Wirt and Greg meet Beatrice again when Greg rescues her from a thorn bush. Beatrice, feeling indebted to them, tries to get take them to the good witch Adelaide, who she says can take them home. However, Wirt sees a sign for a town called "Pottsfield" and insists they follow it to "civilization", only to wind up in a strange town where everyone wears costumes made of pumpkins.
Tropes:
- Back from the Dead: The people of Pottsfield are all reanimated skeletons wearing costumes.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Enoch's punishment for disturbing the peace and destruction of property is...a few hours of community service.
Wirt: Wait, really? That's it?- Wirt and Beatrice assumed that Pottsfield is a dangerous place and that he and Greg are going to be killed and buried. At first Wirt insists that it's a joke until Greg finds his treasure — a skeleton. Then it turns out that while they are digging holes, it's not for them to lie in. They're digging up someone's grave so they can join in the festivities.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Wirt and Greg were charged with trespassing, destruction of property, disturbing the peace, and murder. Though, that last part was a joke.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Despite their creepy appearances and demeanours, the inhabitants of Pottsfield are actually rather benevolent. Even Enoch (who is really a black cat as revealed in the finale) is strict but fair.
- The Dead Can Dance: The citizens of Pottsfield — skeletons in pumpkin costumes — are dancing and celebrating.
- Deadly Euphemism: The citizen who notes that Wirt and Greg are "a little too early" — aka they're not dead yet.
- Dem Bones: The people of Pottsfield turn out to be living skeletons wearing pumpkin masks.
- Dig Your Own Grave: Wirt and Greg's punishment ends with them digging a hole in a field, with Beatrice bringing up the possibility that Enoch plans to kill and bury them there. That wasn't the plan at all—the brothers were actually digging up someone else's grave to free their moving skeleton.
- Exact Words: The first pumpkin person that Wirt talks to mentions that they're wearing costumes and that pumpkins can't move on their own. Because in this case, the pumpkins are the costumes for the skeletons inside.
- Folk Horror: Zig-zagged but ultimately subverted. "Outsiders visit an isolated rural community during a harvest festival, the seemingly idyllic atmosphere develops ominous overtones, and the outsiders discover an Awful Truth" is a standard folk horror setup, but in this case, the skeleton-pumpkin-people really are harmless.
- Foreshadowing:
- Wirt looks through houses in Pottsfield for a phone, the first sign that he and Greg are modern people in a strange, alternate world.
- The second verse of "Pottsfield C.M.", which is sung early on and leads Wirt, Greg and Beatrice to discover the Pottsfield residents celebrating in the barn, hints that the residents are actually skeletons:From flesh removed, our chalk footfall
Tempers this holy ground
Where timeless spirits meet
'Round the heart of Pottsfield town - One of the citizens notes that Wirt and Greg are "a little too early" to come to Pottsfield, a village for the undead to dance and celebrate. This comes into play seven episodes later as Greg and Wirt are close to dying in real life.
- Before Enoch leaves, he tells Wirt "You'll join us someday"...because he and Greg are close to entering the afterlife.
- Enoch was joking about one of the crimes Wirt and Greg committed being murder...because the denizens of Pottsfield are skeletons, who are already dead.
- Friendly Skeleton: The citizens of Pottsfield, barring Enoch, are skeletons in pumpkin costumes who are quite jovial.
- Kangaroo Court: Downplayed and/or parodied: Greg and Wirt are brought before the town's leader and charged, tried, and sentenced all at once with no chance to defend themselves—but they're only sentenced to a few hours' community service, and the charge of murder was a joke.
- Literal Metaphor: One of the pumpkin people thanks Wirt for digging up the life of the party.
- Meaningful Background Event: As Wirt tries to distract the villagers with his fake story, the skeleton that Greg dug up starts moving on his own.
- Meaningful Name: The town populated by sentient corpses is called Pottsfield. A potter's field is another name for a mass grave.
- Monster Town: Pottsfield is entirely populated by skeletons.
- Oh, Crap!: Wirt's reaction upon finding that Greg's "buried treasure" is a skeleton and thinking that he and Greg are really digging their own graves like Beatrice assumed.
- Pumpkin Person: The citizens of Pottsfield appear to be pumpkin-headed living scarecrows. It's later revealed that they're actually skeletons underneath the pumpkins and clothes.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Enoch, the mayor of Pottsfield, turns out to be a surprisingly reasonable leader, albeit a little strict.
- Rewatch Bonus:
- The episode actually contained foreshadowing to the penultimate episode, particularly in how Wirt and Greg are "a little too early".
- Rewatching the episode after learning the twist at the end will make viewers more aware of the euphemisms and wordplay involved
- Tempting Fate: Wirt dismisses Beatrice's suggestion that Pottsfield wants to bury him and Greg...until Greg shouts that he found buried treasure...a skeleton!
- Town with a Dark Secret: Double subverted and downplayed. Pottsfield is actually a nice place, but everyone there is a skeleton.
- We Will Meet Again: When Wirt turns down Enoch's offer to stay in Pottsfield, Enoch simply replies, "Oh well. You'll join us someday..." Wirt seems subtly disturbed as he realizes what that meant.
- Wham Shot: The skeleton that Greg dug up starts moving about behind Wirt.
