My Top 10 Halloween Episodes from Animated Programs

For every TV series I grew up with or still watch today, I always look forward to the annual Halloween episode. It’s a special time when an all too familiar TV program can get a dark makeover and swim with the best of what my favorite holiday has to offer. Originally, I was going to countdown my top 10 favorite Halloween episodes from any TV program, but then I realized that there’s more than enough live action Halloween Sit-com episodes to fill its own top 10 list. So, to make sure that I highlight as many great Halloween episodes as I can, I’m going to keep it simple and just stick to episodes from animated programs. Also, I’m not including TV specials like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” or “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” because they weren’t actually episodes from a TV show, they were just specials featuring the popular characters. With all that said, here are my personal top 10 favorite Halloween episodes from animated TV shows. 

  

#10 “When Halloween was Forever” from “The Real Ghostbusters” (Season 1, Episode 8)

 

The Ghostbusters practically seem tailor made for a special Halloween episode, and to be fair their series has had more than one themed around the holiday. However, it’s the first Halloween themed episode from “The Real Ghostbusters” titled “When Halloween was Forever” that I think holds up the best. Ancient Irish ruins have arrived in New York and they appear to date back to the very origin of Halloween itself. After coming into contact with the spooks of Manhattan, the ruins unleash a demonic pumpkin-headed entity who sets monsters and ghosts lose throughout the city and aims to make Halloween night last for all time. I must admit, of all the ways a supernatural villain could bring about the end of the world, an eternal Halloween night sounds pretty awesome. Aside from some really cool creature designs, I love how this episode actually focuses on the ancestral origin of Halloween, and even features a villain that’s connected to the holiday’s inception. Honestly, with a sub-par Ghostbusters sequel and reboot, it makes me wonder why they couldn’t have a live action movie based on this set up. I’d love to see that pumpkin headed monster in a live action Ghostbusters movie.      

    

#9 “Ghost of a Chance” from “Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers” (Season 2, Episode 9) 

Back when I was just a little kid in the early 90’s and grew up with the Disney Channel, my favorite program by far was “Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers”. Regrettably they never had a specific Halloween themed episode, but they did at least have a number of spooky adventures that could pass for one. A personal favorite of mine is “Ghost of a Chance” in which the team’s strongest member Monterey Jack meets the ghost of his great ancestor and must do a brave deed in order to save his trapped soul. What follows is an exciting venture into a spooky castle, a battle with a giant ghost-cat monster, and a confrontation with the shows best villain Fat Cat. The castle setting gives the episode its atmosphere, and there’s even a tense climax with our hero’s caught in a slow moving death trap. This episode also has a humble message about concurring ones fear, and it’s cool to have a supernatural venture with a Ghost that needs to redeem himself for past failures.  

      

#8 “Chi of the Vampire” from “Jackie Chan Adventures” (Season 2, Episode 35)

“Jackie Chan Adventures” was a unique little show from my childhood that combined martial arts action with global adventures. The show had two episodes specially made for Halloween, and one of them was actually set on the holiday itself, but that’s not the one I’m highlighting on this countdown. In the season 2 episode titled “Chi of the Vampire” the Chans venture to a spooky castle in search for antics for their shop, unaware that they’ve become the prey to a special bread of Chinese Vampire. What makes this vampire so unique is that he sucks the spiritual life force out of its victims as opposed to blood. With our hero’s slowly being drained they must in tern share their own life essences, which leads to fun sequences of personality swapping. Aside from the comedic character moments and exciting creature action, this episode makes my list for expanding on the mythos of vampire lore and culture. It’s cool to think that different breads of vampires live in different parts of the world, and this bread of Chinese vampire is very unique. With its creepy scenery, gothic castle setting and a welcome expansion of vampire lore, this episode manages to overcome Jackie Chans typical annoyances and is worth checking out.      

         

#7 “Eye of the Beholder” from “Gargoyles” (Season 2, Episode 7)

It’s not uncommon for superhero shows to have Halloween themed episodes, but I think that the Gargoyles lend themselves to the season better than any of them. If you’re unfamiliar with Gargoyles, the show revolves around stone warriors brought to life every night to protect New York City from any dangers it may face. On Halloween night danger comes in the form of a savage Werewolf monster, which has gotten the attention of the human detective Elisa and our heroic Gargoyles. However, there’s more to this beast then meets the eye, as it’s soon revealed to be the wife of our hero’s human enemy David Xanatos. Now in order to save her from this monstrous form, enemies must put their feuds aside and work together. For fans of the show, this episode offers great character interaction and development, while casual viewers looking for a cool Halloween episode will be pleased with all the exciting monster action on display. This episode also knows how to take full advantage of its Halloween setting, with decorative scene transitions and other special additions we wouldn’t normally see in the show. A stand out moment is when the Gargoyle leader Goliath gets to have a dance with his female human friend Elisa, who just happens to be wearing Bells yellow dress from “Beauty and the Beast”.  

