- "Ho-Ho-Horror!"
Produced 2005, aired in U.S. on 12/6/05
Production order: 28 (2-8)
After Danny destroys a Christmas poem written by the Ghost Writer, the latter decides to get revenge by trapping Danny in a Christmas poem of his own creation, using Reality Warper powers to ruin the holidays for everyone around Amity and pin the blame on Danny Phantom until "a lesson is learned."
Has nothing to do with the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy online game The Fright Before Christmas.
Tropes found in this episode:
- Aesop Enforcer: The Ghost Writer traps Danny in a Christmas poem where everything rhymes until "a lesson is learned". Not even destroying his keyboard does the trick. Once Danny learns the lesson, the Ghost Writer seems content to leave him be.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Averted for once. Sam is explicitly revealed to be Jewish, and her family celebrates Hanukkah every holiday season. Played straight for the rest of the series. Sam never mentions being Jewish before this episode, and her parents come across more like White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Moral Guardians.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Maddie doesn't believe in Santa Claus despite being a ghost hunter.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Danny goes to confront the Ghost Writer and break out of his story, the Ghost Writer makes it so Danny runs into all of his other enemies instead. They are all waiting for him in darkness ominously, and then suddenly invite him to join their holiday party. This also serves as one in-universe for the Ghost Writer himself, since he thought the ghosts would all suspend their annual truce for the chance to beat up Danny together.
- Big "NO!": By Danny when he was unable to stop the poem by destroying the Quantum Keyboard. Ghost Writer even describes such in the narration.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: At one point, the Ghost Writer looks directly at the audience and tells them “I’m really quite wicked when I get the urge.” Later, when Danny says “Aw, nuts!” when the Ghost Writer’s giant nutcracker attacks him, the Ghost Writer asks if they have to end each scene with a terrible pun.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Danny finally has enough of the feuding and calls his parents out on ruining Christmas before storming. Unfortunately, his parents didn't seem to listen, thinking he's just having some random outburt.
- Card-Carrying Villain: At one point, the Ghost Writers claims he’s quite wicked when he gets the urge.
- Character Narrator: After zapping Danny into his story, the Ghost Writer acts as the narrator for most of the story. Danny takes over the role of narrator after Ghost Writer gets taken away to the Ghost Zone’s prison.
- Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Nixon: More of Malicious Misnaming than Accidental: When the Ghost Writer transforms Santa's reindeer into ghostly versions of themselves, we hear him calling them by new names:Ghost Writer: On Spooky, on Specter, on Death Hoof, on Thrasher! On Maimer, on Vicious, Blood Antlers, and Slasher!
- Disproportionate Retribution: Although Danny was very rude to the Ghost Writer and (accidentally) destroyed his book, the Ghost Writer takes his revenge way too far by framing Danny for stealing everyone’s Christmas presents, and repeatedly attacking Danny with Christmas-themed monsters.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Danny's enemies hate him, but they have a truce not to fight on Christmas and believe it applies for half-ghosts like Danny just as much. They deem it unforgivable when they learn the Ghost Writer broke the truce.
- "Everybody Helps Out" Denouement: This Christmas Episode ends with Danny and his Rogues Gallery calling a truce after the final fight to return all the Christmas presents and decorations that got destroyed over the course of the plot.
- Everyone Has Standards: Jack and Maddie put their feud on hold when the latter goes to save their son from Ghost Writer's monster Christmas trees.
- Everyone Is Christian at Christmas: Averted. Sam makes a point to mention that while she doesn't celebrate Christmas, she still loves all the decorations and holiday cheer (shouting out various greetings to people of different faiths). When Danny wants to get away from Christmas stuff, he goes to her house specifically because her family is celebrating Hanukah (menorah, dreidels, blue and silver color scheme, and all).
- Evil Laugh: The Ghost Writer does a big one after trapping Danny in his new book. He did another one after telling Danny that he’s still stuck in the book.
- Eviler than Thou: The Ghost Writer breaks the Ghost Zone’s Christmas truce, which is something that even Danny’s Rogues Gallery is appalled by. When the other ghosts come after him, he just uses his keyboard to put them under Mind Control and make them fight each other.
