It’s October, which means Halloween is right around the corner. Depending on where you live, the light-jacket weather can lead to some cozy nights indoors watching Halloween-themed shows. I was exposed to Halloween specials when I was very young — back when Hollywood Video existed and VHS was still a popular format.
I made trips to the video store with my Dad when I went to stay with him on the weekends. We would rent a bunch of tapes, buy one of those microwave popcorn buckets, get some candy and make a night of it. I fell in love with the ritual of picking something out and returning to the house with all of our supplies.
One of the first shows we bonded over was “The Simpsons.” I was a little too young to be watching it at that point and my Mom didn’t approve, but it was a fun secret I shared with my Dad. The fact that I wasn’t allowed to watch it made me love the show even more. It’s funny in retrospect to think that my mother was upset over “The Simpsons,” given how tame it is by the standards of modern television. But, it is objectively a little too raunchy for someone in elementary school. Though in fairness, the jokes that are inappropriate fly over your head at that age anyway.
An average episode of “The Simpsons” usually isn’t too bad, but the Halloween specials are appropriately inappropriate and grotesque. This piqued my morbid curiosity at a formative time in my development.
Some of my earliest memories are of going to Hollywood Video and renting the very first “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror.” It became a staple for us and we rented it every week for months before my Dad suggested we look for more episodes. Then, my goal shifted to finding every “Treehouse of Horror” there was.
Analyzing this phase of my life has made me realize that I love Halloween specials — particularly cartoon comedy — because of the intersection of horror and humor.
Several other shows from my childhood managed to scratch that itch as well. I remember watching “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island,” while eating pizza-flavored Pringles at my Dad’s first apartment. “Scooby-Doo” was always one of my favorites and inherently balanced scary and funny elements.
“The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy” is another great example of a horror-comedy that managed to simultaneously disturb and humor me. On Friday nights after school, I would come home and eat McDonald’s while watching new episodes. It taught me that frightening things could be funny — it gave me a taste for disturbing humor.
These nostalgic memories and my love of genre-mixing is what solidified this as my favorite form of entertainment. That’s why, no matter what time of year it is, I enjoy watching Halloween specials. But, it is nice when October rolls around again — so I can at least be thematically correct when I do.
