26 of TV's best Halloween episodes

Make no mistake about it, Hollywood loves Halloween: outrageous costumes, over-the-top makeup, and story lines with wild changes. One would think "dressing up and pretending to be someone you're not" is everyone's job in this town. A solid Halloween episode is more than just a change of clothes though, and EW's favorites move the entire story of the show forward among all of the spooky silliness. From Grease to gremlins, some of the best Halloween episodes of TV are ahead.  

Halloween may be the one day a year it really pays to be a green-faced, horned demon with a flair for the dramatic à la Lorne (Andy Hallett) on Angel. However, things go a little awry when he throws a party for the gang and his spoken advice literally starts happening. This leads to Fred (Amy Acker) and Wesley (Alexis Denisof) getting drunk when Lorne suggests they loosen up, Gunn (J. August Richards) urinating all over the office in an attempt to "stake out his territory," Angel (David Boreanaz) and Eve (Sarah Thompson) hooking up, and Spike (James Marsters) and Harmony (Mercedes McNab) tearing up the dance floor. But then a huge hulking demon form of Lorne appears as a manifestation of his subconscious and puts a general damper on the festivities. Still, not really a bad result for a Wolfram & Hart shindig. —Ruth Kinane

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The Johnsons always do it up on Halloween, with Black-ish making creative use of its cast, dressing them up as the Obama family (though Marcus Scribner's Junior and Miles Brown's Jack get the short end of the stick dressed as a Secret Service agent and Bo the dog, respectively). This season 2 episode has everything that makes the show work, taking a common occurrence like a wealthy neighborhood attracting trick-or-treaters from all over the city, and some visiting cousins who like to roughhouse a little too hard (including guest star Michael Strahan dressed as 50 Cent), and churning out a relatable story that's both hilarious and heartfelt. —Marcus Jones

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Picking the best Bob's Burgers Halloween episode is a difficult task, but for my candy, it's season 6's "The Hauntening" where Bob (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (voiced by John Roberts) try to scare the pink bunny ears off their normally blasé daughter, Louise (Kristen Schaal). After they initially fail at making a borrowed haunted house spooky enough, Louise finally gets unnerved when truly creepy stuff starts happening as they try to leave. When cloaked figures surround the family with fire, Louise loses her mind, and that's when her loving family reveals it was all an elaborate prank.  "So many emails," complains Linda while confessing that they staged a terrible haunted house first to get Louise's guard down before scaring her with the real one. Louise agrees the experience "was freaking incredible!" and the show ends as all good Bob's Burgers episodes do — with a classic jam, "I Love U So Much (It's Scary)" by boy band parody Boyz 4 Now. —Lauren Morgan

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For some shows, Halloween is a reliable annual episode premise; for BoJack Horseman, it was an opportunity for one of the show's most structurally ambitious entries (which is really saying something). "Mr. Peanutbutter's Boos" dexterously weaves between four different Halloween parties in four different years, exploring the relationships between Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins) and his various romantic partners (including the very game Jessica Biel as herself). BoJack usually traffics in existential terrors rather than anything befitting spooky season, and this episode is no exception ("Do you mean in the sense that we all wear costumes every day, such as we reveal facets of ourselves to those closest to us, but our truest selves remain hidden?"). But, as ever, it remains a laugh riot. ("I'm ready for my close-up!" "Nice! Sunset Boulevard?" "I usually take Fountain.") —Tyler Aquilina

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What is it about high schools after dark that gives them an extra creep factor? In this Halloween special, Cory (Ben Savage), Topanga (Danielle Fishel), and company all end up in detention and things get creepy when the words "No one gets out alive" appear in blood on the classroom's chalkboard. Ugh, like, detention wasn't bad enough. Then, pretty much everyone dies: Kenny (Richard Lee Jackson) is stabbed through the head with a pencil (ouch), Feeny (William Daniels) takes some scissors to the back, Feffy (Jennnifer Love Hewitt) and Eric (Will Friedle) are killed by an avalanche of books in the library, and Angela (Trina McGee) and Jack (Matthew Lawrence) are pushed from a window ledge by the killer. Luckily, it's all part of a vivid nightmare Shawn's (Rider Strong) having in detention. Still, you can't unhear the lyrics to the creepy song playing over the PA system: "Welcome to John Adams High/Where you are gonna die, that's right/Fall right this way/Here's a knife, here's a gun/There'll be fun for everyone/Death is on the menu tonight." Yikes. —R.K.

