Star of the new Nickelodeon show Deadtime Stories Jennifer Stone will probably be familiar to many viewers: she played peachy keen Harper on Wizards of Waverly Place with Selena Gomez. Now, she is changing it up with this show that packs quite a nice combo: creepy-educational. In each episode of Deadtime Stories, Jennifer as ‘the Babysitter’ takes the different kids in her charge on a wonderful Deadtime Stories adventure that begins with her reading aloud from a book.

“There hasn’t been a show like this in a long time. It’s a unique show for that unique kind of kid,” Jennifer observes. “It’s very heavily based in reading. I love that it’s a show that depicts how you can get lost in a story, just like how you can get lost in reading a book.” But make no mistake, it’s pretty fun too. “Goblins, ghosts witches – it has everything you can imagine!” So the balance between study and scary is there.

As for Jennifer’s preparations to play the slightly macabre Babysitter? “I definitely had to look back at the times I’ve babysat in my life!” she reminisces. “What I love about the Babysitter is she is kind of like the narrator of the whole thing, she kicks off each story. She gets them really enticed by the idea of what each story is going to be about.” Perhaps akin to Ms. Frizzle in The Magic Schoolbus, “she is the curator of the scary. I love that!”

This was definitely the turning of a new page for Jennifer, after her stint on Wizards of Waverly Place. When asked about the differences between these two character, she couldn’t have been more emphatic. “They’re kind of polar opposites!” she states. “Harper was very much sunshine and rainbows. The Babysitter likes everything to be a little chaotic…she loves to scare people (but all in good fun!).”

And that fun translated to set of Deadtime as well. “Whenever you’re working with kids, it brings out your inner kid.” Jennifer remarks. “It allows you to be really silly and goofy.”

The takeaway from Deadtime Stories is an important one, completely in line with Nickelodeon’s programming goals. “Reading is a fun journey,” Jennifer shares, and the show is based on that very concept. It’s a concept kids need to be reminded of over and over again in this age of app-playing and shooter video games; it’s vital to remember just “how adventurous reading can be.”

Deadtime Stories will begin airing on Nickelodeon in early October.