Halloween Mixtape

Okay, the title is a little misleading. But "mix DVD" doesn't have the same ring.

About 20 years ago, back when DVD burners were still standard computer hardware, I made my own two-disc compilation of some of my favorite Halloween TV episodes. Most of the episodes were ones my family had recorded off television onto VHS, and I converted them to digital video. I should add that this was probably a year or two before YouTube even existed.

The first disc contains full episodes while the second is a mix of full episodes with various Halloween-themed segments from other programs.

Disc 1 (menu music: Theme from Disney's Haunted Mansion)

1. Three Stooges: "If a Body Meets a Body"
2. Bewitched: "Safe and Sane Halloween"
3. Brady Bunch: "To Move or Not to Move"
4. Brady Bunch: "The Slumber Caper"
5. Brady Bunch: "Fright Night"
6. Happy Days: "Haunted"
7. Happy Days: "The Evil Eye"

Disc 2 (menu music: "The Skeleton Dance")

1. Little House on the Prairie: "The Monster of Walnut Grove"
2. That's Incredible: Haunted Castle in New Jersey
3. That's Incredible: Haunted Toys R Us
4. Eye on L.A.: "Halloween 3-D"
5. Jack White at the Old Margo Theater
6. Saturday Night Live: Halloween with Matt Foley
7. Our Gang: "Shivering Spooks"
8. Mickey Mouse: "Haunted House"
9. Silly Symphonies: "The Skeleton Dance"
10. 1984 McDonald's Commercial
11. 1985 Vincent Price Commercial
12. McDonald's Commercial: "Scared Silly"
13. Brady Bunch: "Out of This World"
14. Brady Bunch: "Two Petes in a Pod"

In its own way, my amateur DVD compilation helped inspire this blog, The Ghosts of Halloweens Past, which I initiated several years later with posts about many of these same programs. I appreciate the low-fi quality to the VHS transfer, and the fact that I can watch these programs on a TV screen and not have to be connected online. Makes the experience a little more old-school, like when mixtapes were a thing.

What would be on your Halloween DVD compilation?

Get Smart: Weekend Vampire (1965)

CONTROL agents are being found murdered with mysterious puncture marks on their necks, leading to speculation that they are being killed by a vampire. The murders are only committed on weekends and the papers speculate that a "weekend vampire" is behind them. The investigation leads Max and 99 to the spooky castle of Dr. Drago. Drago is a disgruntled former CONTROL scientist, who was dismissed for "unauthorized experiments." Max and 99 disguise themselves as newlyweds to get into the house and discover the secret of Drago's coffin. (Synopsis from wouldyoubelieve.com) Originally aired December 18, 1965.

Happy Days: Welcome to My Nightmare (1981)

This Season 8 episode originally aired February 3, 1981.  After a day of everyone asking favors of him, Fonzie has a nightmare about a mad scientist draining his cool. (Synopsis from TV.com)

Today Show: Star Wars Halloween (2006)

Aired Halloween 2006. A big-budget, Star Wars-themed Today Show goes downhill very quickly when the drunk Ewoks show up.

Laverne and Shirley: The Haunted House (1977)

The gang heads to an old abandoned house in which Carmine informs the girls they could pick up a couch for free. But their friends seem to disappear one by one while inside the haunted mansion. (Synopsis from ShareTV.org) Originally aired March 22, 1977.

The episode isn't readily available online, but here's a recap and analysis from the Night After Night Podcast:

Andy Griffith Show: The Haunted House (1963)

After Opie and his friend Arnold hit a baseball into the window of the old Rimshaw house, they hear noises and run to Andy and Barney for help. Andy sends Barney up to the house to get the ball with Gomer. They also hear noises and run away. Andy decides for all three of them to go together. The ghosts turn out to be Otis and his moonshiner friend. (Synopsis from TV.com) Originally aired October 7, 1963.

Ozzie and Harriet: Halloween Party (1952)

On Halloween night, Ozzie and Thorny make plans to attend a non-costume party as Satan and a Scotsman. Meanwhile Ricky and David attend a Halloween Party at school and the Nelson household is besieged by children demanding candy - or else. (Synopsis from IMDB.com) Originally aired October 31, 1952.

