The weather is starting to get colder, the trees are changing color, and Starbucks is selling pumpkin spice lattes… what does all this mean? It’s getting to be time for a Halloween TV show marathon! Here’s where you should start:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy is the kind of niche high school horror show that we all needed in our teen years. It follows Buffy Summers, a high school student who has just figured out she is a vampire slayer; the world’s only hope against defeating creatures of the dark. Most episodes follow a Monster of the Week pattern, bringing vampires, zombies, witches, and other assorted monsters to the screen.
Halloween (Season 2, Episode 6)
Aptly named, this Halloween-centered episode focuses on Buffy and her friends as they all buy Halloween costumes from a suspicious shop, that transform the wearers into their costume.
Fear Itself (Season 4, Episode 4)
Another Buffy Halloween episode, this time centered on a haunted house… that traps anyone who enters!
Stranger Things
Set in small town Indiana in the 1980s, Stranger Things tells the story of a group of friends who discover that some among them may have unexplained powers.
Trick or Treat, Freak (Season 2, Episode 2)
Another episode set specifically during Halloween, Trick or Treat, Freak involves the kids dressing up as the Ghostbusters, the discovery of a strange animal, and an ominous vision.
The X-Files
It’s true that The X-Files is more sci-fi than fantastical monsters of the horror genre, but there are still a few episodes that capture the spooky Halloween spirit.
Die Hand, Die Verletzt (Season 2, Episode 14)
This episode follows the show’s two main characters, Special Agent Fox Mulder and Special Agent Dana Scully, who travel to New Hampshire following allegations of devil worship. What they find is slightly more paranormal than just satanists.
Chinga (Season 5, Episode 10)
One of the few episodes of The X-Files that explores more of the supernatural genre, Chinga details the narrative of Agent Scully as she investigates a case of witchcraft in a small town in Maine.
Charmed
Set in San Francisco and full of 90’s nostalgia, Charmed holds all of the facets that make a supernatural-themed show great. Piper, Prue, and Phoebe Halliwell, the main characters of the show, are sisters who, in the first episode, discover that they belong to a long line of witches in their family, and must figure out how to use the magical powers that they’ve suddenly inherited.
Something Wicca This Way Comes (Season 1, Episode 1)
Besides being a good place to start the series, the first episode of the show encompasses everything that makes it great, along with some creepy Halloween vibes. A dark and stormy night, a ouija board, a magic book, and three sisters discovering their powers… what more could you need?
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is famous for its dark examination of the human psyche and its commentary on social issues, especially for its time—it came out in the 1960s! Though these Twilight Zone episodes are not specifically Halloween themed, they’re definitely creepy enough to send some shivers down your spine.
Eye of the Beholder (Season 2, Episode 6)
Perhaps one of the most famous episodes of The Twilight Zone, Eye of the Beholder focuses on a woman that has just come out of surgery, but has not yet gotten the bandages covering her face off yet. What lies beneath those bandages has the power to decide her future.
Long Distance Call (Season 2, Episode 22)
The Twilight Zone usually deals with more abstract themes of human psychology in nature using horror tropes, but this ghostly episode is as paranormal as it gets. Bobby, a young boy whose grandmother passes away on his birthday, still finds a way to communicate with her through an old telephone that she gifts him.
Goosebumps
There’s nothing that captures the nostalgia of the Halloween spirit quite like the Goosebumps series, originally written as books by R.L. Stine and turned into a television series in the mid-1990s.
The Haunted Mask (Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2)
Fittingly the first episode of the series, The Haunted Mask follows the story of a girl who finds a strange mask in the back of a shop, but discovers that wearing it comes with some permanent consequences.
So there you have it! Grab a bucket of candy corn and settle back to watch the most iconic, spookiest shows of 2018 and decades past.
Image Credits: Feature, gifs by Grey Smith