Scary Godmother is both a series of children's books and a series of comic books. Written by Jill Thompson, the series consists of Halloween-themed stories about a girl and her "Scary Godmother".
Hannah Marie is a young girl who gets stuck in a haunted house while Trick-or-Treating with her cousin. Hannah is transported to "Frightside", an alternate realm where magical beings live. Hannah meets an energetic fairy called Scary Godmother, her three "broommates", and the rest of their friends.
The series has been adapted into two animated specials: Scary Godmother (2003) and Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy (2005). The cartoons have their own page.
Books
- Scary Godmother (1997)
- Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy (1998)
- Scary Godmother: The Mystery Date (1999)
- Scary Godmother: The Boo Flu (2000)
- Scary Godmother: Wild About Harry (2001)
- Scary Godmother: Ghoul's Out For Summer (2002)
- Scary Godmother: Spooktacular Stories (2004)
- Scary Godmother Omnibus (2006)
This series provides examples of:
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Scary Godmother has light green skin.
- Basement-Dweller: Harry the werewolf lives in his mother's basement and enjoys spending his time on the internet. In Wild About Harry, his mother kicks him out of the house.
- Clashing Cousins: Jimmy is an Enfant Terrible who bullies his younger cousin Hannah.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The real name of Scary Godmother is never revealed.
- Free-Range Children: Jimmy and his friends go Trick-o-Treating alone with their friends and his even younger cousin. By the time of release, this had become uncommon amongst the thirteen-and-under.
- Fairy Godmother: Scary Godmother is a Halloween equivalent. She's a bit spooky and macabre but is well-meaning.
- Halloweentown: The Fright Side is a realm full of monsters and seems to be a Fisher Kingdom that relies on Halloween traditions and celebrations in order to exist, nearly fading out of existence in The Revenge of Jimmy when Jimmy tries ruining Halloween in his hometown.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Harry and Orson (and to a lesser extent, Max and Ruby) are such important and major characters in the series that it's kind of a surprise going back to the very first book and discovering that they don't appear at all in it. They made their first appearance in the Bloody Valentine comic, which takes place between the first and second book.
- Parental Bonus: The books and comics are inherently kid-friendly, though there are a couple of hidden innuendoes and dirty jokes... one example being from the Search For Mister Bogeylegs Christmas special, where Scary Godmother's present is a book called The Joy of Hex. The caption even says "you never can have too much knowledge."
- Pint-Sized Kid: Hannah Marie has the proportions of a toddler but is implied to be 6-8.
- Puppy Love: Hannah's under nine and has a crush on Orson. Orson also has a crush on her back.
- Ruder and Cruder: While no swearing is used in the books, some of the comics have stronger language, such as Count Max at one point saying "hell".
- Multiple Demographic Appeal: The series was intended to be enjoyed by all ages.
- Shout-Out:
- Scary Godmother: Ghoul's Out For Summer is named after the Alice Cooper song "School's Out".
- In the first comic there's a full-page How the Grinch Stole Christmas! reference, complete with Jimmy smirking:
Then suddenly, an idea popped into his head.A nasty idea.A nasty, mean, selfish, and devilish idea. - Sick Episode: In The Boo Flu, Scary Godmother comes down with the Boo Flu.
- The Svengali: The Master from Ghoul's Out For Summer is an abusive and malevolent vampire slavedriver who uses his "students" to collect prey for him, leaving them to starve off of his scraps. He reacts to any challenge to his authority with great hostility, having locked one of his students out in the daylight to burn to death when he tried standing up to him and burning his sister's face as a permanent warning. He hypnotizes their familiars to make sure that their parents never catch wind of his abuse, and it takes Orson tricking him into thinking he was immune to sunlight (when really he was coated in Hannah's sunscreen) to scare the Master into laying off, and their parents were ready to tear him limb from limb when they finally caught wind of what was happening.
- Valentine's Day Episodes: The Bloody Valentine comic takes place six months after the original book. Orson's parents have gotten into a fight, with Ruby going to visit Scary Godmother and Max going to visit Harry. After some advice, the couple makes up.