Wipeout Halloween Episode (1988)

B.J. and the Bear: A Coffin with a View (1979)

Originally aired March 10, 1979. B.J. is contracted to haul two coffins that will be in a vampire movie. (Synopsis from TV.com)

Gilligan's Island: Up at Bat (1966)

Originally aired September 12, 1966. Gilligan is bitten in the neck by a bat and fears he will transform into a vampire as a result. Gilligan's troubled sleep is haunted by a dream that he is indeed a vampire living in a European castle in 1895 where unsuspecting travelers and a famous detective and his doctor assistant appear at his doorstep. (Synopsis from IMDB.com)

Perfect Strangers: Fright Night (1991)

From Season 7, this episode originally aired October 25, 1991. Balki is excited when he finds out he has a ghost named Chester living in his room, but Larry is skeptical until the ghost makes its presence known!

Little House on the Prairie: The Halloween Dream (1979)

Originally aired October 29, 1979. Laura and Albert are very excited about dressing up as Indians for Nellie Oleson's Halloween party, but Caroline won't let them pull this late-nighter without taking a nap first. After falling asleep with a Native American book in his hands, Albert's imagination gets the better of him as he slips into quite an intense dream. All of a sudden, he and Laura have been captured by Indians, and with the tribe in possession of some threatening weapons, these two kids must become part of a very dangerous game. (Synopsis from TV.com)

Super Password Halloween Episode (1984)

Aired October 31, 1984. With celebrity guests Judy Norton Taylor and Richard Moll.

Super Password Halloween Episode (1986)

Aired October 31, 1986. With celebrity guests Lindsay Bloom and Tom Poston.

Super Password Halloween Episode (1988)

Aired October 31, 1988. With celebrity guests Edie McClurg and Christopher Hewitt, and Halloween-themed passwords.

Punky Brewster: Love Thy Neighbor (1985)

Originally aired November 17, 1985. On Halloween night, a woman named Isabelle Peavy behaves rudely to the children in Punky's building and refuses to give them candy. Punky and Cherie enter her apartment to play a joke on her, but their plans go awry when Brandon accidentally gets left behind. The next day, Henry goes over to retrieve the dog, and he ends up learning some interesting information about Isabelle. (Synopsis from TV.com) Watch episode on NBC.com.

The Cosby Show: Cliff's Mistake (1987)

Originally aired October 15, 1987. Cliff's neighbor Jeffrey gets angry when Cliff can't find the drill that he borrowed. The Huxtable kids prepare for Halloween by building a haunted house in the basement. (Synopsis from TV.com)

Happy Days: Fonsillectomy (1977)

Originally aired October 25, 1977. Fonzie is ill, and the doctor says he must go into hospital the next day to have his tonsils removed, meaning that he will miss the Cunningham's Halloween party. The Fonz does not take the news well. Worse still, the only spare place in the hospital is on the children's ward. (Synopsis from Wikipedia)

Happy Days: The Spirit is Willing (1984)

Originally aired April 24, 1984. While not a Halloween episode, it begins to feel like one halfway through. Fonzie gets more than he bargained for in the purchase of a junked 55 Chevy. A beautiful and mysterious woman appears. Fonzie's attraction to her intensifies, but so does his shocked reaction when he learns that she had died in a car accident a decade earlier.

Brady Bunch: Out of This World (1974)

From Season 5, this episode originally aired January 18, 1974. I have never really associated UFOs and space aliens with Halloween, but there are plenty of sci-fi movies shown on TV around the holiday and alien masks sold in costume shops. And UFOs will be forever linked to Halloween because of Orson Welles's October 30, 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds, which sent many people into a panic across the U.S. I would like to include this episode on my Halloween blog because I really enjoy The Brady Bunch, and because this episode has a similar feel to "Fright Night," a true Brady Bunch Halloween episode. Motivated by his younger brothers' interest in space exploration and stories of UFOs, Greg plays a trick on them by projecting a flying saucer image out of the attic window. The boys are able to capture pictures and develop them, with Mom's help, which leads to a government investigation. There is also a dream sequence in which the UFO lands in the back yard and Bobby talks with the pint-sized aliens.