Ranking 16 Of The Best Halloween TV Episodes Of All Time

The spirit of Halloween is in full swing and while Halloween movies, which can encompass virtually all of the Horror and Suspense genres get the lion’s share of attention, the best Halloween TV episodes of all-time give them a run for their money. Below we rank 16 of the all-time greatest Halloween TV episodes ever broadcast over the airwaves and these make for perfect entertainment as we march toward October 31st.

What makes for a perfect Halloween-themed TV episode? That is exactly what we will break down below.

Ranking The Best Halloween TV Episodes of All-Time

Now for what exactly is the secret recipe for Halloween perfection on TV, where to even begin…

First and foremost, the best Halloween TV episodes are not simply filler. They become iconic within that particular TV series, advance the plot in some way, and can even change the trajectory of the show in some instances. If all that sounds vague, don’t worry. These rankings of the best Halloween TV episodes of all-time speak themselves.

1. ’30 Rock’ — Stone Mountain (S4E3, 2009)

Early on in Season 4, Jack and Liz were in Stone Mountain, Georgia (Kenneth’s hometown) looking for a new cast member while Frank, Twofer, and Lutz were back in the office trying to throw a Halloween party to which they enlisted the help of Jenna to ensure it wasn’t full of losers.

Somehow, this was not the ‘Werewolf Bar Mitzvah’ episode (S2E2, ‘Jack Gets in the Game’) where a portion of Tracy’s music video aired, a song that has become synonymous with Halloween over the years. This episode also brought the ‘Rule of Three’ mainstream, where when a celebrity dies people say it often happens in threes. Tracy phoned up Betty White to try and scare her to death, Betty’s only cameo on the show.

2. ‘The Office’ — Halloween (S2E5, 2005)

There are approximately one million memes from The Office floating around the Internet but S2E5 ‘Halloween’ produced far more than the average episode. This episode first aired on October 18, 2005 and centers around corporate demanding a layoff, Michael’s costume, and this is the first appearance of Hank the Security Guard in the series.

S2E5 ‘Halloween’ was such a hit with fans of The Office they later released an extended cut version as part of The Office: Superfan Episodes.

3. ‘Community’ — Epidemiology (S2E6, 2010)

‘Epidemiology’ was the sixth episode in Season 2 of Community (2010) and was the perfect blend of being rooted in reality but still completely over the top and outlandish. A party at Greendale CC served tainted U.S. Army-surplus food which led to a situation resembling a zombie outbreak.

This episode scored a 9.2 rating on IMDB which is honestly about as high of a rating as episodes from Comedy TV shows get. Some fun Easter eggs from this episode include a ginger cat in the basement which is a nod to Alien (1979) and originally Troy had an accurate Power Loader costume based on the design from that film but NBC lawyers made them alter it.

4. ‘The Simpsons’ — Treehouse of Horror V (S6E6, 1994)

As the name implies, Treehouse of Horror V was not the first ‘Treehouse of Horror’ episode from The Simpsons but it was a truly pivotal moment in the series, a genre-defining moment if you will. It was with ‘Treehouse of Horror V’ that The Simpsons raised the bar and showed the rest of the world they’re the gold standard of comedy.

‘Treehouse of Horror V’ has a solid 9.2 rating on IMDB and it should be a lot higher. As for the actual episode, it involves the family taking care of Mr. Burns’ country mansion and Homer losing his mind. It’s a 3-parter though and fantastic from start to finish.

5. ‘Bob’s Burgers’ — Full Bars (S3E2, 2012)

When Bob’s Burgers is cooking with gasoline they are as good as any animated show there ever was and ‘Full Bars’ (S3E2, 2012) was top notch. In this episode, the kids (Tina, Gene, Louise) are trick-or-treating in the rich neighborhood (Kingshead Island) when they run into bullies which of course descends into chaos including a shout out to The Warriors (1979) with one of the bullies dropping the quote “oh kids, come out and play-ayyy.”

6. ‘How I Met Your Mother’ — The Slutty Pumpkin (S1E6, 2005)

It is hard to argue that Season 1 of How I Met Your Mother was in any way reflective of the show at its best. It was a series that built over time, layering inside jokes season after season. ‘Slapsgiving’ is a perfect example of that. But somehow ‘The Slutty Pumpkin’ (S1E6) stands out as one of the best moments from early on in the series.

This was also one of the episodes that was crucial in introducing just how soft and sentimental Ted is, chasing after the same girl in a pumpkin costume year after year.

7. ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ — HalloVeen (S5E4, 2017)

Picking the best Halloween episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a brutal task. They’re all fantastic and involve elaborate capers. But S5E4 (2017) ‘HalloVeen’ is as good as it gets with a 9.4/10 rating on IMDB.

