Every year, horror fans spend tons of money going out to movie theaters to see their favorite films on the big screen. Of course, this is one of the greatest activities available during the month of October, but for those who are short on cash or dont feel like driving, why not watch something terrifying on your television from the safety of your sofa?
Various television shows have had a history of celebrating the holiday with Halloween-themed episodes. Below, I’ve listed my 10 favorite entries all of which will hopefully disturb you, make you laugh, and get you into the Halloween spirit.
Enjoy!
Top 10 Halloween Themed TV Show Episodes
-
The Simpsons
Season 3, Episode 7: “The Treehouse of Horror II”
There are an abundance of Simpsons’ Treehouse Horrors nowadays, but perhaps my favorite one to ever air was the second installment in the third season of the series. Like most people, Bart, Lisa, and Homer Simpson ate too much candy on Halloween night. Just like Marge warned would happen, the trio begin having bad dreams, starting with Lisa’s nightmare about the monkey paw.
In the dream, Homer buys a monkey paw that grants wishes; five in total. The results are sometimes creepy, but arguably, none are as awful as Homer’s perfect sandwich gone wrong with turkey that’s a little too dry. Bart’s dream starts out promising. He’s an omnipotent deity who gets what he wants all of the time, or he turns people into objects. For example, when Homer tries to get rid of Bart once and for all, he turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box. Oddly enough, the two begin to spend more time together, and really bond as father and son, causing Bart to wake screaming in the night.
In Homer’s dream, Mr. Burns uses Homer’s still very much alive brain to bring his robot worker to life. Burns is hoping to make a more efficient employee, but with Homer’s brain inside of him, the robot is just as lazy as the brain’s previous owner. The nightmare is bad enough, but when Homer awakes, he looks in the mirror and sees Mr. Burns’ head attached to Homer’s body, leaving the viewer to wonder if all of the dreams weren’t all true in their own way.
-
American Horror Story
Season 1, Episodes 4& 5: “Halloween Part I” & “Halloween Part II”
Halloween may be ”come as you aren’t” night in the Buffyverse, but in American Horror Story, it’s the one night a year when skeletons come out of their closets, and ghosts arise in the Murder House.
Ben’s efforts to conceal his ongoing relationship with Hayden are exploited; Constance informs Violet that Tate is her son, but most importantly, the house’s big secret is revealed: it’s filled with ghosts. Moira, Hayden, Chad, Patrick, and Nora are all dead, and for some reason, they are bound the house, doomed to haunt the ominous halls for all time.
In a sea of G-rated Halloween programming, it’s refreshing to see a darker take on the holiday, especially one that plays with the idea of the veil between the living and the dead thinning on All Hallows Eve. Plus, the scattered pumpkins everywhere, the pranks, and the terror taking place in the Harmon’s home, reek of the Halloween spirit and really display the showrunners’ love for the holiday.
-
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 2, Episode 6: “Halloween”
What happens when Halloween time hits the Hellmouth?
According to Giles’ books, absolutely nothing. All Hallows’ Eve is supposed to be the one night of the year that the demons and forces of darkness take a night off. Sadly for the scoobies, Ethan Raine, a new costume shop owner and an old acquaintance of the ripper, has other plans. Ethan casts a spell on all of his customers that makes each person literally become the costume he or she is wearing.
Children with devil horns become demons, Willow becomes a ghost, and Buffy turns into an eighteenth century fair maiden. To make matters worse, Spike and his friends get wind of the slayer’s vulnerability by way of Drusilla’s visions, and decide to take out the chosen one while she’s in her weakened state.
Now, it’s up to Xander the soldier, damsel-in-distress Buffy, and non-corporeal Willow to somehow save the day and restore order to Sunnydale’s normal, mildly chaotic state.
-
Supernatural
Season 4, Episode 7: “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester”
At first, all appears innocent. A middle-aged woman walks into her home, carrying a pumpkin and a large box of candy, and is greeted with smiles from her loving husband and happy baby.
The woman warns her husband not to eat any of the candy until after all of the trick-or-treaters are gone, but as soon as she leaves the room, he digs in. The husband’s little betrayal is harmless and sweet, but what happens next is sickening.
Suddenly, he feels a sharp prick in his mouth, and to his horror, reaches in and pulls out a razor. He begins choking, spitting out blood and razors, gasping for air. Within minutes, he’s dead. Sam and Dean arrive on the scene, and find a tiny bag filled with oddities hidden in the corner, leading them to believe that magic is at play.
Now, the duo must team up to find the witch and kill her before she can commit any more blood sacrifices in the name of Samhain.
-
South Park
Season 2, Episode 15: “Spookyfish”
Stan, Kyle and Kenny know something’s up with Cartman from the moment they see him at the bus stop and he asks, “How’s it going?”
