an ambiguously downbeat ending. But I didn't go to sleep that night overwhelmed with existential dread - contrarily, I was left feeling full of wonderment and desire -- not from the actual main premise of the show, but from the set design of one of its locations. More specifically, the props. 

This is one of the extremely few episodes that doesn't open around the campfire, but instead we begin during the daytime inside The Magic Mansion, a store owned by Gary's father. Gary is one of the storytellers in each episode's wraparound segments and is kinda the lead in a way, and in this setup Kristen (one of the other series regulars) is here to inform Gary that the gang feels his stories have waned in quality. (Heavy stuff.) That night Gary predictably uses The Magic Mansion as a central location in his new tale that manages to wow his audience. 

This lead in, the whole story that follows, everything else was just window-dressing to me - the real star, the real point of this one is The Magic Mansion; not since Mario's Magic Shop in Pee-wee's Big Adventure had I witnessed such hardcore pornography so casually cast upon my hungry eyes. 

For as fortunate and secure as my childhood may've been, the most glaring depravation within my little safety bubble was a lack of a legit Magic Shop (or Joke Store, depending if I was in more of a Legend of Zelda mood or a Batman mood). Looking at The Magic Mansion it appears to be a bit of both: foam ice cream cones, plastic fried eggs, fake puke, mixed in with various gothic idols and potion bottles, all anchored by a selection of monster masks to solidify it as an emporium of one-stop shopping. 

Ideally I just wanted my home to resemble this setting (or at least my bedroom) and as God as my witness I did my absolute best and took every step in trying to achieve that, and through flea market finds and repurposing store-bought toys I managed to amass enough decor to pass for the overall mood. 

It helps that the art direction (from fashionably named Art Director Réal Proulx) consists mostly of plastic dime store junk and rubber Halloween party favors. I'd no interest in that phoniness, but the onscreen stuff that was obtainable was sand art in curvy glass bottles and skull shaped coffee cups and decks of playing cards and leather-bound books, as well as my own contributions like multicolored candles and ornate incense burners that really tied the room together. Though my most screen accurate acquisition was a small velvet bag with a drawstring that I filled with baby powder to recreate the magic dust that transforms the ordinary specs into the titular super specs. 

I don't have much of that stuff anymore and my tastes in home decorating have shifted and broadened over the decades, but every time I revisit this episode the attraction is still there and just as strong. There actually are hole in the wall "Mystic Stores" that do exist on this planet if you look hard enough (if you've ever been to Salem, Massachusetts you'd think you'd hit the main nerve) but you'd be hard pressed to find an establishment that stocks crystal balls and rubber dog shit on the same shelf. Only in the world of SNICK do these dreams become reality. 

I don't know. Maybe it was Canada. 

- Paul

INTERIORS

We all knew we couldn't stay away from this subject for long - there're just too many to consider. Case in point: the combined filmographies of Kubrick, Woody Allen, and David Lynch alone are enough for its own series of sexy sets. But we'll try not to be so pre-diddly-ictable and continue to keep it inclusive.

Still though...

Bill's basement bar - Edward Scissorhands

Inside each of these pastel postwar suburban homes is a "man cave" like this - back when they were a bit cooler.

If I ever had a big enough house, I'd certainly set aside a spot to recreate this retro nook (and stay fully stocked in lemonade).


Hallorann's bedroom - The Shining

Never mind the black velvet smut and the big sexy bed - when Dick has to fly halfway across the country and drive up a mountain through a blizzard only to get chopped up into little bits, it makes the room he left behind seem that much cozier and safer.


The vault - The Addams Family

Every room of the house is altogether ooky, but nothing beats the seemingly-endless cathedral of gold coins and precious stones that Scrooge McDuck would sell his nephews for.
Added to that, one understandably needs to get past a secret bookcase and go down a sorta happy-fun slide and ferry across an underground canal to get to it... It all adds to its appeal.


The Flamingo Hotel suite - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The room itself isn't without its shag-carpet charm, but it isn't until the boys do some redecorating that it really comes to a fantastic note. Ignoring the solidified mustard and ankle-deep still water, the psychedelic array of Christmas lights, stuffed animals, and Debbie Reynolds shrine translate into a kinda Ralph Steadman art installation. I attempted to recreate this look for my bedroom as a teenager.


McDonald's - All the President's Men

I'ma just leave this here...