   

#6 “Halloween of Horror” from “The Simpsons” (Season 27, Episode 4)

Every Simpsons fan knows of the annual anthology “Tree House of Horror” episodes that air every Halloween, but here is a special case in which the Simpsons had a strait forward twenty minuet long Halloween episode. On the Eve of Halloween, Lisa Simpson ventures into a spooky fun park that’s more terrifying then she bargained for. The event traumatizes her to the point where she doesn’t even want to celebrate Halloween any more. Thus she spends the holiday at home with her dad, while the others attempt to celebrate somewhere else. The night soon takes a dark turn when three burglars break into the house to get vengeance on Homer Simpson after he unintentionally got them fired from their job. While this episode isn’t on par with the great classic episodes of the 90’s, I do still find it better than most of what they’ve delivered in the new millennium. Most of the novelty comes from just seeing the Simpson family celebrating Halloween. 

I love the decorative details, I love seeing how the holiday plays to their individual emotions, and it’s nice to see Lisa and her dad bond while trying to survive a tense situation. Most of the jokes I actually found quiet funny. There’s some amusing moments aimed at the movie “The Purge”, and there’s an especially funny song number set to the melody and beat of “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Over the years, I’ve found the annual “Tree House of Horror” episodes virtually unwatchable, but this little episode in of itself was quiet the welcome breath of fresh air and something that I may want to re-watch again in the Halloweens to come.   

#5 “Fear Itself” from “Teen Titans” (Season 2, Episode 5) 

Of all the superhero teams I grew up with, the Teen Titans were my personal favorite by far, and the stand out member of the team for me was always Raven. She was the shadowy hex-casting member of the team who always seemed unfazed by any obstacle she faced. Well, in this spooky adventure we see that even a girl who lives in the shadows will still be scared by the things that go bump in the night. After the team defeat a new villain, they decide to kick back and enjoy a scary movie night. Shortly after our young hero’s find themselves at the mercy of several monstrous creatures that have invaded their home tower. Soon our heroes are slowly being picked off, and Raven must discover the frightening truth as to where all the shadowy creatures are really coming from. In the end, some heroes are brave because they can fight monsters, while others are brave simply by admitting their scared. The visuals are great, the jokes are funny, the mystery elements are interesting and it’s just exciting to see the Titans home towner transformed into a haunted fun house. 

      

#4 “The Boy Who Cried Ghost” from “Quack Pack” (Season 1, Episode 28)

 

Now, unlike “Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers”, I was never really a fan of “Quack Pack”. Having said that, whenever Disney had a marathon of all their Halloween episodes, it was the “Quack Pack” episode “The Boy Who Cried Ghost” that always stood out as a personal favorite of mine. While Donald Duck escorts his nephews to a Halloween dance, the always troublesome Dewey is driving everyone crazy with his spooky pranks. His antics lead to a car crash, forcing them to stay the night at a mysterious old house. The place turns out to be the home of classic Halloween monsters including a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie and a ghost who all aim to scare the new arrivals to death, and their serious about that “death” part. With no-one believing him, Dewey has to utilize all his prankster skills to protect his family from the monsters. This episode boasts some quality animation, lots of great Halloween visuals, and even some really funny jokes. One of my favorite gags revolves around Dewey’s “tough conscience”. Needless to say, this episode has been ingrained in my mind as a personal animated Halloween classic.

#3 “The Puppetmaster” from “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (Season 3, Episode 8) 

Like many episodes I’ve mentioned on my countdown, this episode has nothing to do with the holiday itself, but it’s still rich with a haunting atmosphere that it can certainly pass for an episode to view on Halloween. Now this series revolved around a group of hero’s who all had their own elemental powers, and one of the members named Katara had the power to control water. In this chilling episode Katara meets a kind old lady who descended from her very own water tribe, and offers Katara the chance to advance her skills further. The training seems good at first, but soon things take a dark turn when the old woman reveals a way to take over another person’s body … a technique which is so colorfully referred to as “Blood Bending”. Once Katara learns that her friends are in danger she must make a frightening decision to use these unnatural powers to rescue them or deny something so evil in its very design. While I didn’t grow up with “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, I can still imagine seeing this episode as a kid and being pretty disturbed by it. Some of the imagery in this episode is quiet effective, especially this one moment in which we see the old Witch literally suck the blood dry out of some rats. 

