Nick Or Treat Halloween Giveaway (1985)

Growing Pains: Happy Halloween (1990)

Originally aired October 31, 1990. The Seaver family is rained in on Halloween and takes turns telling spooky stories in this one-hour "Growing Pains" Halloween special.

Episode part 1:

Episode part 2:

SNL: Adam Sandler's Costume Suggestions (1993)

Do you need some last-minute costume ideas and don't have time for a trip to Walmart? Adam Sandler shows us how to make Halloween magic out of ordinary household items. This clip originally aired October 30, 1993. Now gimme some candy!

1980s Halloween Stickers

Remember these?

Fat Albert Halloween Special (1977)

This Halloween special isn't one I remember seeing as a kid (I was one year old when it first aired), but I discovered it a few years ago and have made it a part of my Halloween entertainment ever since. Fat Albert and the gang roam the neighborhood in search of "old people" to scare and other mischief, but by the end of the evening they will learn the truth about Mrs. Bakewell! Originally aired 24 October 1977.

Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Disney's retelling of the story of Ichabod Crane was released (along with an adaptation of Wind in the Willows) in theaters in 1949 as Ichabod and Mr. Toad. The Sleepy Hollow segment was shown on the "Disneyland" TV series on October 26, 1955, and included a short cartoon about the life of Washington Irving.  It was also included in Wonderful World of Disney's 1977 "Halloween Hall O' Fame" episode.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete: Halloweenie (1994)

Originally aired October 30, 1994. Nona Mecklenberg is banned from going trick-or-treating because of a dangerous group of kids known as the Pumpkin Eaters. Younger Pete plans to break the record of number of houses visited in one night. Meanwhile, older Pete is wanted by the Pumpkin Eaters.

The Witch Who Turned Pink (1989)

An unlucky witch searches for the way to restore her original coloring, after an unfortunate incident turns her skin pink.

The Worst Witch (1986)

Originally released November 1, 1986. Mildred Hubble is the flunk-out of the Witch's Academy...that is, until she gets her big chance to show everyone just how much magic she can make! The school's headmistress Agatha has an evil twin, who is plotting to cause havoc just before the big Halloween celebration and visit by the Grand Wizard. Can Mildred find a way to stop this plot before it ruins the party? This family fantasy features a stellar cast, including Diana Rigg and Tim Curry, as well as plenty of enchanting action.

Disney's Haunted Halloween (1984)

Enjoy this Disney educational film about Halloween: a compact "Disney's Halloween Treat" with some history and safety lessons thrown in!

Georgie (1968), by Robert Bright

This recording is new to me, but I remember reading the book when I was little.

CHiPs: Trick or Trick (1978)

Originally aired October 21, 1978. Ponch suffers from a series of misfortunes after crossing the path of thirteen black cats, breaking his shaving mirror, and walking under a ladder. Ponch and Jon also attempt to find a boy who goes missing after Ponch threatened to arrest him after the kid played a Halloween prank on the California Highway Patrol officer.

Burger Chef commercial (1976)

Disneyland Haunted Mansion 8mm Souvenir Film (c. 1974)

Edited from souvenir films that were sold at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the 1970s.

Oingo Boingo Dead Man's Party (1990)

Concert video from Halloween 1990 at Irvine Meadows. I was able to see this great band during their 1995 Farewell tour.



Tender Lumplings video shown during the 1995 Farewell tour:

Mickey Mouse: The Mad Doctor (1933)

Mickey tries to rescue Pluto before he becomes part of the Mad Doctor's grotesque experiment.

The Berenstain Bears: Trick or Treat (2003)

As Brother and Sister Bear don their costumes to go trick-or-treating by themselves for the first time, they plan to avoid Miz McGrizz's spooky home. But during their Halloween outing, the cubs discover that appearances can be deceiving.

Star Trek: Catspaw (1967)

Originally aired October 27, 1967. When Kirk and his landing party arrive on the planet below, they are met by eerie mists, a dark castle, witches, goblins and a black cat. They soon learn that they are under the influence of a wizard, Korob, who tries to bend them to his will. They also soon learn that the black cat they saw is more than she appears and is in fact a powerful witch in her right. It is left to Kirk and Spock to find a means to escape their grasp. (Synopsis from IMDB)

Tales from the Darkside: Trick or Treat (1983)

Originally aired October 29, 1983. A miser taunts his neighbors by daring them to send their children in to find their debt records inside of his "haunted house," but he gets some unusual late-night visitors.

