History Film / WhenGoodGhoulsGoBad

* PickedLast: In the opening montage, Danny wasn't just left out when teams were formed for football, it was the entire class against him on his own!

* {{Foreshadowing}}: While discussing the situation at Curtis Danko's crypt, Mike Kankel and Ed allude to their DarkSecret.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The town, upon knowing the truth behind the kiln incident and that the Curtis Danko curse is bunk, resume celebrating Halloween. However, while he was able to mend his relationship with his son, Uncle Fred is still a zombie and has to pass on with the others.]]

* HauntedHouse: Dayna and the other kids set one up in [[BigFancyHouse an abandoned mansion]] so they can have Halloween despite the town's fear of the curse.
* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: PlayedForHorror: [[spoiler:The janitor wearing them is what turned the klin prank into a full-on DeadlyPrank.]]
* TheHermit: After what happened, Uncle Fred shuts down the factory and becomes a recluse.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Upon seeing that [[spoiler:Curtis Danko's sculpture was of him, Uncle Fred asked why he saw him as a hero. Curtis then silently shows the news article telling of Uncle Fred presenting him with an arts award]].

* DirtyCoward: For all his posturing, Mike Kankel is constantly scared of the undead Uncle Fred and, when the zombies come for the townspeople, he makes a break for it. He does come back to try tackling Curtis Danko, but just as an attempt to make himself look good to the townspeople. The second Curtis gets back up, Mike panics and hides behind his wife.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Upon seeing that [[spoiler:Curtis Danko's sculpture was of him, Uncle Fred asked why he saw him as a hero. Curtis then silently shows the news article telling about the contributions he had made to the school's art program]].

* AmbiguousSituation: For the majority of the film, it isn't sure if Curtis Danko and his ZombieApocalypse are the result of Ryan Kankel stealing his sculpture, Dayna's secret Halloween party, or James' "Spooktacular", with the latter two apologizing for their actions while Danny apologizes for not standing up and stopping Ryan. [[spoiler:Turns out, none of these were the reason, as in truth, Curtis wanted everyone to see his sculpture of Uncle Fred and expose Mike Kankel's lie]].

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: [[spoiler:Upon seeing Curtis Danko's sculpture was of him, Uncle Fred asked why he saw him as a hero. Curtis then silently shows the news article telling about the contributions he had made to the school's art program]].

* AllPartOfTheShow: After everything has blown over, the German investors finally arrive, ready to double their offers because they believe the zombies which attacked them on arrivial were part of James' "Spooktacular", and nobody bothers to correct them.

* AllForNothing: Danny, Dayna, and the rest of the Townspeople blamed themselves and apologies to Curtis for nothing. Coach Mike Kankel spent 20 years covering up the truth what really happened to Curtis Danko and the truth is finally out. Danny acted like a coward for nothing and failed to be the hero. Dayna's secret Halloween party was exposed by the bullies and took it over thanks to Danny's cowardliness and failed to become the hero. Coach Mike Kankel was running for mayor; however, due to being exposed for his crimes, he lost his chances of becoming mayor.

* DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler:Curtis Danko turns out to be this. He was actually nice guy who admired Uncle Fred and made a statue in his honor. However, the JerkJock in his school accidentally got him killed and tried covering it up.]]

* DirtyCoward: For all his posturing, Mike Kankel is constantly scared of the undead Uncle Fred and, when the zombies come for the townspeople, he makes a break for it. He does come back to try tackling Curtis Danko, but just as an attempt to make himself look good to the townspeople. The second Curtis gets back up, Mike panics and hides behind his wife. Danny Walker is also a coward because of being bullied a lot.

* ItsAllMyFault: Uncle Fred blames himself for the death of Curtis Danko because he donated the kiln the boy died in.

* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: [[spoiler:Curtis Danko. He didn't have share any interests with the rest of his classmates and he had a dark taste in art. If he hadn't died in such a tragic way, things would have turned out differently for him.]]

