Holiday episodes have become a staple of Bob’s Burgers across most major celebrations, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day. But everything stems back to the first-ever holiday episode, a season-three foray into Halloween that changed the show. It highlighted the Belchers’ ability to dig into the niche and strange, even and especially during the holidays, and play with viewers’ expectations of what a holiday special could be. Since the premiere of “Full Bars,” these episodes have become some of the most beloved and quintessentially Bob’s moments in the series.
Despite the one that started it all, Halloween episodes tend to be slightly more hit-or-miss than other holidays for Bob’s. That being said, when they’re good, they’re good. At their best, Bob’s Burgers Halloween episodes are a little bit spooky, weaving some slightly scary tension into the show’s otherwise comedic and heartfelt threads. Trick-or-treat plots make up most of the top Halloween episodes, with one key exception, and the stories often give Bob, Linda, and even Teddy a chance at a quirky B-plot. The kids’ costumes — and the various efforts the family has gone to in order to create them — are also guaranteed to provide some of the best moments in each episode: the more specific, the better. Most seasons have a Halloween episode, although season 14’s scary episode about a horror documentary isn’t actually a Halloween special, so it will be excluded from this list.
Since Halloween is just around the corner, it’s a good time to evaluate every episode that Bob’s has in the way of All Hallows Eve. From trick-or-treat shenanigans to an unforgettable haunted house, here is every Bob’s Burgers Halloween episode, ranked.
11.
“Pig Trouble in Little Tina” (Season 10, Episode 4)
When Tina has to dissect a fetal pig at school, the little creature begins to haunt her dreams. It’s gross — grosser than Bob’s often gets — and veers away from horror and into something unsettling and hard to enjoy. She grows exhausted as she awaits a Halloween hayride that she hopes will end in a kiss with Jimmy Jr. and seeks out help from Louise and Gene, who indulge in the occult to help rid her of her pork poltergeist. There are several interesting aspects at work here (including Bob and Linda’s side quest to rid Bob of a gnarly bit of earwax), but the off-putting demon pig hinders the other merits of the episode and makes it so that “Pig Trouble in Little Tina” just doesn’t quite work.
10.
“Apple Gore-chard! (But Not Gory)” (Season 13, Episode 6)
Every child raised on the East Coast remembers a strange, vaguely offensive harvest or pilgrim-inspired field trip. It’s a rite of passage, and good fodder for a Bob’s Burgers episode, which is why it’s a bit of a bummer that the episode is ultimately not that memorable. In “Apple Gore-chard (But Not Gory),” Louise’s class (and chaperone Bob) head to the Celtic Farms Historical Apple Orchard, where they learn about pagan times and the pitfalls of popularity. The kids’ costumes — a three-piece depiction of Twister, created by Linda — once again steal the show and are the highlights, if not the focus, of the episode.
9.
“Heartbreak Hotel-oween” (Season 11, Episode 4)
Throughout the series, it’s no secret that Bob gets squeamish around blood, but when Teddy learns that Bob is a universal donor, he twists Bob’s arm into donating his at the vampire-themed Halloween blood drive (bonus points go to Linda’s delivery of “Why, isn’t O-negative stupid blood?”). The kids, meanwhile, set out on a trick-or-treating revenge mission to get some candy from a house that “stiffed” them the year before. Their night takes a turn when the trio delivers a burger to a hotel down the block, where they walk in on a séance and end up entangled in a spooky mystery. While it by no means hits classic status, “Heartbreak Hotel-oween” is a solid entry into the Bob’s Burgers Halloween canon, bolstered by its equally intriguing plots for all members of the Belcher family.
8.
“The Pumpkinening” (Season 12, Episode 3)
An I Know What You Did Last Summer plot comes for Linda and Gayle in “The Pumpkinening.” When each of the sisters receives a letter referencing a pumpkin-smashing incident from 27 years ago, they must embark on a journey back to try to figure out who knows their secret and revisit what they did (or didn’t do) in high school. The kids decide to hang back at the restaurant for the night when Bob buys coveted candy (Sour Sack Babies), and the place gets overrun with desperate trick-or-treaters. While taking the kids away from their usual trick-or-treating adventures can be a bit of a hard gambit, the episode is overall an entertaining venture for the series and a nice way to shake up the usual plots after nearly a decade of Halloween episodes.
7.
“Tina and the Real Ghost” (Season 5, Episode 2)
When a bug exterminator tells the Belchers that their basement freezer is haunted, Linda and the kids break out a Ouija board and “trap” the spirit of a 13-year-old boy in a shoebox. “Tina and the Real Ghost” takes an unsurprising turn when Tina falls for him. Bolstered by the attention of her peers, Tina and Jeff start a whirlwind romance that everyone, including Tammy, wants a piece of. The restaurant also receives some much-needed attention just in time for Halloween when two paranormal investigators set up shop in a booth to try and suss out whether Bob’s Burgers is truly haunted. What makes the episode is Tina’s ability to — for once — be one step ahead of her peers, especially when the tweens head to a spooky graveyard on Halloween night.
