Buffy's Three Halloweens
According to Giles, Halloween is the one night Sunnydale’s vampires stay home. “He swears that tomorrow night is like dead for the undead,” Buffy tells Xander. “They stay in.” It never works out that way. Buffy did Halloween three times, and every time, something worse than vampires showed up. If you’re planning a rewatch for the 31st, here’s the lineup.
“Halloween” (Season 2, October 27, 1997)
The one where the costumes take over. Ethan Rayne opens a costume shop, and everyone who buys from him turns into whatever they’re dressed as. Buffy becomes a helpless noblewoman, Xander a soldier and Willow a ghost. It’s also our first look at Ethan, and at a side of Giles we hadn’t seen yet.
Snyder, signing Buffy up to take kids trick-or-treating: “Halloween must be a big night for you. Tossing eggs, keying cars, bobbing for apples. One pathetic cry for help after another.”
Read our guide and quotes for “Halloween”
“Fear, Itself” (Season 4, October 26, 1999)
A frat house haunted house turns into a real one, and the gang gets trapped inside with their own worst fears. It lands right as the gang is drifting apart in their first year of college, and the house knows exactly where to push. Stay for the ending.
Xander, carving a jack-o’-lantern: “I was going for ferocious/scary, but it’s coming out more dryly sardonic.”
Willow: “It does appear to be mocking you with its eyeholes.”
Oz: “Yeah, and its nosehole seems sad and full of self-loathing.”
Read our guide and quotes for “Fear, Itself”
“All the Way” (Season 6, October 30, 2001)
Dawn sneaks out on Halloween with a cute boy, and it goes about as well as you’d expect a first date in Sunnydale to go. Meanwhile, the Magic Box is open late for the holiday rush, and Xander has news.
Spike, when Buffy asks him to patrol: “It’s not like I don’t already have plans. ‘Great Pumpkin’s’ on in 20.”
Read our guide and quotes for “All the Way”