This episode, along with The Girl Who Cried Monster, had a special opening theme on its original premiere in which there was a ten-second remix when R.L. Stine walks through the grass with the briefcase. When the G passes the dog, the music is played with a different instrument. There were also different scenes from the show when the door opened. The two episodes were also the only ones whose titles were in white instead of green.
Tara's calling Michael "Krej", backwards for "jerk", foreshadows time moving backwards for him.
While in the televised version Michael re-experiences his twelfth birthday and being six years old and a baby in the past, the original story has him re-experience his twelfth birthday and the few days prior and being eight years old, seven years old, five years old, four years old, and a baby (one year old). To include more of the book's scenes would have required a two-part episode, but no single scene would have provided a point gripping enough to be a cliffhanger to pick up from since each segment is relatively alike. Dividing the story into two episodes would also have lost the tension created, with it being abruptly cut rather than gradually increasing.
This episode is based on Goosebumps book #28.
Cynthia Belliveau (Mrs Webster) and Larry Mannell (Mr Webster) previously appeared together in Season 1 of the War Of The Worlds (1988-1990) episode "He Feedth Among The Lilies" in 1989.