Harry's Apartment - The Conversation

It may be a model of simplicity, but it's still early 1970s simplicity. From the middle-of-the-road furniture and light fixtures to the Woolworth's knickknacks to any other home furnishings acquired by a man attempting to appear 'ordinary' all add up to a standard showroom of a comfortable bachelor lifestyle.


Nintendo Game Player's Hotline - The Wizard

Only a handful of workplaces come to mind, and none of them feature gray office cubicles and headset telephones - unless, of course, you can kick back with Nintendo Power magazine all day & answer questions about Double Dragon and Ninja Gaiden.


The Beatles' home - Help!

You gotta hand it to the set designers: if the fictional '65 Beatles lived in a house together, this is what it'd be - one sprawling living room vaguely divided into four separate cartoonish gimmicks.
Most who've seen the movie usually agree that John's setup with the swivel bookshelves and sunken bed is the sexiest.

INTERIORS

Interesting set design can often make mediocre movies great, and great movies even better. (I can think of a few turkeys that had me coming back just to get another look at furniture placement.)
It's usually meant to set the scene, provide blocking, or further define a character... but who cares about that crap?
These particular dwellings are where we'd wanna hang out - or live - solely for the decor & ambiance, and (mostly) regardless of what transpired there in the fictional realm.

Here's 10, though I'm sure we can think of more...


Allan's apartment - Play It Again, Sam

Intended as a film geek's secret hideout - today it translates as a super chic early 70s bachelor pad: classic movie posters, robust bookshelves, ample plant life, and an enclosed music nook(!)
For my money, it's the most desirable living quarters on this or any other list.


Kenny's room - Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

It only recently occurred to us that it was, in fact, this room that most likely killed the babysitter - thus setting off the entire chain of events that the title promises.
Ignoring the discarded food remnants and overall teenage pothead squalor, it's just about the neatest and most creative PG-13 metalhead bedroom this side of the sub genre.


Mario's Magic Shop - Pee Wee's Big Adventure

I wanted -- no, badly needed a store like this in my childhood shopping plaza: a lethal combination of comic book ads, Fangoria magazine, and the Joker's entire arsenal - all wholesale!
Pee Wee's house & yard may be badass, but that's because he shops here.
And they have gum!


The Puttermans' home - TerrorVision

The setting of this ridiculous romp actually outperforms the movie it occupies.
It's meant to be tasteless and tacky, but so much effort was expended in accumulating such an eclectic array of erotic pop art that it comes across as impressively enviable - and a motif that seems easily attainable.


Lance and Jody's home - Pulp Fiction

A charming single-family ranch in a (usually) quiet neighborhood. Comfortable surroundings - perfect for working from home. Spare room in the back can be used as an office, guest bed, or storage for unpacked boxes, a surplus of Fruit Brute, and little black fuckin' medical books.


Josh's apartment - Big

A spacious loft apartment with hardwood floors and floor-to-celing windows is open to interpretation - and it takes the innocence and the edge of a 13 year-old to really tie the room together: board games, a pinball machine, free soda, and some kinda Gumby lounger. And if you're lucky enough, you can coerce a date into jumping on your industrial size trampoline.


Heidi's apartment - The Lords of Salem

An obvious choice (from a criminally underrated flick). This is the first home in an RZ movie that isn't a house of corpses, a white trash garbage dump, or faux domesticity. This is the home of a middle-aged woman from Salem who fancies herself a bit of a low-income rock star, and her place accurately represents that: gothic art, extensive record collection, and the sleek/bleak color coordination. The demons fit right into the furnishings.


The Clubhouse - The Monster Squad

There's a handful of club & tree houses to choose from, but only one is entirely dedicated to horror cinema. Though like most of the locations on this list, we never really get enough scope to spot all the details, which only prompts repeat viewings in an attempt to catalogue all the posters, magazines, toys, and vintage Halloween paraphernalia.


Lowell's home office - The Insider

Maybe it's the excitement of embarking on a big project, or the coziness of doing it in the early grey hours of your day off in your pajamas - in any case, I've always found it implied the perfect atmosphere for watching the movie: with morning coffee, surrounded by literature and inspirational art & photography, before the day's tortious interference kicks in.


The Chelsea Drugstore - A Clockwork Orange

This movie has no shortage of luscious locales: Alex's room, Mr. Alexander's home, the milk bar... but this was the first to spring to mind -- perhaps because I've fantasized my whole life of record & media shops looking this way, only to find myself in a landscape of Best Buys and Circuit Cities.
The future may've been violent as predicted, but it's certainly not this colorful.