Every Halloween Episode Of South Park Ranked Worst To Best

"South Park" has been going against the grain and offending the general masses for over 20 years. Starting life as a student film conceived by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the show has ballooned into a juggernaut. And while it has become one of Comedy Central's flagship shows, the constantly offbeat series has gained fans and detractors alike. From high concept satire to juvenile humor, the series has covered almost every topic — no matter how taboo. 

The show is no stranger to yearly holiday-related specials, lampooning both Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. The latter is most relevant here, as "South Park" has had many Halloween and horror-centered episodes of varying quality. From parodies and horror-tinted episodes to episodes set on Halloween itself, the series has a diverse catalog. But not every animated series can knock it out of the park all of the time. With that in mind, let's rank the "South Park" Halloween episodes worst to best.

When ranking "South Park" episodes, it's important to note that few episodes are truly bad. More so, some lack when compared to others, or other episodes handle certain motifs better. "Spookyfish" is far from a bad episode, but it is certainly the weakest of the series' many Halloween specials. Stan is given a creepy fish from his Aunt Flo, which proceeds to rack up a body count, including Kenny. Meanwhile, a friendly version of Cartman arrives from what is revealed to be a parallel universe. The boys deduce this is also where Stan's fish came from and believe they must send it back.

"Spookyfish" takes a page from classic "Star Trek" with the doppelgängers of Cartman and the boys who sport comical goatees. However, the episode suffers from a rather distracting and persistent visual gag that doesn't really hold up — especially today. Throughout the entire episode, there is a graphic on-screen stating the episode is presented in "spooky vision." This includes a crude cut out of Barbara Streisand's face, no doubt a response to her criticism of the show. Without that knowledge, however, it's a rather awkward gag that hinders the episode, even if slightly.

Despite their streak of going after nearly everyone known to man, some celebrities have lent their voices to "South Park." Korn comes to the town of South Park to a warm reception, with Priest Maxi being their only detractor. Also, the boys are preparing for a special Halloween prank — scaring the fifth graders with the dead body of Kyle's grandmother. The two parties cross paths when it appears South Park is under siege by a gang of pirate ghosts, and the boys team up with the band in a "Scooby-Doo" style adventure that tributes various Hanna-Barbera tropes.

The episode is a definite step up from the previous, with the biggest improvement being no usage of "spooky vision." Korn is definitely the major highlight, with the actual band providing their voices for their paper cutout counterparts. The episode also contains a lot of what makes "South Park" great, with its evolving irreverent humor on display. However, the episode definitely suffers from its age, especially if you aren't aware of Korn's discography. A definite improvement, but still nowhere near the heights of future specials.

The goth kids are some of the funniest "South Park" side characters, and they have even been the sole focus of a few episodes. "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers" isn't their strongest solo outing, but it still boasts some supremely funny moments. Henrietta, the girl of the group, is sent to a behavioral camp by her parents for her emotional issues. She returns but has been transformed into the enemy of goth kids everywhere, (gasp) an emo kid. Now with the threat of being transformed themselves, the goths must align themselves with their other mortal enemies — vampire kids!

"Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers" is a definite homage to the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" film. The show parodies the movie's ideas and imagery fairly well but sadly has very little to offer beyond that. Half of the fun of any episode focusing on the goth kids comes from the group dynamic. With Henrietta separated from them for a majority of it, it reduces the interplay between the group. If you are heavily entrenched in either goth or emo culture, you might find some laughs in this one. Nevertheless, this is far from the strongest showing for these characters; for that, definitely check out "Raisins" or "The Ungroundable."

"Sons A Witches" is one of three "South Park" Halloween episodes where the focus isn't the boys, but Stan's father, Randy Marsh. In recent years, Randy has become a focal point of the series, especially with the ongoing Tegridy Farms storyline. Sadly, of the three Randy-centered Halloween episodes, this is by far the weakest one. Randy and his friends are celebrating Halloween with various vices until a random amongst them busts out a spellbook. This turns him into a witch, who then begins menacing South Park and puts a damper on their festivities. At the same time, Cartman looks to use the witch situation to rid himself of his girlfriend, Heidi. It's definitely an episode with a lot going on, which is a recurring theme in many modern "South Park" episodes.

The concept of a "witch hunt" is used to subtly poke up at the still-growing allegations within the entertainment industry. But the episode doesn't do much with the idea, going for a more subtle approach, which is its biggest flaw. If there was ever a time to use high concept shenanigans to comment on a hot topic, this was it. The episode contains some solid laughs and visuals, but it doesn't go all the way — an unfortunate rarity for the show.

Continuing the trend of episodes with a lot going on, we have the "Tegridy Farms Halloween Special." How much you enjoy this episode really depends on how much you like the Randy Marsh-centered Tegridy Farms storyline. Indeed, Randy moving his family to a Colorado cannabis farm is a creative decision that's still reverberating throughout the show.

Randy, still happy living the life of a farmer, is concerned about Shelly's "marijuana problem"; as in, she hates it. Fittingly, Randy tries to sell his daughter on the virtues of weed, oblivious to the fact he's being a subpar father. Shelly, in an act of spite, throws a witch's brew on his new crop, causing it to mutate and grow. Meanwhile, Butters has his own problems in the form of a love-starved mummy who is constantly gaslighting him. The episode definitely has many solid horror elements, from musical cues taken from "Creepshow" to Randy and Towelie's hallucinations. However, both plots are very disconnected from each other, which is disappointing. Additionally, the sub-plot with Butters and the mummy sadly wears out its welcome quickly due to a lack of joke variety. The antics of Randy, Towelie, and Shelly elevate this one, but there are definitely far better strains from Tegridy Farms.