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine's annual Halloween Heist was one of TV's best recurring traditions, and the season 1 episode that kicked it off remains a classic, even when stacked up against its successors. On the spookiest day of the year, Det. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) bets Capt. Holt (Andre Braugher) that he can steal Holt's Medal of Valor from his office for the title of "Amazing Detective/Genius." What ensues is a dizzying array of goofs and fake-outs, as Jake proves his cunning through an elaborate plan involving a trash can fire, pigeons, and royal baby costumes. And though it's Jake show, Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), and Terry (Terry Crews) all get to shine during the episode. And in each subsequent Halloween Heist, the writers manage to elevate the original premise with higher stakes, new players, and better jokes. And let's not that forget that this episode gave us the gift of the "title of your sex tape" running joke. Noice. —Rachel Yang

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When the inhabitants of Sunnydale are turned into their Halloween costumes, all hell breaks loose in the small California town (not literally — though that's pretty standard for a Tuesday in Sunnydale). Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) becomes a Victorian damsel in distress and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) disappears completely when her not-so-sexy sheet-over-the-head costume turns her into a ghost. Thankfully, Xander's (Nicholas Brendon) army getup gives him the skills and the cool head to calmly navigate the frightening turn of events. It's definitely the not most "wiggins"-inducing episode of Buffy out there ("Hush"!), but it is as much fun as cramming your face with candy nonetheless. —R.K.

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It's on television every Halloween. It's a classic. There's a sincere pumpkin patch. Need we say more? Check your local listings. —R.K.

It's time for the annual Greendale Halloween party! Dressed as David Beckham and Captian Kirk, Jeff (Joel McHale) and Pierce (Chevy Chase) arrive at the gathering to discover that all the songs being played are by ABBA because Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) is using his iPod for music, and that the snacks are subpar because they were purchased at an army surplus store. If that wasn't terrifying enough, a mysterious sickness strikes, inciting guests to bite one another zombie-style. Panic ensues and, ultimately, the army has to intervene and erase everyone's memory. The main takeaway? A thermostat set to just the right temperature can stop the spread of infection. Somebody tell the folks over on The Walking Dead. —R.K.

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Hand it to Larry David. Over the run of Curb Your Enthusiasm, no one has been shown to be a bigger stickler for rules, regulations, and social contracts than Larry, even if it's to his own detriment. Case in point: When are kids too old to go trick-or-treating, and what if teenagers' "subtle" costumes look like regular clothes? Do you give them candy? Well, if you're Larry David, lines are lines, even if you end up being the victim of a trick by not offering every visitor to your door a treat on Halloween. —Sarah Sprague 

Related: Curb Your Enthusiasm showrunner on how the show might address Larry in a post-pandemic world

This episode of Friends has everything — adults complaining about having to wear Halloween costumes, an A-list cameo care of Sean Penn, amazing Phoebe and Ursula (both played by Lisa Kudrow) twin drama, a young Emily Osment, and Ross (David Schwimmer) being the worst. Come for the Halloween party hijinks, but stay for Joey (Matt LeBlanc) doing a spot-on impression of Chandler (Matthew Perry). —Sydney Bucksbaum

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The 2021 Gossip Girl reboot did Halloween the right way. Not only did we get a surprise cameo from original Gossip Girl alum Nelly Yuki (Yin Chang), but we also witnessed some great callbacks to the original beloved series. When Julien (Jordan Alexander) and Zoya (Whitney Peak) realize their Beyoncé-Solange sister costume was leaked, they have to be quick on their feet to come up with an alternate costume. So, of course, they borrow a couple of suits and come up with Upper East Side faves, Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) and Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley). In addition to them emulating the iconic original characters, their rivals Pippa (Ella Rubin) and Bianca (Katherine Reis) embody Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) at the annual Halloween party. —Jessica Leon

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The gang hits up a warehouse party putting maximum effort into their costumes, only to have them largely misinterpreted. Dressed as Marilyn Monroe, but suffering from a sore throat, Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) is mistaken for a drag queen, and Dave (Zachary Knighton) isn't quite as groovy as he hoped in a dated Austin Powers costume. The real scene stealer, however, is Penny (Casey Wilson) and Max's (Adam Pally) mommy-and-baby-combined costume which, while certainly a serious contender in any best costume competition, isn't the most practical when it comes to using the bathroom or flirting. A+ for effort though, and an A+ episode all around. —R.K.

