For those who know me, you know I love Halloween. This time of year is my favorite, when I get to sit down, watch some of the best horror films or the best horror TV shows, and just enjoy a spooky season. But you want to know what else I’m a huge fan of? South Park.
For years on end, I’ve enjoyed watching the most outrageous South Park episodes or even checking out some of the most controversial South Park episodes in general. But when Halloween and South Park combine, it usually means that we’re going to get some good television. In honor of my favorite holiday, I decided to rank the South Park Halloween-themed episodes.
10. “Sons A Witches” (Season 22, Episode 6)
“Sons a Witches” came out during the twenty-second season of South Park and featured Randy and all his guy friends going off into the woods for what they call a “Witch Week” where they dress up as witches and just get drunk and high for several days straight. One ends up turning into an actual witch and causing mayhem in South Park.
You know, you’d think I’d like this episode, considering I’m a massive fan of the Harry Potter movies and really anything that has anything to do with witches, but it just didn’t hit right. The episode itself parodies a lot of what was going on at the time in the political landscape, and it didn’t get me in a spooky mood. This is a shame because I really love any episode in which Randy is featured.
9. “Tegridy Farms Halloween Special” (Season 23, Episode 5)
While there have been several “specials” for South Park now, before there were specials, there was this episode, simply titled “Tegridy Farms Halloween Special,” which followed Randy as he tried to promote a new deal on weed for Halloween, but thanks to his daughter, something caused the weed to mutate
Randy and Tegridy Farms has been an up-and-down process for the show. Some episodes are really great, and others are just pure trash. This one sits right in the middle and ranks low among the Halloween episodes. Again, usually, Randy is a knock-out with many of his leading episodes, but this one just didn’t hit the mark. I will say the shocking hallucinations were a good add-on, though.
8. “Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers” (Season 17, Episode 4)
In “Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers,” the Goth kids team up with the Vamp kids to try and find a way to take down the ultimate poser – Emo kids – when one of their own is converted into an Emo kid.
Look, I’m biased here because I never really liked the Goth kids in South Park anyway. But the addition of brainwashing and everything else makes for a spooky entry. But it’s not my favorite.
7. “Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery” (Season 3, Episode 10)
In this South Park Halloween special, the nu-metal band Korn arrives in South Park for a “Halloween Haunt” but ends up tangled in a mystery about pirate ghosts.
Look, this episode is a clear parody of Scooby-Doo, and I love it. I’m the person who will rewatch the best Scooby-Doo movies and love every new iteration of the franchise (besides Velma), so I’m into this. But man, Korn doesn’t belong here. I get what they were trying to do, but they could have used anyone else, and the parody would have worked much better.
6. “Night Of The Living Homeless” (Season 11, Episode 7)
Okay, so “Night of the Living Homeless” isn’t necessarily deemed a Halloween episode. Still, most will agree that Halloween is the best time to watch this episode, so it’s like an unofficial official Halloween episode. A parody of the many zombie movies out there, the episode follows how homeless people overtake South Park after Kyle donates money to a homeless man.
The episode itself is a great satire on real-life conversations regarding the homeless. More than that, it parodies some excellent zombie films and fits right in the middle of a Halloween ranking. It’s a great episode.
5. “The Scoots” (Seasons 22, Episode 5)
“The Scoots” is something I could totally see happening now. The episode follows the residents of South Park as electric scooters take over the streets, and everyone uses them. Mr. Mackey takes it upon himself to try to stop them before everyone uses them on Halloween night to get around.
Normally, this kind of episode would rank lower, but I genuinely enjoy the heck out of it because it’s the perfect horror story for today’s kids. Instead of walking from house to house, it’s all scooters going back and forth and collecting as much candy as possible, and it’s just a total mess. Then, it also brings in the fact that Kenny can’t afford a phone, so he can’t ride a rental scooter. It’s an all-around great episode.
4. “Spookyfish” (Season 2, Episode 15)
The earlier seasons of South Park had some of the wildest episodes, and this one revolved around Stan’s new goldfish that apparently is evil and killing people left and right – and it’s actually from a different dimension of opposite personalities, so it’s an evil fish.
Yeah, I know. The whole thing is just kind of wack and hard to follow, but I have to admit that it’s one of my favorite Halloween episodes. They manage to do the alternate dimensions and personalities very well, and the jokes are great.
3. “Hell on Earth 2006” (Season 10, Episode 09)
During Halloween in 2006, Satan decides to throw the biggest rager Earth has ever seen in California. Meanwhile, the kids summon Biggie Smalls by saying his name in the mirror three times.
With parodies of Candyman and My Super Sweet 16 somehow working together so effortlessly, there’s not a lot I can critique about this episode. It’s hilarious, well-timed, and has some great jokes all around. I’ve seen Satan dressed up in that Britany Spears costume several times now.
2. “Pinkeye” (Season 1, Episode 7)
Arguably, this was the episode I laughed the most during. “Pinkeye” is the very first Halloween special of South Park and follows the town of South Park when a zombie infestation begins to spread that the doctor’s mistake for pinkeye at first.
I love this episode for plenty of reasons. A big one is that it came out during the early years of South Park, and the show was doing some wild things. As someone who loves the best zombie movies out there, I was a massive fan of this episode, and it really gets you in the zombie mood.
1. “A Nightmare on FaceTime” (Season 16, Episode 12)
Last but not least, I have to put “A Nightmare on FaceTime” as my number one. While the title is a parody of all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, the episode itself is a parody of The Shining, one of Stephen King’s best movie adaptations. It features a hilarious story about Randy going crazy in a Blockbuster Home Video.
As someone who grew up on the tail end of Blockbuster, this episode brings back happy memories and also makes me laugh my butt off at how accurate it is and how hilarious the parody of The Shining becomes. The B-plot of Stan trick-or-treating on FaceTime with his friends only adds to it.
Truthfully, this is the time of year to check out the most fun Halloween movies or maybe make some fresh apple cider or buy some candy. But if it’s just you on Halloween this year, check out these great episodes—trust me, you won’t regret it.