Disney Channel’s “Monstober” is quickly approaching.
The Halloween-themed episodes of classic Disney Channel original shows from the early 2000s always come back into focus as the weather gets cooler and people are looking for something spooky and nostalgic to remind them of the cozy, silly and spooky parts of the Halloween season.
Here is my ranking of the 10 best Halloween episodes from Disney during the early 2000s. See if you can find your favorite childhood show on this list.
- “Cyd and Shelby’s Haunted Escape” (“Best Friends Whenever” Season 1, Episode 9)
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Cyd and Shelby steal their friend Barry’s teleportation device to get to the NYC Halloween event of the century and end up trapped in a haunted house where they meet some unexpected friends.
Riley Matthews and Lucas Friar from “Girl Meets World” appear in this episode, one of Disney Channel’s Monstober Spooktacular crossovers of 2015.
- “Girl Meets World of Terror 2” (“Girl Meets World” Season 2, Episode 18)
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In their famous bay window seat, Riley and Maya meet the ghost of a 1920s flapper, who has been dead for nearly a hundred years and has been haunting the window ever since.
Austin Moon and Ally Dawson from “Austin and Ally,” make a guest appearance in the show for the Monstober Spooktacular crossover episode and help the girls with their ghostly companion.
- “Torn Between Two Hannahs” (“Hannah Montana” Season 1, Episode 17)
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Hannah Montana is always dressed up in a costume, so for her, every day is Halloween. In this “Hannah Montana” episode, Miley’s evil cousin, Luann, comes to town for a visit and threatens to expose Miley’s secret identity on stage to the entire school at a Halloween party.
- “Horror stories and Halloween Scares” (“Austin and Ally” Season 3, Episode 20)
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Austin, Ally, Dez and Trish get trapped in the abandoned music store of the Mall of Miami in this Halloween special of “Austin and Ally.” The lights flicker and go out, the doors slam shut and the group tells spooky scary stories throughout their night trapped in the store.
The music store takes on a new life with decorative cobwebs on every surface, pumpkins and skull stickers on the doors and windows and orange lights decorating the walls that set the stage for the ghost stories they tell to pass the time.
- “Arwinstein” (“The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” Season 3, Episode 12)
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While looking for the hotel handyman Arwin, Zack and Cody stumble on a secret room in the Tipton Hotel and accidentally unleash the Frankenstein-inspired robot monster Arwin created in his likeness.
Arwinstein is not quite so monstrous as the original Arwin fears, however, and adventures of Arwinstein through the hotel with Zack and Cody make it one of the two funny and cute Zack and Cody Halloween episodes on this list.
- “Scary had a little lamb” (“Good luck Charlie” Season 2, episode 25)
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After Teddy Duncan, dressed as Mary, goes trick-or-treating with her little sister Charlie, a little lamb, and gets splattered in fake blood by a teenager in her neighborhood, Teddy devises a plan for revenge. Meanwhile, her brother Gabe is tricked into doing chores for their neighbor, his arch enemy, the whole night.
Following the various plot lines throughout the episode is what keeps it so interesting. Teddy’s revenge on a neighborhood kid, PJ Duncan dressing gothic for his new girlfriend and Amy and Bob Duncan dressing up as each other and doing impressions all night, make the episode a light-hearted Halloween special.
- “Helgaween-a-rooney” (“Liv and maddie” Season 2, episode 3)
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After a fight with her twin sister, Maddie Rooney makes an accidental wish on her brother’s magic amulet that she wasn’t a twin. The magic amulet glows green and grants her wish, thus bringing about Helga, Liv and Maddie’s triplet sister who terrorizes the town of Steven’s Point.
- “the whining” (“jessie” season 2, episode 1)
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In this parody episode of “The Shining,” the 1980 psychological horror movie starring Jack Nicholson, the Ross kids run into the spooky new doorman, who tells them the legend of the evil nanny from the past who haunts their building and who looks just like their nanny, Jessie.
The kids become convinced Jessie is possessed by the evil nanny from the past and planning to kill them.
- “the ghost of 613″ (the suite life of zack and cody”) Season 1, episode 19)
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It was hard not to put “The Ghost of 613” first on this list. With doors slamming shut, mysterious thunder inside the apartment building and a classic Halloween soundtrack, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” makes a great Halloween episode.
When Zack and Cody hear the rumor that Room 613 of the Tipton Hotel is haunted, Zack dares Cody $5 to spend the night with the ghost. Throughout the night, the twins and their friends detect paranormal activity and turn to conducting a seance to contact the ghost of Room 613.
- “mutant farm” (“ANT farm” season 1, episode 14)
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Coming in at No. 1 is “Ant Farm’s” Halloween episode. Starring China Ann McClain as a mutant girl with snakes for hair, the episode mirrors the first episode of “Ant Farm” where Chyna Parks enrolls in a new school but with a twist.
The mutANT farm is the Halloween version of the Ant Farm where monsters are now allowed to go to school with humans. The episode follows Chyna and her friends — Olive, the mad scientist; Fletcher, the vampire; and Angus, the zombie — as they try to fit in with the human students.
Chyna’s song “Calling All The Monsters,” that she writes to unite the human and mutant students in this episode, is one of the best things to come out of Disney’s Halloween episodes. Don’t forget to watch the sequel to this unique Halloween special, “MutANT Farm 2” (Season 2, Episode 12) once you’re finished.
Disney Channel certainly made a lot of spooky episodes of their best shows for the Halloween season. What do you think? Do you agree with the rankings in this list?
Happy Monstober!