Like Christmas, I also felt the need to do a top whatever list for Halloween. However, I was much more strict with this one (that's why it's only half as long). The events had to take place on or near Halloween, for instance. There are plenty of those out there that are good, but these ones here are my favorites.
13. Hamtaro "Ham-Ham Halloween." CR of ThatGuyWithTheGlasses recently did a video on various Halloween-themed fast food toys, but he neglected to mention the Hamtaro ones from this special. They were, however, similar to the McNugget buddies, so I can forgive him. It's at the bottom of my list because, while the hamsters were adorable in their costumes, I couldn't care less about what the human characters were doing.
12. Invader ZIM "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom." I'd be remiss if I didn't have this one on my list. The parodies or references in it were great, such as the long walk from Judge Dredd. While the show as a whole is kinda grotesque and strange, this episode earned its spot on the list due to Dib being pulled into a nightmare world of his own making and ZIM being afraid of trick-or-treaters.
11. Wishbone "Halloween Hound: The Legend of Creepy Collars." Lame title, so let's just go by what the story is really called, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (I have the novelization, and that's what's on the cover). The storyline with Wishbone and the kids is great, featuring a Halloween scavenger hunt ending at an allegedly haunted house in town, and as usual the classic literature is acted expertly by the ensemble cast. It's a two-part episode worth checking out for fans of literature, Halloween, and little dogs with big imaginations.
10. W.I.T.C.H. "W is for Witch." The title may seem a little redundant, but in that season every episode was titled with a letter of the alphabet to begin with. This episode featured a Halloween carnival that the girls were attending, and without spoiling any of the series plot up to that point since it took place toward the end, a lot of fun was had by all, including one of the funniest exchanges of dialog in the whole series.
9. Ouran High School Host Club "Until the Day It Becomes a Pumpkin." If finding a good Christmas episode in anime is hard, Halloween is equally difficult. However, Ouran does not disappoint. It's also a Kaoru-centric episode, and I like that. As can be expected from these characters, hilarity ensues as they try to scare each other silly.
8. Boy Meets World "And Then There Was Shawn." This is the one and only exception I'm going to make on this list, and with good reason. The real Halloween episode of this show was called "Witches of Pennbrook," but the horror movie spoof episode that aired in February was more positively received and considered to be the true Halloween special for this series. In "Witches of Pennbrook," D.J. from Full House moves in and tries to sacrifice Jack and Shawn as part of a ritual for her cult, but Eric stops her. Sabrina the Teenage Witch also guest stars. It's not bad, but "And Then There Was Shawn" was slightly better. Shawn is upset that Corey and Topanga broke up and his outbursts earn the whole gang detention. A scary slasher spoof ensues. Very funny and a must-see. Jennifer Love Hewitt guest stars.
7. Halloweentown et al. There were four movies in the Halloweentown series. The first two were great, the third was my favorite because it had a message of tolerance, and the fourth wasn't really that great because they recast the main character. I like Debbie Reynolds as the grandma and the actress who plays the younger sister, but the latter is underused in the third and is absent for the fourth. Again, Lucas Grabiel does a good job but even he cannot make up for some of the weaknesses. Overall it's a good few movies I look forward to yearly.
6. Double Double Toil and Trouble. An Olsen Twins classic and one of my all-time favorites that they've done. My favorite scene happens to be the witches' gathering because it's just so fun to watch. It also has a message - that family members need to support each other during tough economic times. This is especially true now and more networks should be showing it.
5. Hocus Pocus. Another Halloween staple of Disney and its affiliates. Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker play witches who come back from the dead to steal the souls of children so they can live forever. I would advise against watching it too many times in one year or you might get sick of it like I did. The only other downside to it, I guess, is that Sean Murray plays Thackery in human form but doesn't voice him as the cat. It's a bit inconsistent for my liking, which leads me to...
4. NCIS "Witch Hunt." Sean Murray is Special Agent McGee on NCIS, and this was the only Halloween episode they've had that takes place on Halloween, so that makes it the best. It's also a solid case, and the characters' banter is well-written. It takes place in season 4, though if I remember correctly there aren't many references to continuity in this specific episode, so new viewers shouldn't worry about it if they haven't seen it before.
3. Monsters vs Aliens "Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space." If you liked the movie, then you should like this special. Susan and the others are about to take Halloween off for some R&R in her hometown, but then they get an assignment that just happens to be in her hometown. And all Dr. Cockroach wants is a swirly-pop, dammit! And speaking of Hugh Laurie...
2. The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror."Just as everyone has their favorite Treehouse of Horror episode, I do as well. My favorite is the first one, particularly "The Raven" segment. However, I also liked last year's, the twenty-first one. The first segment was Jumanji involving several different games come to life in a deadly fashion, the second cast Hugh Laurie as a suspected murderer, and in the third we got to see Daniel Radcliffe poke fun at Twilight.
1. The Nightmare Before Christmas. Is it a cop-out if the same movie tops both my Halloween and Christmas lists? I guess so, but I'm doing it anyway. It's a celebration of Halloween and Christmas, so it does make sense. It's sort of unfair to all the other ones on the lists, but they're my lists.
I’m not including MLP on either list just because it’s not quite the same holidays but I still somewhat enjoyed them anyway and both appear on my MLP:FIM Favorite Episodes list.
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