6.
“Teen-a Witch” (Season 7, Episode 3)
She’s no Agatha Harkness, but Tina’s venture into the craft is still one to remember in “Teen-a Witch.” When Tammy steals Tina’s idea for the school Halloween costume contest, she comes up with another idea, a “sandwitch,” and goes to the school library to read up on witches. The librarian, the always titillating Mr. Ambrose (Billy Eichner), teaches her about everyday witches who walk among them and encourages Tina to dive into witchcraft, which she does with enthusiasm, casting spells and donning a goth new look. But she finds herself in over her head when she casts a spell on a rude crossing guard, only to have the woman (an evil witch once a part of Mr. Ambrose’s coven) curse her back.
5.
“Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street” (Season 9, Episode 4)
A hot new candy, Sticky Sugar Booms, adds an extra fervor to Halloween night in “Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street.” Unfortunately, as the Belcher kids and their friends set out trick-or-treating, it also means that candy-nabbing is at an all-time high, with a skateboarding gorilla leading the charge. While the kids’ candy slowly gets picked off and they attempt to find the culprit, Bob, Linda, and Teddy grapple with their own Halloween high jinks as Teddy tries to spookify the restaurant to show off to the handyman next door. It’s a rare moment where the show acknowledges the ever-changing shop space next door beyond just the opening gag and gives the adults a Halloween story line that’s just as enticing as the kids’.
4.
“Fort Night” (Season 4, Episode 2)
On Halloween night, the stakes are higher than ever as Tina prepares to trick-or-treat with her siblings for possibly the last time. However, a wrench is thrown into the kids’ plans when they, along with their friends, get stuck in the elaborate fort they built behind their apartment building. Any hopes of rescue are dashed when Louise’s off-kilter classmate Millie tells Bob and Linda, who are hard at work on the kids’ dragon costume, that the Belcher children already left for trick-or-treating. While the kids attempt to make a punchy, horror-trope-fueled escape from the fort, Bob and Linda decide to take the costume out for a spin and go trick-or-treating themselves. “Fort Night” tackles children’s imaginations and stakes in a way that Bob’s Burgers often understands better than other shows, which would’ve been enough to make this a great Halloween special, but Bob and Linda’s costumed venture is an added extra that ranks this firmly above other episodes.
3.
“The Wolf of Wharf Street” (Season 8, Episode 3)
In the spooky “The Wolf of Wharf Street,” a damper is put on Halloween when news of a loose wolf sends most trick-or-treaters indoors. Attempting to salvage the kids’ evening, Linda (dressed as a Cher-iff) takes them out looking for the wolf, only half-believing that there’s a real threat. As they head deeper into the foggy night, they run into documentarian Randy Watkins (Paul F. Tompkins) and begin to realize that something is lurking in the town. Bob, stuck at home on painkillers thanks to an injury, believes that Teddy (who is serving as his nurse for the episode) is, in fact, the wolf: a werewolf, that is. It’s a little scary and incredibly original, making it one of the Belchers’ more unforgettable Halloween adventures.
2.
“Full Bars” (Season 3, Episode 2)
In the holiday episode that started it all, the Belcher kids are finally allowed to go trick-or-treating on their own. However, the thrill is short-lived when they find their local candy lacking. It’s only once they decide to hop the ferry to King’s Head Island, a wealthy community across the water, that they discover the world of full bars and attempt to evade a terrifying tradition where costumed kids are hunted down by snarky teenage boys. Equally enticing is Bob and Linda’s evening, a costume party at Teddy’s house that turns into a murder mystery when Teddy’s guinea pig is accidentally squashed to death. “Full Bars” is tight all around. Every joke lands, from the kids’ costumes (including Gene’s “rapper-actress Queen Latifah in her U.N.I.T.Y. phase”) to Teddy’s subpar detective skills and Bob’s shocking revelation.
1.
“The Hauntening” (Season 6, Episode 3)
While “Full Bars” is a standout Halloween episode, “The Hauntening” ultimately tops the bunch for its combination of peak Belcher comedy and genuine frights. The episode follows the Belchers as they attempt to give the unscareable Louise a run for her money. Bob and Linda put on a hokey haunted house for the kids, which Louise immediately brushes off. But when the Belchers try to leave the house, a series of spooky events and sounds turns the evening into a truly terrifying affair worthy of a Louise scream. The reveal, coupled with a spooky Boyz 4 Now song drop, makes this an unforgettable moment in Bob’s Burgers. Plus, it bucks the trend of most of the show’s Halloween episodes by keeping all of the Belchers together, which is often when the series is at its absolute best.