Christmas may get all of the publicity for its TV specials and Yuletide-flavored episodes, but I think we all know that Halloween is really where it's at. Every year, around this time, TV shows (the good ones, at least) dedicate a half or a whole hour to the scariest holiday.
Sure, you can flip through TV channels and find some Halloween specials, like It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, The Simpsons' annual "Treehouse of Horror" or a smattering of Halloween-themed episodes, but you've either got to watch them live or DVR them, and where's the fun in that? In between planning your costume for the big day and working out so you can gorge yourself on Halloween candy by Oct. 31, you just don't have time for that.
Luckily, Netflix always comes through with all of your spooky needs. With its impressive offering of TV shows ready for you to stream right now, you can find plenty of Halloween-themed episodes to get you in the mood. Here are the very best.
1. 30 Rock - "Stone Mountain" (Season 4, Episode 3)
Jenna's friends and the TGS writers throw one huge Halloween party. What could possibly go wrong?
2. American Horror Story - "Halloween (Parts 1 and 2)" (Season 1, Episodes 4 and 5)
The scariest show on TV gets even more terrifying around Halloweentime.
3. Angel - "Life of the Party" (Season 5, Episode 5)
This supernatural show does Halloween right with a party gone awry.
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Halloween" (Season 2, Episode 6)
Things get really freaky on this episode of Buffy when people start turning into real-life versions of their costumes.
5. Bob's Burgers - "Full Bars" (Season 3, Episode 2)
Full-sized candy bars are a trick-or-treater's dream, and Gene's '90s-era Queen Latifah costume is also divine.
6. Charmed - "All Halliwell's Eve" (Season 3, Episode 4)
The Halliwell sisters go on a time-traveling Halloween adventure, which is pretty much the norm when you have supernatural powers like they do.
7. Cheers - "House of Horrors with Formal Dining and Used Brick" (Season 5, Episode 5)
Carla's house may be haunted, but you'll have a scary good time watching the hilarity ensue.
8. Chuck - "Chuck Versus the Sandworm" (Season 1, Episode 6)
Halloween can't always be on the top of your list when you've got to keep the country out of danger.
9. Dinosaurs - "Little Boy Boo" (Season 3, Episode 5)
If you can't frighten your kid sibling on Halloween, who can you scare?
10. Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 - "Love and Monsters..." (Season 2, Episode 2)
Apparently, you can take Halloween trickery too far sometimes. Unfortunately, no one ever told Chloe that.
11. Everybody Loves Raymond - "Halloween Candy" (Season 3, Episode 6)
Ray and Debra want the best Halloween treat you can get: a little hanky panky.
12. Frasier - "Halloween" (Season 5, Episode 3)
This episode of Frasier features probably the most sophisticated Halloween party you'll ever see, as Niles makes everyone dress up as literary characters. And we wouldn't expect anything less.
13. Freaks and Geeks - "Tricks and Treats" (Season 1, Episode 3)
You can definitely be too old for trick-or-treating, and there's nothing more embarrassing than realizing that when it's too late.
14. Gilmore Girls - "Twenty-One is the Loneliest Number" (Season 6, Episode 7)
Halloween has hit Stars Hollow, but Rory is celebrating a very important birthday -- sans Lorelai -- instead.
15. Glee - "The Rocky Horror Glee Show" (Season 2, Episode 5)
The New Directions do "The Time Warp" for the first time, and put on their own rendition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show for McKinley High's fall musical.
16. Goosebumps - "The Haunted Mask (Parts 1 and 2)" (Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2)
In case you want a show that will take you on a nostalgia trip and give you nightmares, the TV adaptation of Goosebumps' "The Haunted Mask" will kill two birds with one stone, but not literally. You've got to clarify that sort of thing when you're talking about Halloween.
17. Gossip Girl - "How to Succeed in Bassness" (Season 3, Episode 7)
Ah, celebrating Halloween the only way fictional rich teens can.
18. How I Met Your Mother - "The Slutty Pumpkin" (Season 1, Episode 6)
We're all just in search of our own "Slutty Pumpkin," aren't we?
19. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Who Got Dee Pregnant?" (Season 6, Episode 7)
The guys try to think back to their last Halloween party to determine if one of them might be the father of Dee's baby. Halloween parties are so much more exciting on TV.
20. Louie - "Halloween / Ellie" (Season 2, Episode 10)
Who wouldn't want to go trick-or-treating with Louis C.K.?
21. Mad Men - "The Gypsy and the Hobo" (Season 3, Episode 11)
Not the most festive Halloween episode you'll ever see, but definitely one of the most thought-provoking.
22. Malcolm in the Middle - "Halloween" (Season 7, Episode 4)
Everyone in the family is trying to get their own bit of Halloween fun, be it surviving in their seemingly haunted house, egging some senior citizens or going trick-or-treating as an adult.
23. New Girl - "Halloween" (Season 2, Episode 6)
Jess is the last person you would ever imagine working at a haunted house.
24. The Office - "Halloween" (Season 2, Episode 5)
The first of many classic Halloween episodes from The Office is also the best.
25. Parenthood - "Orange Alert" (Season 2, Episode 6)
Just because you're super stoked for Halloween doesn't mean everyone else is.
26. Parks and Recreation - "Halloween Surprise" (Season 5, Episode 5)
Like The Office, Parks and Recreation is another show with many wonderful Halloween episodes. However, this one is the most touching, which is something you don't often associate with the holiday.
27. Pretty Little Liars - "The First Secret" (Season 2, Episode 13)
Nobody does Halloween like Pretty Little Liars, and "The First Secret" is an episode you'll want to tell everyone about.
28. Scrubs - "My Big Brother" (Season 2, Episode 6)
Halloween isn't any fun when your big brother is hitting on the girl you like.
29. Supernatural - "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester" (Season 4, Episode 7)
It's pretty much always Halloween on Supernatural, but this episode officially celebrates the holiday.
30. That '70s Show - "Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die" (Season 3, Episode 4)
This episode of That '70s Show puts a hilarious twist on several Alfred Hitchcock films.
31. Ugly Betty - "The Lyin', the Watch and the Wardrobe" (Season 1, Episode 5)
Betty has one busy Halloween with a whole lot of tricks and not so many treats.
