Our Favourite Halloween Episodes
We love Halloween here at the Be Nothing Club in case you couldn’t tell from the theme of our new issue. As such we thought we’d break down our favourite Halloween TV episodes. Some were made specifically for the season while others are just generally spooky enough to watch at Halloween. So, without further ado, let the spook begin!
Liam - Over the Garden Wall
This entry is possibly cheating but my go to Halloween watch is Patrick McHale’s animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall. Released in 2014, McHale’s series follows brothers Wirt and Greg as they journey through a mysterious world called the Unknown. The series has a unique art style, combining vintage Halloween postcards with landscape paintings of New England and even referencing illustrations from various books including Alice in Wonderland. Each episode of the series is a delight and runs at roughly 11 minutes each. It’s a perfect seasonal viewing, full of spook and autumnal vibes.
What’s so great about the series is how much McHale and his team manage to cover in each story, despite the short episode length. Featuring some great music by the Blasting Company and some terrific voice work from Elijah Wood, Collin Dean and Melanie Lynskey, this series is a Halloween treat and worth the watch!
Episodes range from the delightful insane, such as Greg’s visit to the cloud kingdom to the simply unnerving like the tavern episode. Ultimately though the series is full of characters who combine both Autumn and Halloween to delightful effect.
Casey - Mystery Hunters
It might surprise absolutely no one, but I can handle surprisingly spooky content a lot better now than I ever did as a child. I was the one girl in class who hasn’t read Goosebumps! because they sounded really scary (to 11-year-old me). But one show that I really loved for its spine-tingling thrills was Discovery Kids’ Mystery Hunters.
Essentially Buzzfeed: Unsolved before Buzzfeed: Unsolved, Mystery Hunters delved into the lore and mystery behind strange and supernatural events from across the globe, guided and investigated by the young hosts Christina and Araya. In many cases, their man-in-the-chair Doubting Dave could explain how some of the spooky happenings occurred - mystical spoon bending, mysterious lights in the sky, possibly faked monster sightings - suitably explained, but never written off.
The most eerie moments were those where all three hosts could not solve the mysteries and the origins and explanations behind them remained unknown - but I won’t spoil those for you.
Loads of fun and suitably bone-chilling, this is a series to check out, if you can. (And it features some very fun Irish-focused mysteries…!)
Kelsie - The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror IV
When I think of Halloween, I think of Hocus Pocus, black bin bag costumes and of course The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. I can distinctly remember watching it every Halloween right before I went out trick or treating. While I think all of them are iconic, the episode which I’ve enjoyed the most, again and again, is season 5, episode 5. Otherwise known as Treehouse of Horror IV.
The episode follows the standard Treehouse of Horror format with three mini episodes all following a spooky and scary theme. In this one we see Bart as the narrator and he walks through a hall of paintings, all scary versions of famous works of art. In these cut-scenes Bart breaks the fourth wall and along with other characters who appear and talk directly to the audience, as a child I loved this and even as an adult it’s one of my favourite elements in film.
The first mini story of the show could possibly be one of my favourite television moments of all time, not just Halloween. In The Devil and Homer Simpson we see Homer selling his soul to the Devil, for a donut. More antics ensue throughout the story but ultimately, we get left with Donut-Dad. The image of Donut-Dad for some reason cracks me up every time, so now I have a poster of it in my house.
The second mini story Terror at 5 ½ feet is based on the classic Twilight Zone bit Nightmare at 20,000 feet, another one of my favourites. If you haven't seen that yet then do it now, then come back and watch the Simpsons version, it’s amazing.
While the third mini episode is my least favourite, it does have its good moments. Based on Dracula this episode is all about vampires and the family getting bitten etc. We see some silly gags like the hidden laundry room behind the wall and the big twist at the end.
What I love the most however is the end scene of this episode. The Simpson family comes together and sing a Christmas song, in the style of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Possibly a commentary on how once Halloween is finished it’s straight into the Christmas season.
This Halloween I advise you to watch all the early seasons of Treehouse of Horror, for the sake of your childhood but especially IV, if not only to see Donut-Dad in all his glory.