This was the 5th annual iteration of the precinct’s Halloween heist and the best yet. Everyone was fully invested and the hijinks began before Peralta even woke up. Some might even argue this is the single best episode in the series.

8. ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ — Who Got Dee Pregnant? (S6E7, 2010)

It is hard to believe ‘Who Got Dee Pregnant?’ (S6E7, 2010) came out 16 years ago! Where did the time go?!

This episode has a solid 9.1 rating on IMDB and is one of the best from the early days of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Throughout the episode, the gang is trying to piece together Halloween after it is revealed that Sweet Dee is pregnant. Leaning into the ‘Dee is a Bird’ theme, Kaitlin Olson provided ostrich squawks for this irreverent episode and honestly I’m trying to keep this all mostly spoiler free so I won’t dive into the episode’s plotline too much more.

9. ‘Parks and Recreation’ — Halloween Surprise (S5E5, 2012)

‘Halloween Surprise’ (S5E5, 2012) was a monumental episode within the Parks and Recreation world with two of the central figures on the show finally coming together and making it official.

They are hosting a fundraiser for Jerry, Ron Swanson takes his girlfriend’s kids trick-or-treating which is a nightmare for him, and Ben’s future is completely in flux throughout. It all culminates with a moment that changes the trajectory of the show for seasons to come.

10. ‘South Park’ — Hell On Earth 2006 (S10E11, 2006)

Here we have back-to-back episodes of South Park on the list, back before Trey Parker and Matt Stone changed the show’s name to South America this season. This one is from 2006 (S10E11) and centers around Satan throwing a Super Sweet 16 Birthday Bash that is completely off the rails.

Memorable moments from this episode include the ‘Biggie Smalls, Biggie Smalls, Biggie Smalls’ in the mirror which the boys do to summon the late rapper. Satan is crashing out in true Super Sweet Sixteen birthday party fashion. And several of the most notorious serial killers in history make appearances.

11. ‘South Park’ — Pinkeye (S1E7, 1997)

This was the first Halloween episode in South Park history, all the way back in 1996 (S1E7). Early on in the show the creators and writers seemed to still be testing the audience to see how far they could push the envelope and ‘Pinkeye’ was a perfect way to pull that off

12. ‘Modern Family’ — Open House of Horrors (S4E5, 2012)

If there’s one thing about Claire Dunphy anyone needs to know it is that she is obsessed with Halloween. We learned that in an earlier episode, but ‘Open House of Horrors’ (S4E5, 2012) brought it all back in the best of ways. Phil spends the episode trying to pull off a scare on Claire only for the episode to reach a perfect apex.

13. ‘Boy Meets World’ — And Then There Was Shawn (S5E17, 1998)

Sadly, I feel like so much of Boy Meets World is lost to time but S5E17 (1998) ‘And Then There Was Shawn’ goes down in history as one of the best Halloween episodes of TV ever aired. This has a 9.4 rating on IMDB, the highest of any episode yet, and if you go back in time and watch it again you’ll see why.

Locked in school, all alone, and serving detention, everything goes sideways in a hurry after they find an ominous and threatening message on the blackboard.

14. ‘SpongeBob Squareants’ — Scaredy Pants (S1E13, 1999)

SpongeBob SquarePants Halloween episodes were always fantastic but none was better than S1E13 ‘Scaredy Pants’ back in 1999. As was the case with every SpongeBob episode, it was a two-fer, but the first episode was Halloween-centric where they throw a Halloween party despite SpongeBob being the easiest person to scare on planet earth. Did he have any business getting involved in Halloween? Absolutely not, but that’s just part of what makes this one so great.

15. ‘New Girl’ — Halloween (S2E6, 2012)

This whole episode has a solid crescendo but the scene of Nick in the haunted house being tormented by the clown might be the single greatest moment from S2E6 (2012) ‘Halloween.’ Jess was always a theater girl at heart so working at a haunted house made perfect sense but getting her roommates to actually show up to it to support her, that did not.

16. ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ — Trick or Treat (S2E3, 2001)

If you have ever been passing out candy on Halloween to trick-or-treaters and found yourself thinking they might be just a tad too old to be asking for candy, and that they put zero effort into their costumes, well Larry David bottled up your feelings and put them into this episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm that could have easily been an episode of Seinfeld if it wasn’t for the fact that most kids never trick-or-treat in buildings in NYC.

‘Trick or Treat’ was S2E2 (2001) and Larry drew the ire of trick-or-treaters by not doling out candy appropriately. It might be the single best episode from that season.

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What episode of TV would you add to this list that didn’t make the cut? Let me know down below in the comments!