YMMV / Spooky Month

• Adorkable:
  • When he's not being a bully, Robert is rather adorable, with him gushing over the Happy Fella doll and being very protective over his sister.
  • Jack may not be good at policing and has accidentally caused harm to suspects, but on his downtime, he's such a goofball that it's hard not to love him, especially when he gets excited over donuts and it being Spooky Month.
  • Streber's enthusiasm over his job as the host of a haunted house is guaranteed to make one crack a smile, especially with his goofy laugh and dedication to making his setpiece believable.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Roy says he got punished by his parents, but what for? Was it for bullying Skid and Pump? Or was it for simply hanging out with Ross and Robert?
  • Is Dexter's friendly personality in "Unwanted Guest" genuine, or just a façade to hide how demented he is? Further, how much of Dexter's behavior in "Deadly Smiles" is the result of Sanity Slippage, and how much of it is just what he's like normally?
  • Why did Father Gregor abruptly stop and cough after briefly doing the Spooky Dance? Was it because such an erratic dance caused him physical pain in his old age? Or because he realized he had succumb to the town's wackiness and felt the need to compose himself?
• Angst? What Angst?: Roy doesn't seem to appear all that traumatized when he implies that his uncle sexually abused him in "The Stars". Even after Ross and Robert explain that what Roy's uncle did to him is not at all okay, the thing Roy is more concerned about in the following short is how Skid and Pump got him in trouble with his parents.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • In "The Stars", Skid and Pump visit Pump's grandfather to let him know it's Spooky Month, jump scaring the old guy into a heart attack. Note that the kids never mentioned wanting to visit him and that he's not seen again for the rest of the short, and at the time of the short's release, him being related to Pump was only known through an easily missable family picture.
  • In "Deadly Smiles", the scene with the thieves begins with the shorter one talking about "moving the X to the other side"; it's unclear what he's referring to and it's quickly forgotten once the Happy Fella gets into their cell. This is lampshaded by the taller one, who is equally confused as to what the other one's going on about.
  • In "Tender Treats", after John and Jack accidentally run over Bob, little girls dressed as Reisen, Marisa, Alice, and Nazrin appear out of nowhere to applaud them on taking him out, only for it to be revealed Bob was Not Quite Dead, at which point they gun him down, to which the Touhou girls applaud again... at which point Bob still isn't dead and is then run over several times until he finally dies, to which the girls applaud again. The girls are barely acknowledged by John and Jack and are only there for the gag.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Hobo versions of Steve and Tankman drinking each other's piss in "Deadly Smiles"? Disgusting. Tankman saying "I love your piss, dude!" to Steve, followed by them Kissing Under the Influence? Hilariously disgusting.
• Crossover Ship: Thanks to Friday Night Funkin', many people started to ship Lila with various characters: this includes Pico, Mommy Mearest, and Monster, the latter especially because the fanon made him friends with Skid and Pump.
• Cry for the Devil: Dexter is insane, has killed animals, and attempted to kill people while in the Happy Fella; however, many have expressed sympathy for him, finding his fate of being trapped in a doll and losing his sanity to be disproportionate karma given there was no indication he harmed humans beforehand. Many have also taken his notes in Pump's toy chest to indicate he genuinely did not want to kill humans, and only resorted to doing so out of desperation.
• Diagnosed by the Audience:
  • Fans commonly headcanon Skid and Pump as having ADHD and/or autism, from their hyperactive personalities and easily trusting nature even towards Obviously Evil people. Their obsession with Spooky Month, to the point they constantly wear Halloween costumes months away from October, is also easily readable as a special interest.
  • Pump having mild pyromania is very common in fanworks, due to his comment about wanting to burn the Happy Fella "to see it if it screams".
  • Robert is often interpreted as neurodivergent, due to him stimming while talking about the Happy Fella in "Unwanted Guest".
  • While never addressed in the show outside of quick gags, fans unanimously believe Rick suffers from severe depression, from his apathetic personality, dull way of speaking, and his remark about selling kids beer because he was "tired of breathing" outright sounding like suicidal ideation.