Tales from the Darkside: Halloween Candy (1985)

Originally aired October 27, 1985. A misanthropic old man torments trick-or-treating children and is visited by a terrifying goblin demanding candy.

Family Matters: Dark and Stormy Night (1994)

Originally aired October 28, 1994. On a dark and stormy Halloween night, the Winslows play Pass the Ghost Story, in which Carl and Harriette are 19th century vampires licking their chops over the wayfaring Sir Steven. (Synopsis from TVmaze.com)

Family Matters: Whose Kid Is It Anyway? (1992)

Originally aired October 30, 1992. Eddie is told to take Richie trick-or-treating, but it interferes with a hot date. Richie decides to go alone and gets lost. When Eddie finds out, he goes on a frantic search to find the little tyke before everyone else finds out. (Synopsis from IMDB)

Happy Days: Haunted (1974)

Originally aired October 29, 1974. After experiencing a few strange happenings, Richie begins to buy into the legend that the place where Ralph's Halloween party is to be held, the old Simpson house, is haunted.

The full episode is playable here without sound, but can be downloaded with sound (click the three dots on the right side of the player controls).

Bugs Bunny: Hyde and Hare (1955)

Bugs comes out of his rabbit hole in a city park every morning because a kind gentleman keeps coming to feed him a carrot. At first feigning a usual rabbit posture, Bugs eventually stands up and confides that he'd rather simply go home with the gentleman as a "pet", since it would be easier on both of them. As the gentleman brings Bugs home, the camera pans up to see that the name above the apartment is none other than Dr. Jekyll.

Weinerville Halloween Special (1993)

Weinerville is being haunted by ghosts.

SNL: Halloween with Matt Foley (1993)

Originally aired October 30, 1993.

The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone (1980)

Originally aired October 30, 1980. The Flintstones and Rubbles win a trip on "Make a Deal or Don't" to Count Rockula's castle in Rocksylvania where they have an unpleasant meeting with the Count and his servant Frankenstone.

Halloween with the Addams Family (1964)

Originally aired October 30, 1964. The Addams family are all busy preparing for their favorite holiday: Halloween! Mistaking two robbers for trick-or-treaters, the family takes them in for a Halloween celebration.

Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977)

Originally aired October 30, 1977. A revival of the popular '60s TV comedy series "The Addams Family" has them preparing for Halloween in their own inimitable way.

Night Court: Halloween II: the Return of Leon (1986)

Originally aired October 30, 1986. Leon returns to Manhattan, but threatens to run away again if Harry reports him to the authorities. Dan plans to crash District Attorney Daniels's Halloween party.

Night Court: Halloween Too (1985)

Originally aired October 31, 1985. Harry falls for Kim, a beautiful and free-spirited young woman. But then she appears in court, claiming to be a witch, with a tabloid reporter hovering in the background.

21 Jumpstreet: Old Haunts in the New Age (1989)

Originally aired October 30, 1989. During a Halloween string of high school fires, Hanson becomes a bit skeptical of a teen age psychic claiming to be able to predict where the next fire will occur.

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976)

Originally aired October 29, 1976. Witchipoo and the Wicked Witch of the West give Paul Lynde three wishes for Halloween.

Bewitched: The Safe and Sane Halloween (1967)

Originally aired October 26, 1967. Tabitha brings three storybook goblins to life and they go trick-or-treating with them around Morning Glory Circle.

Circuit City Midnight Madness commercial (1986)

Bud Light Halloween Spuds McKenzie commercial (1988)

Hallmark Halloween commercial (1989)

American Express commercial with Stephen King (1985)

Our Gang: Shivering Spooks (1926)

Originally released August 6, 1926. Years ago I found this short on TV and hit record on the VCR in time to catch the last several minutes. Now it's fairly easily found online. The plot is straightforward. Phony spiritualist Professor Fleece is holding a seance, but is continually interrupted by the gang's noisy ball game outside. He chases them off, but they take refuge in their underground hideout, which just happens to be directly beneath the seance room. They manage to ruin the seance, so Fleece decides to give them a good scare. This silent short contains some great sight gags.

Snoopy: The Musical (1988)

Originally aired January 29, 1988. In this segment, called "The Vigil," Linus once again waits in the pumpkin patch on Halloween night, in hopes that the Great Pumpkin will appear. Snoopy accompanies him, but wears dark glasses so as to prevent anyone from recognizing him.