* AllForNothing: Danny, Dayna, and the rest of the Townspeople apologies to Curtis for nothing. Coach Mike Kankel spent 20 years covering up the truth what really happened to Curtis Danko and the truth is finally out. Danny acted like a coward for nothing and failed to be the hero. Dayna's secret Halloween party was exposed by the bullies and took it over thanks to Danny's cowardliness and failed to become the hero. Coach Mike Kankel was running for mayor; however, due to being exposed for his crimes, he lost his chances of becoming mayor.

* AllForNothing: Danny, Dayna, and the rest of the Townspeople apologies to Curtis for nothing. Coach Mike Kankel spent 20 years covering up the truth what really happened to Curtis Danko and the truth is finally out. Danny acted like a coward for nothing and failed to be the hero. Dayna's secret Halloween party was exposed by the bullies and took it over thanks to Danny's cowardliness and failed to become the hero.

* AllForNothing: Danny, Dayna, and the rest of the Townspeople apologies to Curtis for nothing. Coach Mike Kankel spent 20 years covering up the truth what really happened to Curtis Danko and the truth is finally out. Danny acted like a coward for nothing and failed to be the hero. Dayna's secret Halloween party was exposed by the bullies and took it over thanks to Danny's cowardliness.

* AllForNothing: Danny, Dayna, and the rest of the Townspeople apologies to Curtis for nothing. Coach Mike Kankel spent 20 years covering up the truth what really happened to Curtis Danko and the truth is finally out. Danny acted like a coward for nothing and failed to be the hero.

* DirtyCoward: For all his posturing, Mike Kankel is constantly scared of the undead Uncle Fred and, when the zombies come for the townspeople, he makes a break for it. He does come back to try tackling Curtis Danko, but just as an attempt to make himself look good to the townspeople. The second Curtis gets back up, Mike panics and hides behind his wife.

* ItsAllAboutMe: [[spoiler:Mike would rather ruin Halloween for Walker Falls, hurt the towns economy, damage the reputation of a kind and respected town figure, and let the town fall into the hands of zombies than admit that he let an innocent student die in a kiln accidentally and exploited this death for the aforementioned ruining because he didn't get a football-based amusement park. Even his own zombie father, whose approval he says he wanted so much, could recognize that he was doing it all for himself.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: [[spoiler:Mike would rather ruin Halloween for Walker Falls, damage the reputation of a kind and respected town figure, and let the town fall into the hands of zombies than admit that he let an innocent student die in a kiln accidentally and exploited this death for the aforementioned ruining because he didn't get a football-based amusement park. Even his own zombie father, whose approval he says he wanted so much, could recognize that he was doing it all for himself.]]

The town, however, doesn't like the idea...or the Walkers...or Halloween, as they haven't celebrated it in quite some time. The sole exception is Danny's grandfather, Uncle Fred, an eccentric sort who likes doing things that most adults would consider childish (playing with toys, dressing up in silly outfits, etc). Danny soon learns the people shun Halloween due to a "curse" by someone named Curtis Danko, an artist outcast who liked to paint monsters. Curtis mysteriously died inside the school kiln while making a sculpture for a contest. Mike Kankel, one of the people who ''really'' opposes Halloween, apparently saw the sculpture himself and was blinded by it. The town's been in fear of Halloween since.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'' can be considered one to this film as they have roughly the same plot.

* HateSink: Coach Michael Kankel is pretty much the source of all the problems in the movie. He fear mongering and bullying tactics to keep Walker Falls from celebrating Halloween for twenty years, which in turn took a toll on the towns economy. He did so by spreading an UrbanLegend of the curse of Curtis Danko, convincing everyone that Curtis was pure evil and making himself into a new pillar of the community. It's soon revealed as a kid, he was the one who indadvertedly killed Curtis by locking him in a kiln as a prank; when he discovers Curtis's death, not only did he not feel any remorse, he uses said death to fabricate the urban legend in the first place. The reason why he did this was because he was jealous that Curtis' statue was gonna win an art contest and so that he could play hero. He claims that he is doing this to honour his father's legacy, but even Kankel's own father is disgusted at his son's actions when he finds out.