  • Following the release of "Tender Treats", Jack being autistic became a frequent headcanon; in addition to his childish tendencies shown in previous episodes, "Tender Treats" shows him having trouble with blatant sarcasm and making light of a dark situation via an incredibly off-color prank, then not understanding why Patty and John are so mad at him for it, something common in actual autistic people.
  • Liv's appearance in "Streber's Rehearsal" has caused fans to interpret her being a Genki Girl as indicative of her having autism or ADHD. Signs that point to the former are her bouncing up and down, which can be seen as stimming, and her joke to Streber at the end being rather brutally honest, whereas a sign that points to the latter is her being fascinated and easily distracted by Streber's Chroma Keying mirror.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The moment Carmen appeared in "Tender Treats", an influx of fan art was sent her way, owing to her curvaceous figure and snooty personality. The revelation of her being Roy's mom has also caused fans to embrace her as the series' new MILF figure after Lila, helped by them both being voiced by Elsie Lovelock.
  • Fans instantly became attached to Streber, the friendly haunted house greeter who is brutally attacked by Bob after about a minute of screentime, due to his dorky enthusiasm while interacting with Skid and Pump and cute character design. This popularity later lead to the haunted house workers receiving their own focus short, with Streber being at the forefront.
• Evil Is Cool: Bob Velseb is by far the most popular Spooky Month villain, thanks to being a surprisingly menacing Michael Myers expy. Also, his appearance as a Perpetual Smiler in a Big Red Devil costume is as creepy as it is cool.
• Fandom-Enraging Misconception: Assuming Frank to be a child predator is a massive no-no amongst fans. Yes, he kidnaps kids, but it's been established a couple times he only does it for ransom if anything.
• Fandom Heresy: Do not show anything else bad happening to Streber. Better yet, do not show Kevin reacting to that horror. You will get mad/heartbroken fans breaking down your door.
• Fanfic Fuel: Each episode takes place months if not a year after the previous one, leaving plenty of blank space for the fans to fill in themselves.
• Fan Nickname:
  • As a duo, Skid and Pump are commonly referred to as the "Spooky Boys", the "Spooky Kids", and "the Spookeez" by the fanbase, the latter two stemming from their appearance in Friday Night Funkin' (the former is the name of their sprite sheet while the latter is the name of their first song).
  • Due to him lacking a canon name, fans commonly refer to Skid's father as "Atticus", in reference to the popular fan theory that he's possessing the mannequin in the attic.
• Fanon:
  • Ross and Kevin are assumed to be brothers, due to their similar hairstyles, hair colors, and being voiced by the same person.^note Even after Sr. Pelo confirmed the two weren't brothers, it's still incredibly common to see fans headcanon them as such.
  • Thanks to their crossover appearance in Friday Night Funkin', and how they're working for the Monster, a Laughably Evil Humanoid Abomination trying to eat Boyfriend and Girlfriend, a circle of fans run with the idea that the trio are good friends together, with some even depicting Monster as a surrogate father for the two.
  • Fans commonly interpret Pump and his family as Mexican due to Pump's resemblance to his creator, the Mexican Sr. Pelo.
  • A somewhat popular headcanon is that the teen mistaken for Bob Velseb due to dressing almost identically is actually Radford, due to sharing the same voice actor.
  • Streber's exact injuries after Bob attacks him are left unclear, but most fans assume he lost part of his arm, as Bob is gnawing on an arm bone while walking through the haunted house. Sr. Pelo himself seems to support the idea, with one of his sketches showing Streber missing his left arm, while Mayor Evermore questions how he's, "less popular than an amputee". "Hollow Sorrows" would confirm that he did indeed lose his arm.
  • Due to his overt enthusiasm while running the haunted house, fans near-unanimously portray Streber as a Perky Goth and lover of horror even out of costume. Depicting him being into scenecore, complete with striped-dyed hair, is also quite common.
  • Those who ship Kevin/Streber commonly portray Kevin as being immensely protective of Streber following "Tender Treats".
  • As his mom has blonde hair and his dad has brown hair, Ross' hair being dyed black is a decently common fanon.
