Halloween is quickly approaching, and if you were a Disney Channel child like me, then you know that means the return of “Monstober.” So, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane and revisit some must-watch Disney Channel Halloween movies and TV shows. Maybe you’ll find one you forgot about, or one you’ve never seen before. Either way, it’s time to prepare for “Monstober.”
1. “Twitches” Series
I’ll be honest, I have never seen either of these movies. Crazy, I know, especially since they are some of the most popular Halloween movies from my childhood. However, me not having seen them doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be on this list.
The “Twitches” series consists of two movies that follow twins Alex Fielding and Camryn Barnes. Now, you may be thinking, “I thought you said they were twins. If they were twins, why do they have different last names?” Well, these twins were separated at birth and raised in completely different ways. Alex grew up middle-class and very reserved, and she also just lost her adoptive mother. Camryn was raised by a wealthy family and is extremely outgoing. The girls had no idea the other one existed until they bumped into each other on the street on their 21st birthday (which just happens to be Halloween). When the twins finally meet, they realize they look identical and share these mysterious magical powers. They also find out that their biological mother was actually still alive, and not deceased like they always thought. And that’s all just in the first movie.
In the second movie, the twins are trying to balance their new lives and return to some sense of normalcy after everything that changed in the first movie. Camryn is still embracing her glorious and rich lifestyle, while Alex is just hoping to attend college and live the same life she always had. That all changed once again when they found out that their father, who they thought was dead, actually might be alive and stuck in the dangerous Shadowlands. Now, the normal lives that they wanted are out the window, and they have to try and save their father, who may or may not be alive.
2. “Girl vs. Monster”
This is my absolute favorite Disney Halloween movie to ever exist. October can’t pass without me watching this movie at least once, and honestly, I’ll watch it any time of the year. Not only is this a movie that I consider a cinematic masterpiece, the soundtrack is amazing. I mean, who doesn’t want to watch Olivia Holt capture hundreds of monsters while singing about it at the same time?
In “Girl vs. Monster”, Olivia Holt plays Skylar Lewis, the daughter of two fourth-generation ghost hunters, although she doesn’t know that just yet. Skylar finds this out when Halloween night comes around and both of her parents forbid her from going to a party that all of her friends and Ryan Dean (the guy she has the biggest crush on) were going to be at. Skylar decides that she has to be at this party, and so she sneaks out. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work out too well for her.
As she is sneaking out, Skylar cuts the power to the house so that their home security system can’t see her sneak out. Turns out that was a really wrong move, one that is going to cause a lot of issues moving forward. It is now up to Skylar along with her friends to fix all of the problems that they caused. Hopefully, in plenty of time to make it to that Halloween party.
3. “Girl Meets World” – “Girl Meets World of Terror” (Parts 1-3)
I don’t usually like multiple-part episodes in shows, as it usually feels overdone and kind of boring to me. However, I really enjoyed this three-part series because it was done throughout the duration of three seasons. Each season had a different episode that was interconnected in some way. I think it was a very unique way to do these episodes, and it made it very enjoyable to watch.
The first episode of this three-part series deals with facing everyone’s fears. Farkle had to overcome his fear of facing Maya’s insanely fast softball pitching. Riley had to face her fear of spending the night at Maya’s and all the scary masked figures she saw while she was there. Finally, Auggie had to face his fear of the monster under his bed. In this episode, we were able to see how they helped each other take control of their fears.
In the second episode, Riley and Maya are transported back to the 1920s where they suddenly become Flapper girls and encounter the ghost of the bay window (their beloved spot in Riley’s room). Not only do we get to witness the girls figure out how to operate in this alternate timeline, but this is also a crossover episode. Riley and Maya end up at a Halloween party where they run into Austin and Ally from the show “Austin & Ally.” Crossover episodes were really big for Disney kids at the time, so this made the episode that much cooler.
Finally, in the third episode, viewers get to watch what would happen if Riley and Maya never met. After Cory, Riley’s dad and also the girl’s history teacher, taught a lesson on how small choices change people, it makes the girls wonder what would happen if they never met. These thoughts end up transporting the girls into an alternate reality where that is the case. Viewers get to see what would happen if something as small as Maya never crawling through Riley’s window that one night so many years before would change the entire trajectory of their friendship and life. I think this episode was a unique Halloween episode because it didn’t have the normal scary monsters or haunted houses. Instead, it was a quieter, normal situation that ended up being the girl’s biggest fear.
4. “Liv and Maddie”
Much like “Girl Meets World” had a Halloween episode each season, “Liv and Maddie” did the same thing. The only difference was that “Liv and Maddie” didn’t connect its episodes, they were strictly standalone Halloween episodes.
In the first Halloween episode, “Kang-A-Rooney,” Liv dresses as a kangaroo per the request of her twin sister, Maddie, in order to teach their brother, Joey, how to talk to girls. Joey has no idea the kangaroo is his older sister, which makes it very awkward when Joey develops a crush on the kangaroo. Talk about absolutely terrifying – perfect for Halloween.
In the second season, Halloween returns for “Helgaween-A-Rooney.” Maddie accidentally triggers a magical amulet which releases Helga, an evil triplet who does nothing but wreak havoc. While this is happening, the girls’ younger brothers, Parker and Joey, somehow clone themselves. There is nothing scarier than suddenly having three more siblings in an already full household.
Season three Halloween comes with everyone’s favorite thing: a crossover episode. In “Haunt-A-Rooney,” Liv and Joey attend a Halloween party in Central Park when suddenly they are being chased by the paparazzi. This is when they run into the “Best Friends Whenever” girls Cyd and Shelby. Back home in Wisconsin, best friends Maddie and Willow are taking part in the middle school scare tradition.
“Scare-A-Rooney” is the final Halloween episode, which takes place in season four. Unlike the previous three episodes, which take place in Wisconsin, this one is set in California. Liv takes her younger cousin Ruby to a spooky dinner, when she runs into an old acquaintance who ends up not being a good guy. Maddie is trying to investigate and figure out who the real “spider-sprayer” is, while Joey and Parker are trying to get their new classmates to engage in Halloween traditions.
5. “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody”
Our final Halloween must-watch takes place in “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.” In the episode titled “The Ghost of Suite 613,” Zach and Cody’s entire friend group, along with their hotel night manager, Esteban, investigates Suite 613. The group hears a story about a lady named Irene who died in Suite 613 and decides that they have to figure out if the suite is now haunted. It turns out that the group was all in on an elaborate prank to make the room seem as haunted as possible in order to get back at Zack for all of the pranks he had pulled on them. I guess the suite isn’t as haunted as everyone once thought.
But what happens at the very end when a mysterious person returns Cody’s once-missing blanket? Was it actually all a prank? Or is the room haunted like everyone thought it was?
Halloween is just around the corner, so it’s time to take this list and add a couple of titles to your Halloween watchlist. Happy “Monstober,” Disney kids!