Kay - The Twilight Zone - Nightmare at 20,000 feet.
For the other eleven months of the year, The Twilight Zone does not really enter my atmosphere. But the minute the clock strikes midnight after the 30th of Sept we are into 'Spooky Season', witches, and the melodic eery voice of Rod Serling fills my flat.
A particular episode I watch is Nightmare at 20,000 feet which coincidentally Kelsie mentioned above. Our story follows a man, Robert (a young William Shatner) who is recovering from a nervous breakdown and is returning home by flight. On his plane he witnesses a creature on the wing destroying the mechanics. When Robert alerts the plane of the gremlin's existence, no one else sees it and believes Robert has gone insane again.
The episode is arguably one of The Twilight Zone most popular, and it's easy to see why. It taps into the very real fear of flying, of not being believed, and of being helpless. And it is done so well and is thoroughly an enjoyable watch!
With depicting timeless fears, the episode itself becomes timeless, yes the makeup and such is a bit questionable nowadays but the base of the story remains. And it's told again and again through different forms and mediums.
So, turn off the lights, and let Rod Serling bring on a journey into The Twilight Zone.
Anna Mac - The Office, Costume Contest (Episode 6, Season 7)
Not exactly the scariest of episodes, or series for that matter, but I have been a sucker for the Halloween episodes of The Office since I first watched it as a teenager who needed a well-deserved 7 hour break each day from studying for my Leaving Certificate (a much scarier time in my opinion).
Halloween time in The Office world is an opportunity for fun and mischief - trick or treat if you will - and this episode presents itself no differently. The costumes are excellent: my favourite are Ryan, office ‘hottie’ dressed as none other than Canadian teen pop sensation Justin Bieber (LOML) and Kevin, dressed as a scruffy looking Michael Moore.
In this particular episode, there is a costume contest for a coupon book ‘worth’ $15,000. The whole office misunderstands the true worth of the coupon book, and each character makes the utmost effort with their costumes to win the grand prize.
We cannot talk about this episode without giving a shout out to office dweeb Gabe, dolled up to the nines as Lady Gaga, in her Poker Face era. An excellent choice of costume for the least charismatic character in The Office, while Dwight opts for the infamous Scranton Strangler, a character who has been a recurring topic within the show’s universe.
Amidst some classic office drama, the episode ends, amidst controversy between Darryl and Michael, with a catwalk scene of each character showing off their costumes soundtracked to The Monster Mash. From some epic robotic moves from Gabe as Gaga, to Angela changing costume to a sexy nurse, this episode will bring you more laughs than yelps, and is not to be missed this Halloween season.
Amy Louise - Community, Epidemiology (Episode 6, Season 2)
Community is a joy regardless of the episode (we won’t talk about the fourth season). Horror and comedy go hand in hand, which is why one of my favourite Halloween episodes of any show is Season 2’s Epidemiology (which is also, delightfully, the 31st episode of Community). Set during a Halloween party being held on campus, everything goes to hell when the Dean’s poorly thought-out choice of party food, a hazardous substance found at an army surplus store, causes the partygoers to turn into a violent zombie-like state that can be spread through bites.
This fun mini tribute to the horror genre hits all the right spots, poking fun at some tropes, such as when a character mistakenly believes he’s immune to the virus before immediately succumbing, while also throwing critique, such as the moment when Abed sacrifices himself so Troy can be “the first black man to escape”. There’s also a very fun tribute to Aliens (1986) with excellent payoff.
It doesn’t just focus on zombies either. Side plots include Troy and Abed in conflict over their nerdy passions versus Troy’s desire to appear cool as well as an ill-thought hook-up between Shirley and Chang, which ultimately sets a major plotline for the rest of the season. Halloween episodes don’t usually have real implications on a series, instead acting as bottle episodes in which surreal what-abouterys can be explored. So, it’s fun to watch something that is actually referenced by characters in later episodes, even if they all refer to it as “collective roofieing” because nobody can remember what happened.