  • An older/adult Skid having a ponytail is common among fanartists, popularized by spacefatcat's Like The Old Times Future AU.
• Fanon Welding:
  • Beverly and Beverly's mother from Sr. Pelo's Totally Wrong are assumed to be either early versions of Skid and Lila, or outright are Skid and Lila, with Beverly being Skid's real name or his old name before changing it.
  • The Comedian from Sr. Pelo's COMEDY is occasionally included in Spooky Month fan works, as his design is very similar to those in the show. Certain fans go further and make him brothers with Rick, given their similar hairstyles and being voiced by the same person, Zach Fuller.
  • Due to both being mysterious tall figures with deep voices and pink eyes, some fans interpret the Candy Dealer as being Monster in disguise.
  • After their brief cameo in "Tender Treats", fans quickly incorporated The Captain and Shotgun Man from Sr. Pelo's Every StoryTime Animation into their Spooky Month fanworks. The two are usually portrayed as comedic foils to John and Jack, loose cannons who are somehow more incompetent at their jobs than Jack is.
• Foe Yay Shipping: There is a surprisingly large amount of ship art on Twitter and Newgrounds of Lila x Bob Velseb, with said artists likening the ship to Michael Myers x Laurie Strode. Sr. Pelo has even retweeted some art of Lila x Bob himself.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • Due to their official crossover early on into the latter's development, many fans of Spooky Month also tend to be fans of Friday Night Funkin'. It's common for many fans of Spooky Month to say that they got into the series in the first place thanks to FNF.
  • There are a surprising amount of fans who are also fans of Eddsworld. This even extends to overseas fans, with many Japanese and Korean fandub creators for Eddsworld also making their own fandubs for Spooky Month.
• Fridge Brilliance: Why are Skid and Pump so excited when the Happy Fella is burning in the oven? While one could just assume it's because they're happy it's gone, in "Unwanted Guest", Pump comments about wanting to burn the Happy Fella to see if it screams, and it did in fact scream as it burned. They got their answer.
• Fridge Horror:
  • The Stinger for "Deadly Smiles" has a cult member burning down John's house in order to destroy the evidence of the cult's existence. This in itself is already unsettling, but then one remembers this is also the episode that reveals John has a young daughter, and there is no indication that she wasn't in the house when it was set ablaze.
    • This is made worse in "Hollow Sorrows", where it is confirmed that John's daughter is indeed deceased. While it's possible she was dead prior to "Deadly Smiles", but that still leaves you with the unsettling question. What if she wasn't?
  • Streber's introduction begins with a joke where he proves himself to be a "real" vampire using a camera disguised as a mirror and a green cape. The camera has a red light, implying Bob ripping off Streber's arm was caught on full display and recorded.
  • Bob is later revealed to have stayed the same age as he currently is ever since Lila herself was a child, and that he's somehow tied to the cult. In the picture shown, we see what seems to be an unmasked Bob dressed in a restaurant uniform, happily smiling with Lila and several other townies. Bob doesn't seem malicious in this picture at all, which can lead to two terrifying conclusions:
    1. Bob was always an insane cannibal who hid his sadism behind his identity as a benign restaurant owner, and could have even possibly served human flesh to his customers, which gives new context to Lila's horrified look; she's realizing she and her son have unknowingly eaten human remains on multiple occasions.
    2. Bob was at one point a peaceful and kind man who was transformed into the killer he currently is by the cult, with his life unnaturally extended in the process. In which case... what did they do to him exactly?
• Genius Bonus:
  • In "Unwanted Guest", Lila declares June to be the "Spooky Twin Month"; while this initially seems to be a cute reference to Skid and Pump being a duo, those familiar with astrology will know that the first half of June falls under the Gemini zodiac, or "the twins".
  • In the credits for "Tender Treats", Ignacio is a bowl of chips. For the Spanish speaking audience, "Nacho" is a common nickname for Ignacio.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Outside of Sr. Pelo's native Mexico, the three countries where Spooky Month seems to be the most loved are the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Much of the fan art that Pelo tends to retweet on Twitter often comes from American, Japanese, and Korean artists above all others.