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In an age when any object/person/animal can be turned into a seductive costume version (see the Sexy Mister Rogers getup), it's not surprising that Josh Radnor's Ted — maybe one of the most basic dudes on television — is enamored with a girl (Katie Holmes) dressed as a Slutty Pumpkin. He bumped into her back in 2001 and has been entranced by her strategically carved holes ever since. Each year, he's waited at the same party hoping to meet her again. But this is Ted and he's not exactly the luckiest in love so, of course, she doesn't show. But, it's not the end of the Slutty Pumpkin — she returns to more deeply carve out her role in a later season. —R.K.

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The big scare in this episode is the revelation that one of the guys is the father of Dee's (Kaitlin Olson) unborn child. To try and figure out who it might be, the guys cast their minds back to a recent halloween party, but their various versions of events are massively impaired by alcohol. Through the different characters' recollections, they try to piece together the "Who's the Daddy" mystery. The best part of the episode isn't the reveal though, it's the fact that Dee becomes more and more bird-like in each guy's memory. She starts off with just a few feathers and ends up portrayed by an ostrich just pecking about at the party. —R.K.

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If you ever dreamed of being part of the Dunphy household, this episode seals the deal. Obsessed with Halloween, Claire (Julie Bowen) transforms the family home into a haunted house with an abundance of decorations in a single-minded attempt to scare trick-or-treaters. Meanwhile, Phil (Ty Burrell) is experiencing his own personal horror, when he learns of his neighbor's divorce and becomes terrified his marriage will end the same way. Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) is delighted then horrified to discover his firm allows employees to dress up for Halloween, only to show up as Spider-Man and learn that "only tools and douches wear costumes." —R.K.

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There's no place like a haunted house to DTR. Dressed as a Joey Ramone-a Quimby — let's pause one moment to fully appreciate the genius of a costume that combines a '70s punk rocker and a fictional character from a series of children's novels — Jess (Zooey Deschanel) heads to her annual gig working at a haunted house in the hopes of telling Sam (David Walton) she wants their relationship to be more serious than the occasional hookup. Sadly, he doesn't have the same outlook, and Nick (Jake Johnson), who is already aware of Sam's position, bids to overcome his fear of haunted houses to warn Jess. In the end, he gets so agitated that he accidentally punches Jess in the face. But, hey, he had good intentions. —R.K.

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Halloween at the Dunder Mifflin office means obligatory costumes, a mandatory party (with Michael approving overages for extra decorations), and, unfortunately, an employee dismissal. "And somehow, I'm supposed to put on a costume and smile?" asks a highly-stressed Michael (Steve Carell). The highlight of the episode is the costumes: Dwight (Rainn Wilson) comes as a very convincing Sith Lord, Michael as a two-headed man (one regular, one papier-mâché), and Jim (John Krasinski) as three-hole-punch Jim — perhaps a joke that's only funny if you work at a paper supply company. Meredith (Kate Flannery) may be the unsung hero, though — try to catch a glimpse of her exposed brains as she leaves the office. And, of course, there are also some Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) gooey moments to keep the horrors at bay. —R.K.

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The Alvarez family gets into the Halloween spirit in the season 4 episode "One Halloween at a Time" featuring lots of adorable couples costumes, surprise guests, and a baby bombshell. With Penelope (Justina Machado) and Max (Ed Quinn) back together, it's precious to see them get into the spirit of the holiday dressed as Sandy and Danny from Grease. (It's a shame Machado wasn't already on DWTS or audiences may have been treated to an impromptu dance-off. Tell me more!) Alex (Marcel Ruiz) opts not to wear a costume, but instead chooses to debut his newly-dyed silver hair which pleased his grandmother Lydia (Rita Moreno) to no end. The reason? Lydia thinks Alex looks so much like her dead husband Berto (Tony Plana) — much to her grandson's chagrin. As excited as Lydia was to see Alex, she and Dr. Berkowitz (Stephen Tobolowsky) dressed up as Belle and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. —Rosy Cordero

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Andy (Chris Pratt) and April (Aubrey Plaza) decide to throw a Halloween party at their house, but, despite sharing every detail of how awesome the party's going to be with the camera crew, they fail to let their roommate Ben (Adam Scott) know it's happening. Instead of confronting them about it, he opts for a healthy dose of passive aggression instead. Since Ben won't admit that he is annoyed about the party, Andy wrestles with him, puts him in a headlock, and drags him around the party with him until he snaps and says that he's mad. Then there's this sound logic from Ron (Nick Offerman), when asked by Andy if he wasn't also a pirate last year: "Yes. This is my Halloween costume." A great money-saving tip to keep in mind. —R.K.