Even when she uses her powers to control the bodies of our hero’s it looks really disturbing, and almost demonic. Also the setting of the woods at night help create an eerie atmosphere. The shadows are heavy, the angles are twisted and it just has this haunting effect. Finally, Voice actress Tress MacNeille gives a chilling performance as the villainess puppet master, and just has the perfect vocals for a Witch. Now she’s also voiced many popular cartoon characters in her career, and personally I’ll always remember her best as the voice of Gadget from “Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers”, which is quiet the contrast to this.    

          

#2 “The Trickening” from “DuckTales” 

The new “DuckTales” is one of those animated Disney programs that took me by surprise, as it channeled all-age comedy, with a slightly mature edge that wasn’t as common place in their programs. The thought of this show doing a Halloween adventure got me very excited, and it didn’t disappoint. Scrooge McDucks four kids Huey, Dewey, Webby, and Louie set-off to go trick r’ treating, only for Louie to lead the group into a haunted house, where he thinks he’ll find mountains of candy left behind by frightened kids. 

Naturally, the house is haunted, and the kids find themselves trapped, with a number of horrific obstacles threatening to scare them … to death. The premise may sound very formulaic, especially when compared to the previously mentioned episodes, but this one transcends its premise, and gives us more twists and turns, with a genuinely dark edge. Turns out the haunts were all staged by the classic monsters in the vein of the Wereduck, Witch Hazel, Nosferatu, and Frankenstein, who’ve lost the ability to scare kids, and thus are resorting to contemporary scares. It becomes a fun game of “name that horror movie”, with visual references to “Poltergeist”, “The Ring”, Steven Kings “IT”, “Dead Silence”, and especially “The Shining” … which is utilized brilliantly in the final shot. 

There’s also a funny subplot in which goofball piolet Launchpad has no clue about the holiday, and thinks all the trick r’ treaters are demon’s that need to be slayed … through some shocking dark comedy, he goes chasing after kids with a razor-sharp power-tool. Another funny joke revolves around Donald Duck and his sister Della, who are dressed as an angel and devil, and they amusingly act out their characteristics. Finally, this is a gorgeous looking episode, with phenomenal details, atmospheric lighting, twisted angels, and elaborate backdrops. It’s a solid, spooky Halloween adventure that packs all the wright chills, visuals, and laughs in one tight package.          

Before I reveal my #1 favorite, here are some quick honorable mentions …

"The Legend of Pumpkin Guts" from "Hotel Transylvania: The Series" 

“The Headless Horseman of Halloween” from “The Scooby-Doo Show”

“The Uncertain Principle” from “The Spectacular Spider-Man”

“Grundy’s Night” from “The Batman”

“A Silly Halloween Special” from “Smiling Friends”

#1 “Summerween” from “Gravity Falls” (Season 1, Episode 12) 

Upon discovering the TV show “Gravity Falls”, this was the episode I was looking forward to the most. I was beyond excited to see the possibilities of what the spooky and imaginative world of “Gravity Falls” could bring to my favorite holiday. Now while the show is set during the summer time, the people of Gravity Falls love the holiday so much that they celebrate it twice, and one of the events is during the summer in which it’s lovingly called Summerween. That premise alone is ingenious and makes me wish I could have grown up in that town. As the episode continues we see that one of the shows lead child hero’s named Dipper is ready to grow up, and spend Halloween with the older guys as opposed to his sister Mable. This causes a rift between the two as Mable wants to savor every Halloween she can with her brother before they become teenagers. To make matters worse, the kids are soon chased by a deadly entity called The Trickster who threatens to harm all who don’t keep the holiday spirit alive. 

The details in this episode are great as it creates a perfect Halloween atmosphere, and feels like a special I’d watch yearly around the season. The back-story behind the Trickster is brilliant, the spooky action sequences are great, and there’s yet another really sweet sibling story going on between Mable and Dipper. More than anything, I love that this episode actually features kids trick r’ treating, which is a charm lacking in so many other Halloween episodes. This is one special that just seems to combine everything I love in one perfect package, including nostalgic child hood ties to the season, a mythos surrounding a mysterious creature, thrilling monster action and no shortage of funny jokes. “Summerween” is a solid treat for the season and personally my all-time favorite Halloween themed episode I’ve ever seen from any animated TV series. 

Thanks for reading my countdown ... and continue to enjoy the Halloween specials you love!