• Gotta Ship 'Em All: There are a lot of Spooky Month ships. This can likely be attributed to the fact that, with the exception of Jaune and Aaron, Carmen and Richard, and Pump's parents, almost none of the characters are in canon relationships, and even then that doesn't stop them from being shipped. Popular ships include John x Jack, Kevin x Frank, Kevin x Streber (which may or may not be canon), various forms of a Hatzgang ship, Roy x Susie, and Robert x Susie. Interestingly, shipping Skid x Pump is a surprisingly controversial subject, as many view it as inappropriate due to their young age and prefer to see them as completely platonic.
• Growing the Beard: The first two shorts were mostly standard, nonsensical content one would expect from Sr. Pelo, but "Unwanted Guest" is the first episode to have extensive worldbuilding and upfront lore development before Cerebus Syndrome finally set in with "Deadly Smiles".
• He's Just Hiding: Streber's fate is left uncertain come the end of "Tender Treats", leaving many fans to hope he survived being brutally mauled by Bob, something that was confirmed to be true in "Hollow Sorrows".
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In "Unwanted Guest", Skid and Pump plan to burn the Happy Fella doll to "see if it screams" before being interrupted by the Candy Dealer. Not only did this became a plot point in "Deadly Smiles", but also a promotional stunt for the Moloch plushie.
• Idiosyncratic Ship Naming: When not just using the "[a] x [b]" format:
  • Shipping all three members of the Hatzgang together is Polyhatz.
  • John x Jack is Smokydonuts.
  • Kevin x Streber is Candybats.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships:
  • Before Streber was introduced, Kevin was shipped with a plethora of characters, owing to his popularity; common ships included Frank, Lila, Dexter, and Radford. While other Kevin ships were heavily dwarfed by Candybats, they are still present, and Kevin even gained another ship with Ethan.
  • Surprisingly, Rick has quite a few popular pairings, as his apathetic personality offers interesting dynamics with multiple different characters. Common ships for him include Patty, Radford, Kevin, and Frank. Further helping fans is that since Rick's a job hopper, shipping him is as easy as him getting a job at wherever the other character works, something that's already canonically happened with Radford and Kevin.
• LGBT Fanbase: The show has a large queer following, stemming from characters flexible enough that fans can see them however they want, various popular slash pairings, and characters both male and female that the fans thirst over.
• Love to Hate:
  • Mayor Evermore is an arrogant, self-centered piece of work who never gives John and (maybe) Jack the respect they deserve, but fans were quick to overlook those faults due to his over-the-top narcissism found all throughout his office and his incredibly hammy voice acting, courtesy of Grimmjack of Goblin Slayer Abridged fame.
  • Carmen is incredibly snobby and looks down on everyone around her, on top of being implied to be a really bad parent to Roy, but her selfish personality is precisely why fans love her, finding her snooty personality incredibly fun and appreciating how no one in the series is willing to take her shit sitting down. It also helps that she's quite the bombshell.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "It's spooky month!" proceeded with the Spooky Dance, has become the signature of the whole series.
  • "This is not spooky, this is scary!"^ExplanationUttered by Skid after getting cornered in the house on the hill by Roy's Uncle, the phrase is commonly used in the fandom to refer to something genuinely terrifying or distressing.
  • "Why is Frank so tall??"^ExplanationIn Sr. Pelo's Twitter thread discussing "Deadly Smiles", he posted a height chart of the characters that appeared in the episode. The fandom then proceeded to collectively express their confusion and bewilderment at Frank towering over the rest of the cast, with the second tallest characters still being a good deal shorter than him.
  • Fire Pussy^{Explanation (spoilers)}After multiple episodes only being shown from the waist-up, Moloch's full design was finally revealed in "Hollow Sorrows", taking inspiration from depictions of Moloch in the Hebrew bible with a furnace and roaring fire implanted in his pelvis. More dirty-minded fans have thus poked fun at the fact he has his "holes" on full display.
• Moe: Skid and Pump are Super-Deformed Cheerful Children and Fearless Fools with high pitched voices, who absolutely adore Halloween and love celebrating it wherever they go.