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You'd think a teenage witch would be a pro when it comes to Halloween, but Sabrina is more than a little stressed when she somehow finds herself hosting a party at her aunts' house. You see, there's talking furniture (a mix up with the delivery), an accidental river of candy corn when a spell goes awry, and some monstrous "Halloween carolers" decide to come to visit from the Other Realm. Think a deluge of candy sounds kinda fun? Think again. Melissa Joan Hart told EW it was one of the more difficult episodes to shoot. "There was literally a dump truck full of candy corn dumping it on us," she said, "and the talking furniture — that was hard to do." —R.K.

Related: Why quirky aunts are the real winners of Halloween

Let's just get this out of the way first: Make this a two-parter and also watch the first episode of season 2, "Chapter One: MADMAX," which takes place the day before Halloween on Devil's Night — as the whole town of Hawkins gets ready for the season, and while the region's pumpkin crops are being laid to waste by unseen forces. Unlike other Halloween-themed TV episodes, Stranger Things doesn't use October 31 just as an excuse to dress its lead actors in silly costumes, it's woven into the ghostly horrors of the Upside Down, and the growing pains of "how many Venkmans can one group of Ghostbusters contain," dueling crushes on the cool new girl, and, even worse, not being allowed to trick-or-treat with friends because you're grounded. —S.S.

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While investigating two mysterious deaths in a small town, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) discover a witch is sacrificing people to summon a dangerous demon. Turns out that demon is Samhain (Don McManus) who has the nifty ability to raise other frightening things from hell. Yay, a pending unstoppable bloodbath! Well, it is Halloween. On his arrival, Samhain comes across some high schoolers partying in a mausoleum and locks them inside to be attacked by zombies and ghosts. The bros manage to put a stop to the demon's shenanigans, though doing so takes a great physical toll on Sam. —R.K.

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With "Psycho Berg" (Ryan Reynolds) on the loose, this may be one of the best Halloween episodes to ever haunt television sets. Everyone dies. Gruesomely. But, it's oh so funny. For example, Psycho Berg kills Sharon (Traylor Howard) — then stuffs her in the pizza oven, leaving only the tail of her mermaid costume on display — Johnny (Nathan Fillion) ends up dead in the jukebox, and Pete (Richard Ruccolo) has a painful showdown with a meat cleaver and some cornflakes. By the end, there's no guys, no girls, but there's still a pizza place, and that is the most important thing. —R.K.

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Continuing the Disney+ series' ode to each decade of American sitcoms, "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" gave a nostalgic nod to the early-2000's family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, emulating everything from the set design to the opening title sequence. Decked out in their original Marvel character costumes, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and her fake brother Pietro (Evan Peters) accompany the twins for a night of trick-or-treating in Westview. Pietro tries to fool Wanda into believing he's really her brother risen from the dead by using mind tricks and winning over his "nephews." Meanwhile, Vision (Paul Bettany) wanders the small town as he grows suspicious of its sometimes lifeless inhabitants. He pushes through the edge of Wanda's magical hex forcefield and begins to fall apart. To save her love, Wanda extends the hex and traps more innocent people inside — all while dressed as the Scarlet Witch from the Marvel Comics. —Calie Schepp

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Spending Halloween eve fighting a horrifying, murderous scarecrow come to life is one way to spend the "Devil's Night" with Wynonna Earp. After Amon (Noam Jenkins) raises Rotten Jack (Kelsey Andries) from his slumber to cause havoc in the town of Purgatory, Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) and Waverly Earp (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) make it their mission to take down the supernatural being. Not only do we get to see some great Halloween costumes (Wynonna makes a great Britney Spears), but we also get to see the Earp sisters switch personalities when they suddenly lose their memories and attempt to piece things together, forgetting which sister is which. —J.L.

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