A new trend has come to South Park in the form of e-scooters, a free public transport run via an app. The boys, as well as every other kid in town, decide to use them to quadruple their Halloween hauls. This leaves Kenny, the only kid without a smartphone, as the odd man out as everyone makes their Halloween plans. Meanwhile, Mr. Mackey seems to be the only one perturbed by the rising number of e-scooters in town. He tries to destroy them, but it seems that they have a mind of their own, which makes conventional destruction impossible. With the number of trick-or-treaters projected to be immense, the town prepares itself for imminent destruction!

The major highlight comes when South Park is under siege from trick-or-treaters, which causes untold anarchy. "The Scoots" is a unique episode as it focuses on the characters of Kenny and Mr. Mackey, who are both downtrodden over the state of recent trends and how they're affecting their everyday lives. This episode opts not to focus on any political or social issue, instead choosing to tell a single focused narrative.

"Night of the Living Homeless" is another episode that doesn't take place on Halloween but successfully integrates spoofs with a lot of familiar horror tropes. South Park's homeless population is on the rise, and the ever boisterous Cartman is busy jumping over them on his skateboard. Meanwhile, Kyle feels sympathy, even offering one of the homeless $20, but this appears to trigger a domino effect. Now, the homeless are the size of a zombie horde and are swarming people for their change! With their parents trapped in the community center, the boys are surrounded by the homeless and must figure out a solution.

This episode is a definite zombie parody, down to its name taking a cue from "Night of the Living Dead." It might be one of the best-paced episodes in the entire series, with every character getting time to shine. There are many highlights, such as Cartman's skateboard jump and the musical solution the boys adopt to disperse the homeless. "South Park" has always loved combining social commentary with lavish fictional absurdity, which "Night of the Living Homeless" definitely does.

"Dead Celebrities" was relevant when it came out in 2009, and thanks to its dark subject matter, it definitely still is. There will never be a time when a celebrity unexpectedly passing away doesn't elicit a massive public response. Ike, Kyle's adopted little brother, is seeing apparitions of dead celebrities, with the most vocal specter being the ghost of Billy Mays. The boys take interest in Ike's plight, even bringing various pop-cultural ghost experts to help. This results in parodies of both the television series "Ghost Hunters" and Tobe Hooper's classic 1980s horror film "Poltergeist." Eventually, they discover that all the celebrity ghosts are stuck in purgatory, illustrated as a frustratingly delayed commercial airline. Now, they must help the ghost of Michael Jackson come to terms with his passing and finally move on.

This Halloween episode is jam-packed with several great gags, from Michael Jackson possessing Ike's body to the various dead celebrities. Additionally, it has a delightful running gag about a product Cartman buys called "Chipotlaway" to clean blood stains out of his underwear. Pushing absurdity to its most logical conclusion has always been the main strength of "South Park," and this episode definitely personifies that. Unsurprisingly, it deserves to stand head and shoulders among the best spooky "South Park" episodes.

One of the show's oldest but most beloved former recurring characters would be the show's interpretation of Satan. From his on-again, off-again relationship with Saddam Hussein to offering Stan council about his addictions, Satan has a definite history. But by far his most memorable episode is the 2006 "South Park" Halloween episode "Hell on Earth 2006". It's Satan's birthday, and the big red behemoth wants to go all out with a Sweet 16-style party. This brings out Satan's inner teenage girl, which makes the preparations a costly and difficult affair. Meanwhile, Butters attempts the Biggie Smalls mirror game, a parody of Bloody Mary, which summons the deceased rap icon! Now, Butters and the boy must help the very trigger-happy Biggie get to Satan's party.

"Hell on Earth 2006" is chock full of great bits and visuals, including a particularly violent parody of "The Three Stooges." The parody in question slots Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy into the role of the stooges. Between their shenanigans, Biggie Smalls' ghost, and Satan acting like a 16-year-old girl, this episode is a gem.

Of the Randy-focused Halloween specials, "A Nightmare on FaceTime" is by far the best of the three. Randy has invested in the business venture of a lifetime — to him at least — in the form of a rundown Blockbuster Video. The family is not pleased with Randy's investment, especially Stan after his dad forces him to work on Halloween. With their group Avengers cosplay in jeopardy, Stan is forced to trick or treat from a tablet carried by his friends. Meanwhile, Randy begins to go crazy, much like Jack Torrance in "The Shining," only with Blockbuster in place of the Overlook Hotel.

The parody is completely on point in this episode as the creators replicate various elements from the Stanley Kubrick classic. It also uses ghosts to make a hilarious commentary on how video stores died due to online streaming services. As stated earlier, one can make the argument that Randy has become one of the show's main focal points, and this episode uses him to his fullest comedic potential as he remains ignorant and bullheaded despite the situation. In the end, it mixes the simplicity of the early seasons with the sharper wit of newer ones to great comedic effect.

We recently featured this episode on a list of the "Best Nostalgic Halloween Specials," and for very good reason! This episode from the show's inaugural season proves that, even from its inception, "South Park" was something special. It's a typical day in South Park, which means Kenny McCormick has once again died, this time from a fallen satellite. But thanks to some shenanigans at the mortuary, Kenny returns as a brain-hungry zombie. Now a zombie plague is spreading throughout the town, which unfortunately coincides with the boys heading out for trick-or-treating. With Chef in tow, the group must find a way to dispel the undead and find a cure.

"Pinkeye" is a perfect Halloween special, and despite its age, is still just as funny as it was back in 1997. What makes it great is its simplicity; we have our core cast of characters celebrating Halloween and dealing with insanity, as well as a frequent pace of jokes, whether they're one-liners or visual gags. From the absurdity of Kenny's demise to Cartman's increasingly offensive costumes, this episode is full of gems.