The real Cartman doesn’t hold any interest in the feelings of others, and he certainly never shows his friends any kindness unless he wants something in return. It seems odd, but the guys push it out of their minds, and go home. Stan arrives home to find that his Aunt Flow is in town, and she’s brought him a creepy fish to keep in his bedroom.
Despite Cartman’s strange friendly behavior and the bodies piling up next to Stan’s fishbowl, the gang doesn’t put two and two together until they see the doubles standing next to each other: Cartman and his evil twin. Because Cartman is so evil in the regular world, his evil self from another dimension is ironically sweet and compassionate.
Sadly, the same can’t be said for Stan’s spooky fish, so the South Park crew must join forces on Halloween night, to send the fish back to his universe and make it back in time for the pumpkin carving contest.
-
That '70s Show
Season 3, Episode 4: “Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young To Die”
Big black birds, a screaming shower scene, a suspicious neighbor across the way – all of these Alfred Hitchcock nods and more fill the Halloween episode of That ‘70s Show.
It all starts when Fez steals Eric’s bouncy ball and heads for the roof. Fez winds up falling off and breaking his leg, while Eric’s brush with death sends him into a state of vertigo.
Once Fez is bound to a wheelchair, he uses his spare time to spy on Midge next door with Eric’s binoculars. However, his little peep show turns deadly when Midge’s husband, Bob, begins to act in peculiar ways, leading Fez to believe Bob might have killed her.
Meanwhile, Kitty is placed in charge of feeding her neighbor’s birds, a service which soon proves to be too terrifying for her to handle. Not only are the Hitchcock references in this episode very clever, but also, all of the events still coincide with what these characters would do in their daily lives.
It’s not a stretch to believe that Fez would spy on Midge, or that Laurie would act like a psycho. The homages fit in well, and these thirty minutes are just as hilarious as any of That ‘70s Show, making it one of the best Halloween episodes to ever air on television.
-
Boy Meets World
Season 5, Episode 17: “And Then There Was Shawn”
When Corey and Topanga break up, it affects the entire world – literally. Or, at least, Mr. Feeny’s entire classroom at John Adams High School.
The whole gang winds up with detention as a result of Shawn’s very vocal response to the separation, but that’s the least of their troubles. Suddenly, a hooded figure begins hunting down and killing every person in the school.
Shawn, the horror aficionado of the group, instructs his friends on where to go and how to behave, base on his knowledge from previous films. Will his trivia prove useful to his team? Will any of the students make it out alive? And who is the hooded figure?
All of these questions and more are answered in this Meta, nostalgic dramatic case of who-dun-it.
-
Freaks and Geeks
Season 1, Episode 3: “Tricks and Treats”
How old were you when you decided it was time to stop trick-or-treating on Halloween?
Sam Weir is a freshman in high school this year, but he still wants to put on a costume and go beg for candy with his friends.
At the same time, his older sister Lindsay wants to depart from her annual routine of handing out candy with her mother, and go hang out with her cool new friends. Both teenagers undergo a loss of innocence, as Halloween serves as an unintentional benchmark in their lives. Sam remarks at the beginning of the episode that he and his friends aren’t too old to dress up because they did it the year before, and they all reluctantly agree.
Lindsay blows off her mom to hang out with her group of “freaks”, against her better judgment. Both kids realize in the end that you’re never too old to celebrate Halloween with the ones you love; a lesson that we can all take to heart as the big day approaches.
-
Married With Children
Season 8, Episode 7: “Take My Wife, Please”
Al hates Halloween. It’s bad enough that he has to work in women’s footwear, but when that special holiday rolls around, he has to do it in a dinosaur costume, shredding the last bit of dignity he had left.
When he comes home to an empty house and a bratty neighbor who slimes him in the face for not having any candy, Al loses his temper and cries out for death to take him. Unfortunately for him, Death was listening.
The next person that knocks at his door isn’t a person at all, but the Grim Reaper, coming to take Al to a place where he’ll need lots of sunblock. Al makes a deal with Death (who, funny enough, happens to look just like his wife) that if his family says they need him before the clock strikes midnight, he can live. As the minutes count down, Al starts to realize just how much he loves his life, and just how badly he wants to keep it, even on a day he dreads as much as Halloween.
-
Home Improvement
Episode 2, Season 6: “The Haunting of Taylor House”
When it comes to Halloween time, the coolest parents are always the ones that join in on the fun.
Tim Taylor, star of the hit T.V. show Tool Time, is one of these parents. Not only does he try to scare Al, his co-star, on air, he also completely transformed his basement into a little haunted house for his kids and all of their friends.
When his son, Brad, is having girl problems, it serves as the perfect place to reconcile his issues, and scare his friends at the same time.
