As Halloween comes to Doomsville, Norlock — incensed by Zim's accusations of uselessness — unleashes hell on the city. But even this is just part of a bigger plan…
- The Bad Guy Wins: The chapter ends with Zim getting his hands on the Meekrob crystals, giving him the means to find Project Domination.
- Berserk Button:
- Norlock is furious when Zim calls him useless.
- Calling Mortos a mooch or a hack angers him. Causing him to drop his ice cream sends him on a rampage.
- Black Speech: For the only time in the story, we get snippets of the language Norlock speaks for his spellcasting, specifically when he's summoning the underworld creatures.
- Brick Joke: In Episode 8, Norlock gloated how people in Doomsville are so oblivious that he could kill someone and waltz their corpse down the street. He does exactly that here, at one point during the monsters' rampage.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Upon first seeing the monster army, Skoodge states that he needs to change his pants.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Zim threatens to make Mortos eat his own legs. Norlock says he's actually done that to people.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Dib dresses up as Zim for Halloween, in order to troll him.
- Failed a Spot Check: Team Save Earth fail to notice the monster army attacking the city until Mortos points it out to them.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: The Irkens do this after Norlock points out they can.
- Groin Attack: Norlock pulls one on Mortos during their fight. Every male present — human, Irken, and monster — winces in sympathy.
- Grudging "Thank You": Zim to Norlock after the latter retrieves the Meekrob crystals.
- Halloween Episode
- Michael Jackson's Thriller Parody: Used as a quick gag during the monster rampage. Namely, GIR dresses up as Michael in the video, sings a few lyrics, and dances, with a group of zombies acting as his backup.
- Monster Mash: The horde of monsters summoned by Norlock is composed of every different kind of monster that the author could think up.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After retrieving the Meekrob crystals, Zim is so excited that he actually thanks Norlock for his work (in his own condescending way).
- Say My Name: Tak screams Zim's name at the end of the chapter, when she realizes that he (or rather, Norlock) has stolen her fragment of the Meekrob crystal.
- Shout-Out:
- The ceremonial robe Norlock wears for his monster-summoning ritual is Time Lord-inspired. And the debate over whether or not it counts as a dress is lifted straight from Jackie Chan Adventures.
- GIR's Michael Jackson's Thriller Parody moment.
- When the monsters attack Tak's base, a troll headbutts the base's walls, knocking itself out but creating an opening. This is a direct reference to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
- In the story Norlock tells Zim, he calls the gladiators Maximus and Commodus.
- Wham Episode: A seemingly standard Halloween Episode fight with Norlock and Zim takes a sudden swerve in its last scenes, which reveal that the whole monster invasion was a decoy from stealing Team Save Earth and Tak and Tenn's pieces of the Meekrob crystal.
- Xanatos Gambit: At the end of the chapter, Norlock lectures Zim on this trope, how having multilayered plans are the best way to achieve victory while explaining that the episode's events were one — if the invading monsters had successfully destroyed the city, that'd be great, but even if they didn't, they kept everyone distracted from the theft of the Meekrob crystals.
