Original air date: 11/21/1992
Haunted House
Ren and Stimpy go to stay in this enormous old mansion where a ghost tries to scare them... and fails miserably every time.
Mad Dog Hoek
The duo are wrestlers.
Haunted House contains examples of...
- Bait-and-Switch: After repeatedly failing to scare Ren and Stimpy, the ghost decides to commit suicide using a hammer and a nail to the head. Stimpy stops him, insisting he can't do it... and gives him a vial of poison to use instead.
- Bowdlerization: Some overseas versions of this episode (particularly in Australia) end the cartoon after the ghost says, "Now, I'm going to end it all," cutting out the Gainax Ending shown below.
- The entire Bloody Head Fairy scene has been removed from the DVD version. Probably because the fairy in question was made as a parody of Doug.
- Comically Missing the Point: Ren sleeps perfectly fine with a bloody head on his, yet freaks out when a couple of dimes are stuck in his ear.
- Dramatic Thunder: Accompanies the opening credits and when the ghost attempts to scare Ren and Stimpy with a chainsaw and witch doctor mask.
- Driven to Suicide: As ridiculous as it sounds, the ghost decides to end it all after failing to scare our heroes, by drinking a vial of poison.
- Epic Fail: All of the ghost's attempts to scare the main duo result in embarrassing failure and sometimes even painful injuries.
- Failed Attempt at Scaring: Ren and Stimpy shack up in an old house, where a ghost tries to scare them. Unfortunately, all his attempts at being scary end up failing miserably.
- From Bad to Worse: The ghost pretends to be a slice of bread to get the drop on Ren and Stimpy, only to end up being used for a sandwich. He gets covered in peanut butter, marmalade, fish eggs, and the fish. Then Stimpy tries to eat him. Then he gets handed off to a starving yak and learns the hard way that yaks always tenderize their food.
- Gainax Ending: The ghost kills himself after Stimpy gives him some poison and returns as a fat, naked black man who says "I'm alive. Killer." and then drives away in a convertible. You know the ending is screwed up when even Ren and Stimpy are confused.
- Haunted House: Obviously.
- Hockey Mask and Chainsaw: The ghost's final resort in attempting to scare Ren and Stimpy, albeit with a witch doctor mask instead of a hockey one.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: The ghost is only mildly antagonistic, but the comically oblivious Ren and Stimpy take pity on him when they find who he is.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Stimpy refers to the house as "a great place to kill 12 minutes."
- Medium Awareness: As he drives off, the former ghost quips "I'll see you guys in the next scene!", and the episode cuts to Ren and Stimpy awkwardly waving goodbye.
- Naked on Revival: The ghost, after coming back to life as a fat black man, is in the nude with only a hat on. However, his large belly is low enough to block his genitals from the camera.
- "Psycho" Shower Murder Parody: The ghost's attempt to get Stimpy in the shower parodies Psycho. The scene even briefly turns to black-and-white.
Mad Dog Hoek contains examples of...
- Beware the Nice Ones: Stimpy gets so unhinged and intense with his rant at the end that everyone is terrified, even Ren.Referee: Mad Dog, you've heard the nasty, brutal things Loaf said about you. How do you respond to that?
Ren: Well, actually, I- (Stimpy shoves him out of the way and steals the microphone from the referee)
Stimpy: No! I wanna holler the loud, funny words! I LIKE DARREN! HE IS MY FRIEND! (pointing at the Lout Brothers) I LIKE YOU AND HIM! HE LIKES ME, AND I LIKE HIM! HE LIKES YOU, I HOOOOOPE!
Ren: (Clearly terrified) Hey, man, I- (Stimpy shoves him out of the way)
Stimpy: I LIKE HIS AUTOGRAPH! IT IS A NICE PICTURE! HE! IS! NIIIIIICE! - Bowdlerization: The German dub of this episode cut the part where Ren and Stimpy are dressed as Nazi generals (during the end where the human tag team wrestlers talk trash about Ren and Stimpy).
- It's a given, since they don't want to see an awkward part of their history in a cartoon. Although if you watch it frame by frame you can see the hats slammed onto their heads.
- In Australia, the part where
Ren bites a wrestler's pus-filled boil on his foot was cut. Also edited is Stimpy's rant to remove Stimpy's tongue ripping out of his mouth.
- Close Up On Head: When the announcer says that the action on the mat is "not gonna be pretty", the camera pulls back to reveal that he's wearing a tutu and garters.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Stimpy gets a chance to "holler the loud funny words", he mostly rants about how much he likes his friend Darren, and says positive things about his opponents.
- Gainax Ending: Stimpy snatches the microphone and goes into an intense rant about someone named Darren.
- Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: The referee comes in to check for illegal moves, but they only happen when he's looking away.
- Pro Wrestling Episode
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Stimpy's rant at the end of the episode is a quotation from an actual letter the show's producers received from a young viewer.
- Throwing the Fight: As they mercilessly beat up Ren and Stimpy, one of the wrestlers looks at his watch and tells his partner that "It's time to throw the fight." They then drop to the floor and Ren and Stimpy are declared the winners.
