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Five Retro Halloween specials on YouTube
Ah, Halloween! My all-time favorite candy related holiday! The one night of the year when you can dress up as your favorite character or Monster and go door-to-door begging strangers for candy. But Halloween is more than just costumes and candy. It's also about carving jack-o'-lanterns, going to Halloween parties with your friends, and of course, watching Halloween specials with your family and friends.
The problem is, a lot of the Halloween specials that we grew up watching, no longer show up on TV. Meaning that you would have to find it's on VHS or DVD, on a streaming service, or in the case of this article, on YouTube. And today, I have 5 retro Halloween specials that we grew up watching. So let's not wait around any longer. Let's get our spooky on!
1. Wishbone: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1997)
Let's start off with a Halloween Special for a show that a lot of us, myself included, grew up watching in the 90s. For those that don't know, Wishbone was a show where the titular dog would tell the audience classic and iconic stories with himself included in them. In this episode, Wishbone tells the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, with himself playing the role of the schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane. Meanwhile, his owner Joe, along with his schoolmates, compete in a Halloween scavenger hunt, while also trying to break his streak of bad luck. Well I really like most about this episode, believe it or not, is the scavenger hunt itself. I know it's a strange thing to be into, especially in a Halloween special oh, but I really do like scavenger hunts. But anyway, if you are a fan of Wishbone, as well as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I recommend checking this special out.
2. The Wickedest Witch (1989)
Next, we have a Halloween special that was uploaded to YouTube by someone that some of us are familiar with: Dinosaur Dracula. Airing on NBC back in 1989 the day before Halloween, created by Paul Fusco (The same guy who created and played ALF) and narrated by Burgess Meredith, the special centers around an evil witch named Avarissa (played by Rue McClanahan) who, after being trapped underground for 300 years, seeks to return to the surface. After seeking wisdom from the Great and all-knowing Schtick (played by Jackie Gayle), Avarissa, and her assistant, a Greevil named Ersatz (voiced by Paul Fusco), send another Greevil named Sammy (voiced by Ronn Lucas) to the surface to find a child, so that Avarissa convince said child to commit a despicable deed so she can be freed from her sentence. And the child that Sammy brings back is a boy named Lewis (played by Raffi Di Blasio), who dreams to be a great magician. I'm not going to tell you everything, because that would be spoiling. I'll just let you watch it for yourself. And if you haven't seen this before, you're going to want to watch it.
3. Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985)
Here's a Halloween special that I think would make people upset if I didn't put this on here. Released in 1985, one day before Halloween, Garfield's Halloween adventure see everyone's favorite fat cat participating in everything the holiday has to offer: costumes, trick-or-treating and of course, all that candy, candy, candy, candy! Unfortunately, Garfield, along with Odie, have a run-in with some pirate ghosts, and now have to escape with their lives intact. If you guys need some Halloween nostalgia, then this is right up your alley!
4. The Night that Dracula Saved the World, AKA The Halloween that Almost Wasn't (1979)
Now here's a Halloween special are you sure a small chunk of you have probably never heard of until now. In this one, Dracula has been hearing rumors that Halloween is being canceled, and after finding out that it was the witch who started the rumor, because she was feeling unappreciated and threatened not to fly across the moon to start Halloween, Dracula and the other monsters try to capture her and convince her to change her mind. If you need a Halloween trip down memory lane, or you're looking for something new to watch, I recommend watching this.
5. The Last Halloween (1991)
Last, but certainly not least, here's a special coming from the same minds that brought us Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear in The Flintstones. Coming out in 1991, this special followed Michael and his sister Jeanie, celebrate what could be the last Halloween in the hometown, due to the lake surrounding their family's Candy Factory "mysteriously" drying up. Later, while trick-or-treating, the two siblings have a run-in with a quartet of aliens looking for some Cubi, which is what they call candy on their planet. Eventually, they went in with a evil old woman, who is the one responsible for drying up the lake surrounding the Candy Factory. I'm not going to give it away, so you have the check it out for yourself. And for those wondering what I thought of it myself, I did a review for it, which you can check out right here!
And there you have it, folks! 5 Halloween specials you can find on YouTube. I'm sure that there are other specials that can be found on YouTube and I didn't mentioned, but these are the ones that popped into my head at the time. In any which case, let me know what's your favorite Halloween special in the comments. I hope to do another of these articles in the near future. Until then, catch you later and have a happy Halloween!
onipar Posted on Oct 16, 2021 at 02:51 PM
Great list! I've actually never seen the Wishbone one. And that Dracula one, I think I've only watched part of it on a VHS mixtape I have. Garfield, heck yeah. One of my favs for sure. It's funny, I was just thinking about The Last Halloween, trying to remember the name of it (haven't seen it in a long time). That's the one that had a promotional connection with M&Ms, right?
Mr Magic Posted on Oct 15, 2021 at 07:05 PM
Better watch 'em quick before some heartless butt monkey decides to take them down.
SockofFleagulls Posted on Oct 15, 2021 at 04:40 PM
Another one you can add to this list is Fat Albert's Halloween Special. I watch it every year and there is finally a quality video uploaded to YouTube.
Vaporman87 Posted on Oct 15, 2021 at 04:13 PM
@Ben: Honestly it has to be the second most beloved animated Halloween Special for most people. Though I think Mad Monster Party is pretty high up there, as well as the Will Vinton special.
Benjanime Posted on Oct 15, 2021 at 04:05 PM
anyone else find it a bit odd that the garfield halloween special doesn't even air anymore? chairlie brown needs to be shoved aside for once lol.
Vaporman87 Posted on Oct 15, 2021 at 03:47 PM
This is an awesome selection of nostalgic specials free for the viewing. Thanks for the links to each!
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