1970s Halloween Home Movies

Halloween filmstrip (1948)

Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983)

This music video was released December 2, 1983, and I probably saw it for the first time in 1984 or 1985, when we rented it from a local store, Video Biz. The VHS release also featured a making-of documentary, where I recall Michael Jackson saying it felt like Tobasco sauce being poured in his eyes while he was wearing the cat-eye contact lenses. Somewhere there is a picture from the mid-80s that shows me mimicking Jackson as the werewolf character, with half of a yellow plastic Easter egg over each eye.

Pac-Man: Trick or Chomp (1982)

Originally aired October 16, 1982. The Pac-Family go trick-or-treating for Halloween in PacLand. But they better be careful. The Ghost Monsters are lurking about seeking to get the last chomp!

Gatlinburg, Tennessee: Hauntings Ghostly Adventure

[This post has been updated to reflect the closure of Hauntings in 2015.]
The town of Gatlinburg, in the Smoky Mountains, houses a lot of sidewalk attractions and shops: museums, arcades, custom airbrushed t-shirts, taffy, miniature golf, more airbrushed t-shirts, etc. Several attractions are themed towards the bizarre and supernatural, including Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, Ripley's Haunted Adventure, World of Illusions, Ghost Haunts Tours, and Mysterious Mansion.


I first visited an attraction called Hauntings in June 1991, during a summer trip to Tennessee. The show took place in a small room, dimly lit, with seating for about 20 people. Throughout the show, objects seemed to move by themselves (candle moving across mantle, spirit writing on slate board), noises were heard throughout the room (chains rattling, wolf howling), and an eerie voice narrated. At the end of the show, a figure appeared in the flashing of a strobe light, thrusting a chainsaw menacingly at the audience.

In 2009, I visited the attraction again. It had actually changed very little since 1991, although (unfortunately) the madman with the chainsaw had been removed from the show. Instead, there was something that occurred where a large head was moving toward the audience. I can't remember what that was about, but it managed to catch me off guard. Anyway, the video I posted contains narration from the beginning of the show. Most of it is pretty laughable, including a direct quotation of Rod Serling's opening spiel from The Twilight Zone, and annoying music ripped off from the Halloween theme.



Even though the attraction was pretty cheezy, it was refreshingly quaint. Unfortunately, it closed in 2015. The strip is increasingly being taken over by larger Ripley's attractions. Current Ripley's attractions in Gatlinburg:

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum
Ripley's Davy Crockett Mini Golf
Ripley's Haunted Adventure
Ripley's Marvelous Mirror Maze
Ripley's Moving Theater
Ripley's Super FunZone

The Facts of Life: Seven Little Indians (1987)

Originally aired January 3, 1987. This episode gives us a cross between a horror movie and The Twilight Zone, where a Rod Serling lookalike narrates as the girls are killed off one-by-one and Tootie is left to face the killer.

Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978)

Originally aired October 28, 1978, and released in theaters outside the U.S. as Attack of the Phantoms the following year. Anthony Zerbe appears in this made-for-TV movie as an evil inventor working at an amusement park. He also appeared in Child of Glass, another 1978 made-for-TV film. NBC bumper: Movie:

Phantom of the Park Movie from some random person on Vimeo.

Child of Glass (1978)

Shown on TV for the first time on May 14, 1978, I saw this movie on the Disney Channel back in the 80s. It is not available on DVD, unfortunately, but you can still find used VHS copies. Denise Nickerson, who plays Connie Sue in this movie, had also appeared in a Halloween-related Brady Bunch episode, "Two Petes in a Pod." And Anthony Zerbe, who plays Timmons, appeared in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, also in 1978.

Scary Tales (1983)

In 1983 or 1984, my family rented Scary Tales from a local video store called Video Biz. It was a compilation of darker-themed Disney cartoons that made for some good Halloween entertainment. Here is the intro video, followed by the six cartoons from Scary Tales:

Donald Duck and the Gorilla

Duck Pimples

The Skeleton Dance

Haunted House

Donald's Lucky Day

Pluto's Judgement Day

Here is a website that reviews Scary Tales, describing aspects of each part of the video, including the promotional segment at the end of the main program.

Donald Duck: Donald's Lucky Day (1939)