Tomorrow’s Halloween! And because it’s happening on a Saturday, this really is the best weekend of the year to binge watch some of the scariest television I know of (or perhaps dared watch?) Three series make an appearance on this blog year after year: The X-Files, Fringe, and Supernatural. This week’s regularly scheduled posts will be joined by three extra, special Halloween posts, each rounding up the scariest episodes of these three shows.
Of the three posts, this one was definitely the hardest to write. I have to confess: I don’t quite know why I keep setting unattainable goals for myself. I mean, The X-Files was not only made of scary episodes and Fringe only had three years (if even) of non-mythology episodes to choose from, making the previous two posts (here and here) quite easy to write.
But picking only a handful of scary episodes out of 10 full seasons of Supernatural featuring pretty much only scary episodes? Not the easiest of feats! Some websites might have been able to achieve this feat, but I just couldn’t, at least not with a full re-watch and I’m already booked with my re-watch of The X-Files for the related Facebook project.
So I decided to keep this run-through of scary, Halloween-worthy Supernatural episodes just to five episodes each in Season 1 and Season 2. I expect that, of all three lists, this one will generate the most controversy (with the Fringe one generating the least!) But hey, there is always Halloween 2017!
My top five each Halloween-worthy Supernatural episodes from Seasons 1 and 2 are:
Pilot (1 x 01): Bleeding women pinned to the ceiling bursting into flames and ghosts: just like with The X-Files and Fringe, this is a pilot that really set things up well for the remained of the series.
Bloody Mary (1 x 05): Ever tried to invoke Bloody Mary on a dare when you were a child? This episode will make you wonder if, unbeknownst to you, you did actually unleash something evil after all.
Skin (1 x 06): I’m on the fence between finding the whole shapeshifting special effect cool of completely disgusting. Either way, the thought of a shapeshifter is terrifying enough without the creepiness of the overall episode.
Home (1 x 09): Ghost stories are always fun to watch on Halloween, but there is something particularly poignant about this episode, which takes Sam and Dean back to their own house where their mother was killed in a particularly gruesome way (refer to the description of the Pilot episode).
Asylum (1 x 10): Asylums are pretty creepy places already; imagine one haunted by a ghost that fills its victims with such rage that they end up killing others, including loved ones, and you have quite the potent Halloween cocktail.
Everybody Loves a Clown (2 x 02): I personally blame Stephen King and Ronald McDonald for clowns’ creepy factor. Whatever the case may be, a killer clown that haunts the town a circus is visiting—a clown that can’t be seen by everyone to boot—might make you wonder how sarcastic the writers were when they penned the title to this episode.
Crossroad Blues (2 x 08): We have the dubious pleasure of meeting hellhounds in this episode. Oh, did I mention that they are invisible hellhounds? So not only you are being attacked by a pack of gigantic, feral dogs, but they are invisible. Delightful.
No Exit (2 x 06): The ghost of America’s first serial murder haunts the location where he was executed.
Croatoan (2 x 09): A demonic virus infects the inhabitants of a small town is making them increasing violent.
Roadkill (2 x 16): Two ghosts who have been haunting the same stretch of highway for some 15 years give a whole new meaning to the word “roadkill”.