"Bad Thomas, bad! Seriously, that made my ears sad, bro."
Written by Calvin Wong and Toby Jones (Killer Bed and Jacked-Up Jack-o-Lantern) and by Benton Connor and Andres Salaff (The Previous Owner)
The guys hold a bet for people who can tell the scariest story (the winner gets all of the candy placed on the table for the bet. The loser [Thomas] has to wear his costume until Thanksgiving). This year's stories are:
Killer Bed: Rigby buys a bed whose model is possessed by the spirit of a criminal who fell into the machinery.
Jacked Up Jack-O-Lantern: When Mordecai, Rigby, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five Ghost go smashing pumpkins, they unknowingly smash the head of a scarecrow's wife and end up paying the price one by one.
The Previous Owner: Benson tells the gang of a slang-talking settler whose soul possesses the park house, and that he is to re-emerge after 200 years have passed. Regardless, Mordecai, Rigby, Muscle Man, Hi-Five Ghost, and a reluctant Pops decide to spend the night in the house after making a bet for as to who can stay the longest.
This episode provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Techmo is dressed up as Spike Spiegel at the gang's party. Both characters are voiced by Steve Blum.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: While out smashing pumpkins, Mordecai, Rigby, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five get turned into pumpkins themselves.
- The Bet: Two in this episode:
- The main storyline is based around a bet among the groundskeepers about who can tell the best scary story. The winner gets everyone’s Halloween candy and the loser has to wear their Halloween costume until Thanksgiving.
- In “The Previous Owner,” after Benson leaves for the night, the rest of the groundskeepers make a bet about who can stay the longest in the house on the night that Jebediah Townhouse is supposed to return. They all pool in $20 and the winner gets all the money.
- Board Games: To kill time and wait out the night in “The Previous Owner,” the group plays a board game that looks a lot like Chutes & Ladders.
- Born in the Wrong Century: Jebediah Townhouse who slang and mannerisms are all from the 80s and early 90s. Even when he comes back as a ghost, he still misses the decade, as those slang terms aren't used anymore (and, if they are, it's used ironically or by out-of-touch people trying to be cool).
- Burn the Witch!: The villagers accuse Jebediah of being one just based on the way he acts and chase him down with Torches and Pitchforks.
- The Calls Are Coming from Inside the House: Thomas tries to tell a story that ends this way, but he screws up the punchline. It’s also what causes him to lose the bet in the end.Thomas: But the maniac was calling from outside the house! Wait, is that right…? I mean, inside the house!
- Cassandra Truth: Benson tells the park crew the Ghost Story of Jebediah Townhouse, but none of them believe him.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Jebediah decides to kill anyone still in the house on Halloween despite only being angry at the villagers for trying to kill him.
- Downer Ending: The third story ends with none of the characters surviving.
- Forbidden Fruit: The sign in the pumpkin patch in Muscle Man’s story says, “Smash all you want, but leave these two pumpkin lovers alone.” - referring to a pumpkin scarecrow couple.Rigby: Aw, man. That just makes me want to smash them more!
- Forced to Watch: The pumpkin scarecrow watches helplessly as his wife gets smashed by Muscle Man and her guts splatter onto his face.
- Halloween Episode: This episode features a Halloween party at the park in which the gang sees who can tell the scariest story.
- Halloween Trickery: At the beginning of the episode, some kids are egging one of the park buildings. When Benson catches them, they then start throwing eggs at him.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Rigby is hiding in a barn from the pumpkin scarecrow and sighs in relief, saying “He’ll never get me in here!” Right after, the scarecrow breaks through the door.
- Insult Backfire: Mordecai and Rigby make fun of Benson for believing in the Jebediah Townhouse superstition. Benson responds by saying that he is superstitious.
- Kissing Discretion Shot: Muscle Man and Starla cover themselves with a giant paper bag so they can make out in their peanut butter and jelly costumes.
- Not in the Face!: Mordecai yells “Not the face!” when he’s being turned into a pumpkin.
- Ominous Knocking: After Pops says he saw Jebediah Townhouse, he, Mordecai, and Rigby hear someone pounding on the front door. It turns out to be Muscle Man trying to scare them so he can win the bet.
- Poltergeist: Jebediah Townhouse is described as one and while he’s seen possessing items around the house, he never really acts in a stereotypically poltergeist way.
- Pumpkin Person: Muscle Man’s story, “Jacked Up Jack-O-Lantern,” is about a Scary Scarecrow with a jack-o-lantern for a head seeking revenge on him, Rigby, Muscle Man, & Hi-Five for smashing his wife’s head.
- Real After All: After Benson tells his tale, he admits that it's actually true. Pop's calling his father confirms it right before Jebediah shows up to attack them all.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The pumpkin scarecrow that comes to life in “Jacked Up Jack-O-Lantern” has glowing red eyes.
- Shout-Out:
- As stated in the Actor Allusion, one to Cowboy Bebop
- One of the kids that’s egging a park building at the beginning of the episode is dressed as Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- The UMÄK store factory is a parody of IKEA stores.
- A lot of what Jebediah say are based off things from old media such as "Whoop There It Is" which was a song by rap group, Tag Team and "Gotta Have My Pops" which was an old ad slogan for Pops cereal. Also his dance during the flashback was based on MC Hammer "Hammer Time" dance.
- Too Dumb to Live: In the third story Benson warns Mordecai, Rigby, Pops, Muscle Man, and Hi-Five Ghost of the danger of Jebediah and not to stay in the house that night. They think he's making it up and stay within the house on a dare.
- Totally Radical: Jebediah's speech is filled with this.
- Vengeful Ghost: Jebediah Townhouse vows to come back 200 years after his death to kill whoever is living in his house as revenge for not being accepted by his fellow villagers in his own time period.
- Would Rather Suffer: Mordecai would rather jump off the roof than listen to any more of Jebediah Townhouse’s 80s lingo.
- "YEAH!" Shot: Rigby’s story ends with one after Benson tells him that he’s going to get “all the promotions.”