- Faux Horrific: When Walker offers the Ghost Writer an orange at the end, the Ghost Writer is horrified and tells him to keep it away from him, as he hates oranges since he writes rhyming poems and nothing rhymes with “orange”. note
- Food Eats You: In a flashback, it's shown that during another one of Jack and Maddie's Santa arguments, one of their experiments causes a Christmas turkey to come alive and attack Danny and Jazz.Tucker: (Narrating) And the one four years later, was clearly no winner: Still arguing Santa, they spoiled Christmas dinner. By “spoiled”, I should say “brought the turkey to life”! Swearing blood and revenge with a fork and a knife.
- Frame-Up: The Ghost Writer frames Danny for stealing everyone’s Christmas present. He also uses his reality-bending keyboard to make people blame Danny for everything that goes wrong in this episode.
- Freudian Excuse: Danny has a darn good one. Every year, his parents are so busy fighting about whether or not Santa exists that they completely neglect him and Jazz, ruining every Christmas for him since he was a baby.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Danny's lesson at the end of the story. He comes to realize that just because he feels lousy every Christmas doesn't give him the right to ruin it for other people, and he vows to try to be better next year.
- A Gift for Themselves: The ghosts restore and return all the gifts the Ghost Writer stole and destroyed. In a closeup, Lancer's gift is shown to have come from himself, for himself.
- The Grinch: Danny is revealed to be one every holiday season this episode, though he's accused of being The Scrooge by other characters.
- Jerkass Ball: Danny destroying the Ghost Writer's Magnum Opus was an accident, but calling his book stupid and declaring that he's glad he destroyed it after he finds out it was a Christmas poem was pretty mean.
- Jerkass Has a Point: There's no denying that Danny is absolutely right about how ridiculous his parents' argument over Santa is and was right to call his folks out about how they've neglected him every Christmas, thus souring his holiday spirit.
- Jewish American Princess: This episode reveals that Sam is technically this since her parents aren't just insanely wealthy, they're also Jewish! Otherwise averted as she goes out of her way to avoid being vain, materialistic, or shallow.
- Karma Houdini: Despite their fighting being the reason Danny hates Christmas, Jack and Maddie never have to learn to put their fighting aside or be better parents for Danny around Christmas.
- Kindness Ball: All of Danny's usual ghost enemies become his allies, since it turns out they have an annual truce every Christmas. They make it clear this only lasts until Christmas is over, then they resume their usual hostility towards him. When they hear the Ghost Writer broke the truce, they immediately agree to join Danny and teach him a lesson.
- Lame Pun Reaction: When the Christmas toys the Ghost Writer has summoned merge to become a giant "monster nutcracker", we get this:Danny: [gets an "Oh, Crap!" look] Nuts!
Ghost Writer: ...Danny cried as he started to run. [becomes unamused] Must we end every scene with a terrible pun? - Laser-Guided Karma: Invoked by the Ghost Writer. After Danny shows zero remorse for destroying the only copy of Ghost Writer's newly completed Christmas poem, the Ghost Writer traps Danny in a Christmas poem of his own and torments him until "a lesson is learned."
- Loophole Abuse: There are only two ways to end the Christmas poem that Danny is trapped in: the Ghost Writer writes "The End," or "a lesson is learned." The first option becomes impossible once Danny destroys the keyboard, forcing the story to continue indefinitely until he learns his lesson.
- Maker of Monsters: The Ghost Writer can use his reality-warping keyboard to turn anything into an evil, ghostly monster. First, he transforms eight reindeer into monstrous ghost reindeer, then he transforms every toy in Amity Park, and finally, he transforms every Christmas tree.
- Mind Control: When Danny and his enemies break into the Ghost Writer’s lair, he uses his keyboard to make them fight each other.
