“Spooksville”: Newcomer Keean Johnson takes up residence in Hub Network’s scary town

Spooksville is a show about a young man moving into a strange new place and experiencing a life he never expected or thought possible. Minus the ancient curses and interdimensional monsters, it’s not all that different from the tale of its star, Keean Johnson. The young star is getting his first big break as the lead in the new Hub Network series, which is an adaptation of the popular book series by legendary young-adult author Christopher Pike.

Johnson plays Adam, who moves with his dad (Steve Bacic) to Springville a seemingly sleepy small town that Adam is expecting to loathe. Yet it’s not long before he starts noticing very strange events — and creatures — inhabiting his new home, and he takes up with local weirdos Sally (Katie Douglas) and Watch (Nick Purcha), who devote their time to finding out the town’s many secrets. Then there’s the local prominent family that is believed to be descended from witches, including the current generation represented by Ann Templeton (Morgan Taylor Campbell).

The trio’s adventures include finding secret portals through time, uncovering mysterious artifacts and going into battle with all sorts of strange and supernatural forces.

It hasn’t been quite that scary for Johnson, whose previous showbiz experience has been onstage as a dancer. He’s been doing that since he was 5, and at one point was dancing in the Broadway version of Billy Elliott. But he eventually caught the acting bug, and the Colorado native persuaded his family to move to Los Angeles where he began auditioning nearly two years ago. All that effort is about to pay off with the premiere of Spooksville.

“It’s kind of this crazy roller coaster ride that I’ve started,” Johnson says. “I am incredibly nervous. I’m so happy that something I’m so proud of is about to finally be something. It’s about to be on television, which is all I can ask for. Now, all else that I can ask for is that people will love it and look at the show and see how much time everyone … put it. The thing is, it is a kid’s show, but it’s something that we took so much time that it’s good quality. … I don’t see many kids hanging out with their parents and watching television with their parents, and I feel this is a good show to help start that again.”

Spooksville premieres at 10pm Saturday, Oct. 26, on The Hub Network.

Keean Johnson (left) and Katie Douglas star in The Hub Network's "Spooksville."
Keean Johnson (left), Nick Purch (center) and Katie Douglas star in The Hub Network’s “Spooksville.” Courtesy of The Hub Network