Top 10 Best Disney Channel Halloween Episodes

One of the best parts about Halloween has to be unabashedly dressing up as crazy, kooky characters. Oftentimes it’s just for fun, but other times it allows us to assume a whole new identity, as Ally Dawson learns here. When record label exec Jimmy Starr books a gig for Austin to sing a duet with none other than Taylor Swift at a Halloween party using Ally’s new song, Ally is ecstatic. However, moments before the show, Taylor is inadvertently knocked out, unable to perform. Realizing she and Taylor wore the same costume, Ally surreptitiously takes her place and absolutely kills it, finally able to overcome her stage fright. Taylor Swift herself doesn’t actually appear in the episode, but her presence doesn’t outshine Ally in the slightest.

We’ve all overcommitted at least once before, but it looks like Kim’s never heard of party hopping, let alone telling the truth. Wanting to go to a last-minute Halloween party and shirk plans with Ron and her family, Kim begins weaving a whole web of lies to get out of it. Trouble is, the bracelet on her wrist is actually a high-tech piece of technology that can sense untruths, and gradually begins creeping up her body until it’s become an irremovable suit of body armor. You know what they say: one lie turns into another, two lies turns into an irremovable suit of body armor. Now Kimmy’s gotta grapple with the mess she’s made and the villains that are after what she has.

We doubt that a lot of the child viewers of this show caught on, but we happened to love all the “Shining” references in this one - if the episode title wasn’t any indication. In it, Jessie finds herself writing a short story she plans to submit to a magazine editor at a nearby Halloween party. Trouble is, the kids miss their curfew while out trick ‘r treating, so it’s time for Jessie to go all Jack Torrance on them and track them down. Unfortunately for her, they’ve gotten themselves lost on the purportedly haunted thirteenth floor, and the lines between fun and scary become blurred. Terror ensues.

Dressing up as something cool for Halloween is one thing. But becoming that thing is even cooler. In this episode, Penny isn’t exactly in the Halloween spirit, that is until eating her dad’s spooky but disgusting snacks transforms her from a girl in a superhero costume into an actual superhero. What. For the rest of the night, Penny gets to enjoy a little bit of wish fulfillment, saving the city from a meteor, busting the Gross sisters, and fighting off a ghostly homeowner. We’re not sure how that last one works, but hey, we’re not complaining. Oh, and did we mention Lil Romeo makes an appearance?

Doppelgängers are just about one of the scariest things pervading the pop culture right now. One need only see “Us” to know that. However this episode from 2006 seemingly beat the craze to the punch. When Miley’s twin cousin comes to visit - because, yeah, that’s a thing - her secret identity as Hannah Montana is put in jeopardy as the envious Luann plans to use their likeness to reveal it at a Halloween party… er… we mean… Hannahween. Of course, it doesn’t come to fruition, but getting to see Miley Cyrus play against herself, and despicably so, is most certainly a treat for fans of the show. Even her dad Billy Ray Cyrus gets in on the fun in the final scene.

Everyone knows zombies are scary, but brainwashed, eyeless, milk-slurping zombies? Now that is truly terrifying. While eye exams and milk are important, they’re being put to sinister use by Principal Wexler and the Igor-esque Coach Tugnut, as Louis learns that all those who undergo the procedure come out mindlessly promoting spotless records and overall skeletal health. This leads to Louis evading capture throughout the school, only to learn that Ren was the mastermind behind the scheme all along, which was the first step in creating an army of “Ren-plicates.” Of course, this turns out to all be a spooky story Louis tells the gullible Beans, but it gives us the willies nonetheless. Oh, and penguins are scary too, we guess.

When your show’s central conceit involves magic, the bar is set higher for a Halloween special. The same is essentially true for the Russo’s haunted house, who have been disappointing since… well… In an effort to amp up the scare factor else their haunted house is stripped away from them, they finally decide to capitalize on their advantages by enlisting the help of some real-life ghosts. Turns out though, ghosts are about as bumbling in the afterlife as they were before they died, and that talent is hard to come by. Save for the generally genial Mantooth who tormented Justin as a kid, who proves to be so scary that the haunted house gets shut down anyway. Well, chalk that one up as a moral victory.

Usually Halloween is for treats, but sometimes it’s gotta be for tricks. In preparation for the fright night party at the school, the stuck-up Kate steals Lizzie’s role of Dungeon Mistress and disrespects Miranda’s Day of the Dead decorations. This incurs the wrath of Miranda’s dead ancestors - or so it would seem - who begin picking off Lizzie and her friends whilst saving Kate for last. By the time Kate’s number is up, she’s made a complete fool of herself, just before Lizzie and company reveal it was all an elaborate ruse to get back at her. Did they go too far? Maybe. But they did such a good job, they even had us going for a while.

Remember when we said this list wouldn’t be super scary? Yeah, this entry is the exception. Of course, the supernatural will never cease to evade Raven on Halloween, as is evidenced by “Raven’s Home”. In this “That’s So Raven” episode however, when Raven and Chelsea aren’t invited to Alana’s Halloween party, they turn to some witchcraft. Using a spellbook, the girls manage to get themselves invited, but then get greedy by also wishing for the best costumes and having everyone’s eyes on them. Yeah, careful what you wish for, because it turns out one of Chelsea’s vegetarian, anti-cow buttons got into the potion, and gradually their costumes come to life. By the party’s end, they’ve become full-blown cows, and the transformation is terrifying, way beyond Disney Channel standards.

Before we unmask our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:

"All Howl's Eve"
"K.C. Undercover" (2015-18)

“Haunt It Up”
“Shake It Up” (2010-13)

“Scary Had a Little Lamb”
“Good Luck Charlie” (2010-14)

“Haunt-a-Rooney”
“Liv and Maddie” (2013-17)

“Girl Meets World of Terror”
“Girl Meets World” (2014-17)

You’ve gotta be careful about how many tricks you pull, because the people you get just might want revenge. While Zack’s always been a troublemaker, his quota has been higher than usual. So when word comes round that Suite 613 is haunted, the twins make a bet that the other can’t spend the night there without chickening out. This eventually leads to Esteban conducting a seance in an attempt to assuage the vengeful spirit and put it to rest. While the following theatrics turn out to only be an elaborate prank being pulled on Zack, they certainly had us going, and they are only heightened by Esteban’s animated performance when he acts possessed. Although like any good ghost story, it turns out the legend was real all along...