Buffy the Vampire Slayer really is the perfect TV show to watch during spooky season, as each and every one of its 144 episodes is guaranteed to have some kind of Halloween flavoring thanks to the supernatural nature of the series. As it happens, though, the Buffyverse — comprising Buffy and its spinoff series, Angel — dished out a handful of Halloween specials across its combined 12 seasons of expertly crafted television.
In keeping with Buffy‘s habit of subverting our expectations, Buffyverse lore states that Halloween actually isn’t that big of a deal for demonkind as vampires and the rest of the forces of darkness that our heroine, Buffy Summers, is sworn to vanquish find humanity’s celebration of the holiday tacky and so tend to stay at home and take it easy on All Hallow’s Eve. Nevertheless, the night of Oct. 31 has been home to numerous mystical mishaps over the course of the two series. Let’s see how the various Halloween specials rate.
4. BTVS: “All The Way” (season 6, episode 6)
The rest of this ranking was a challenge, but there was never any doubt about which one had to come bottom. While the other three episodes that I’ll come to in a minute are classics of their kind, “All the Way” is merely so-so, with its mediocrity (for Buffy, that is) brought into even sharper focus by the fact it’s immediately followed by season 6’s two finest episodes back-to-back, the musical “Once More, With Feeling” and the comedy amnesia caper “Tabula Rasa.”
If you don’t remember, “All the Way” sees Dawn sneak off with her friends to hang out with some jocks on Halloween night — but, as we all know after six years of Buffy, hot boys should not be trusted. More of note is the subplot involving Anya and Xander finally telling the Scoobies about their engagement — considering how much season 6 will put all these characters through the wringer, it’s nice to see them allowed to be happy for a brief moment.
3. Angel: “Life of the Party (season 5, episode 5)
Maybe because its parent series had the holiday down pat, Angel avoided doing Halloween episodes up until its final season, and it’s so good it makes you wish the show hadn’t waited so long. If you’ll remember, season 5 sees the Angel Investigations crew become corporate sell-outs when they take over the LA branch of demonic lawfirm — and their eternal enemies — Wolfram & Hart. In “Life of the Party,” then, Lorne works around the clock to host the annual W&H Halloween party, which goes disastrously wrong when the sleep-deprived telepathic demon’s powers go on the fritz and cause everyone to do exactly what he says.
Yes, the premise is a straight rip-off of Buffy season 4’s “Something Blue,” but it worked so well there it’s hard to complain. My Wesley/Fred-loving self can’t get enough of the couple being adorably inebriated and Spike’s spell-powered positive attitude never gets old.
2. BTVS: “Fear Itself” (season 4, episode 4)
Say what you like about Adam and the Initiative, because it is easily the show’s weakest season-long story arc, but season 4 as a whole is criminally underrated. Take a look at the episode list and you’ll realize it features many of the absolute finest standalone episodes Buffy ever produced.
That includes the show’s second Halloween episode, “Fear Itself,” which sees the gang — who finally attend college this season — invited to a frat party, which becomes a real haunted house thanks to an accidental demon summoning. Despite its title, “Fear Itself” might not be among the scariest Buffy episodes ever, but it might just be among its funniest. See Giles armed with a chainsaw, the first reveal of Anya’s iconic fear of bunnies, and — my personal favorite — Willow and Oz’s quirky couples costumes as Joan of Arc and God.
1. BTVS: “Halloween” (season 2, episode 6)
It’s a close run thing between “Fear Itself” and this next entry, but ultimately season 2’s original Halloween episode came out on top. Simply titled “Halloween,” this classic sees Sunnydale run amok when everyone is cursed to become their Halloween costume. So when Xander becomes a no-nonsense soldier and Buffy transforms into a helpless 19th-century noblewoman (she was trying to impress Angel, but it didn’t work — it’s a whole thing), it’s up to Willow to save the day now she’s a bonafide ghost.
The introduction of Giles’ old frenemy, Ethan Rayne, makes this one a key slice of Buffy lore and the out-of-sorts character comedy ensures it’s an entertaining blast, but it’s really Willow’s journey to self-confidence that lifts this episode up to greatness. Personally speaking, this is also one of the first pieces of Buffy I ever saw, so its nostalgia levels are off the charts. Don’t believe me that it’s a masterpiece? It even got its own Simpsons Treehouse of Horror parody. There’s no greater honor than that.