• One True Pairing:
  • In a fanbase that ships everyone with everyone, John and Jack are usually only shipped with each other, owing to their chemistry and most of their screen time being spent together.
  • After "Tender Treats", Kevin/Streber exploded in popularity, quickly becoming one of the fandom's most popular ships and dwarfing any other pairings involving Kevin — while they still exist, they're decidedly smaller, or have been modified to include Streber. Likewise, other ships for Streber are near non-existent, or again involve Kevin and someone else in a poly ship.
• Self-Fanservice: Bob Velseb is a Fat Bastard and unrepentant cannibal who is never depicted as being physically attractive in the show, and he spends most of his screentime wearing a nondescript devil mask covering his face. The fanbase, however, instantly latched onto him as the next Tumblr Sexyman, with plenty of fanart either playing up his weight into Big Beautiful Man territory, or inexplicably slimming him down.
• Ships That Pass in the Night:
  • Patty and Rick are often depicted in fan works as being in a relationship due to their similar dispositions, despite no indication in the show proper that they know each other; the closet thing the two have to interactions is being in the same character sheet and standing next to each other in "Unwanted Guest"'s credits panoramic.
  • Pelo confirmed in a Q&A that the "Kevin X Streber" graffiti was a joke and that Kevin and Streber never canonically met, but that hasn't stopped most fans from supporting Candybats.
• Squick: The "Hobomen" are introduced with the Tankman one asking the Steve one for more of his "booze". The next scene of the two has Tankman talking to Skid and Pump as Steve pisses into the bottle in the background, handing it over to Tankman after the boys leave. Tankman downs it in one go, acknowledges that he was actually drinking Steve's piss, and then drunkenly makes out with him.
• Tear Jerker: Has it's own page.
• Trans Audience Interpretation:
  • Roy is often seen as a trans boy, due to him being shorter and having a higher pitched voice compared to both Ross and Robert, and the shadows near his eyes resembling eyelashes.
  • Skid is commonly interpreted as a trans boy due to his maskless self looking rather feminine, in combination with his high pitched voice.
  • Robert is often seen as nonbinary, due to both of his voice actors — Coffee and Gabe Velez — also being nonbinary.
  • Some people see Lila as being a trans woman due to the Early-Installment Weirdness of Sr. Pelo himself voicing her in the first Spooky Month animation. It helps that in "Tender Treats", she has more lines in Pelo's voice during the flashback to that moment, and Lila subsequently lampshading her different voice implies it was an In-Universe change.
  • Going hand-in-in with fans interpreting Lila as a trans woman, fans will also headcanon Skid's father as a trans man, to keep both of them as Skid's biological parents via his father being the one to carry him.
  • Kevin is commonly interpreted as a trans man, due to the colors of his uniform matching the colors of the trans flag. Sr. Pelo actually acknowledged this during a Q&A, saying Kevin was cis, but he understood why people see him as trans.
• Unpopular Popular Character: Nobody in the series, be it children, Kevin, Rick, or even her own son Roy (and if this sketch is any indication, Jaune), has anything good to say about Carmen, yet the fandom adores her precisely because she's such a bitch.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Those who noticed the pictures of Skid without his costume often confused him for a girl, due to bob cuts being associated with women in addition to his higher pitched voice. Further exacerbating it is that prior to "Deadly Smiles", Skid and Pump were rarely referred to with gendered terms in the shorts themselves.
• The Woobie:
  • Lila. The poor woman is just trying to raise her son, but ends up at the mercy of the Villain of the Week Once per Episode always fearing for both her and her son's safety, and without fail ends up battered, physically or mentally.
  • Streber set out to entertain people on Halloween, but instead ended up brutally mangled and left to die by Bob. As of "Hollow Sorrows", he's now down an arm and presumably traumatized for life.
  • The unnamed teen dressed as a devil, despite being a Good Samaritan, endures a long Trauma Conga Line just because he looks like Bob. He gets bludgeoned by Lila's construction ruler, he gets pelted with gumballs by Kevin in spite of reporting a candy theft, and he's left shocked by the sight of John and Jack shooting Bob dead, realizing why everyone's been unnecessarily attacking him.

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