- Mis-blamed: In-universe, the Ghost Writer trashes the holidays for everyone around town (not just Christmas, but Hanukah celebrations for Jewish families like Sam's family) and pins the blame on "the Ghost Boy" Danny Phantom.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After the Ghost Writer is apprehended, Danny destroys his computer, thinking it'll destroy the poem. Instead, he ends up trapping himself in, since the only two ways to stop it are the Ghost Writer typing "The End" (which isn't possible with his magic computer busted), so the only other way is for Danny to learn a lesson.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: When Danny goes to confront the Ghost Writer and break out of the story he's trapped in, the Ghost Writer makes it so Danny runs into all of his enemies instead, thinking that they will suspend their annual ghost truce to beat up their foe. To his shock, they still hold the truce and invite Danny to join them. When Danny explains to them how the Ghost Writer broke the truce and trapped him in his story, all the ghosts are furious and join Danny to attack the Ghost Writer. They also help restore Amity Park to how it was before the Ghost Writer started wrecking everything to frame Danny, which helps Danny learn the intended lesson and end the story.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Sam acts uncharacteristically cheerful during the holiday season. One of her classmates was so freaked by Sam's attitude he thought it was the Sign of the Apocalypse!
- Parental Obliviousness: This episode reveals that not only are Danny's parents oblivious when it comes to the ghost stuff, they're oblivious about how much their annual fighting over whether or not Santa is real ruins the holidays for their son Danny. Even when he outright tells them how their fighting upsets him, they wonder what his problem is.
- Two examples of this neglect include the time a dog peed on Danny when he was a baby, and the time he and Jazz were attacked by a mutated Christmas turkey come to life by one of Jack and Maddie's inventions when he was four-years-old.
- Pet the Dog: While they may hate Danny, a few ghosts look genuinely sorry for him that he's still trapped in the poem curse. They decide to head to Amity Park to help clean up the mess the Ghost Writer caused and help him learn the lesson that'll set him free.
- Plot Hole: The Ghost Writer can manipulate reality with his magic keyboard, but for some reason, he can’t fix the book Danny destroyed, or doesn’t think of doing that.
- Reality Warper: The Ghost Writer can control reality by typing events out on his keyboard.
- Rhymes on a Dime: The majority of the episode becomes this thanks to the Ghost Writer turning Amity Park into a Christmas poem which won't break until Danny learns his lesson.
- Serious Business:
- Maddie will not stop pointing out every Plot Hole around the Santa Claus myth, and Jack won't stop arguing back that Santa Claus is real. Their fights are so intense that they drown out all other celebrations every year, and even ignore their children.
- Apparently, Christmas is the one time of year that all ghosts call a truce and put aside their grudges for even their worst enemies. When they find out the Ghost Writer violated that rule to get back at Danny, they're so furious that they all join Danny to beat up the Ghost Writer and put him in jail over it.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Danny's many ghost enemies are so furious to learn that one of their own violated the annual ghost truce that they team up with Danny to beat up and imprison the Ghost Writer for doing so.
- Truce Trickery: Upon remembering that the ghosts have a truce during the holidays and that they have found out he broke said truce, he writes that the ghosts violate their truce in order to attack Danny and eachother. Danny manages to get them back to their senses by stumping the Ghost Writer using an orange, allowing them to apprehend the Ghost Writer.
- True Companions: Despite Danny ruining the holidays for them (and everyone in town), when Tucker and Sam see him out in the cold, they don't hesitate to rush to his side so he won't be alone.
- Urine Trouble: In a flashback to Danny's first Christmas when he was a baby, while Jack and Maddie were arguing over Santa's existence, a big dog came up to him and lifted its leg.Tucker: (Narrating) His parents debated on Santa's existence, / Forgetting their son might have need of assistance. / Caught up in the rift on that jolly old fellow, / they didn't see Danny's White Christmas turn yellow.
- Villain Has a Point: Although he’s evil, the Ghost Writer is right that Danny is wrong to deal with his anger out by lashing out at others, and that he needs to be taught a lesson.
- Wham Line: The moment when Danny destroys the keyboard, which he believes will put an end to the poem. Unfortunately...Danny: Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue.... Once these fry, (destroys keyboard) I’m guessing this lame poem is… through? Nooooooo!
Ghost Writer: Danny screamed.
Danny: I'm still talking in rhyme!
Ghost Writer: I would have forewarned you if given the time! There are ways to finish this poem, just two: I tap out "The End", but I can’t, thanks to you! So now you'll guide this story of the ghost who hates Christmas! Think you can do it all mopey and listless? You think this ends here? You’re about to get burned; this story's not done 'til the lesson is learned! - When Trees Attack: At one point, Ghost Writer transforms all the Christmas trees into an army of ghostly monsters that attack Danny.
