Flickering Myth’s Ricky Church looks at the spookiest episodes of The Real Ghostbusters…
Halloween is upon us once again and while kids will get ready for trick-or-treating and adults will watch their favourite scary movies, one alternative to the famous slashers or extremely freaky supernatural films is the Ghostbusters franchise. As hilarious as the original Ghostbusters and its sequels are, there are legitimate scares not just in the films, but also and maybe especially in The Real Ghostbusters animated series.
Spinning out of Ghostbusters‘ massive popularity after its release, The Real Ghostbusters followed the adventures of Pete, Ray, Egon and Winston as they busted ghosts in New York City and sometimes around the world. One of the series’ most notable aspects was how, despite it being a cartoon aimed at the film’s younger fans, it would veer into incredibly creepy imagery and frightful ghosts or supernatural beings often based on real myths. Certain episodes delivered an intensity that terrified me as a child and even now as an adult makes me wonder how some of these stories passed the censors. To celebrate Halloween, here are a few of the spookiest Real Ghostbusters episodes to watch.
Knock, Knock
It is a pretty common trope in horror movies that if people discover strange noises or locations below ground, they must check it out and release whatever supernatural being resides there no matter how stupid the decision might be. The Real Ghostbusters lent into that trope in ‘Knock, Knock’ where subway workers discover a huge red door buried underneath a subway line in New York that can talk, telling them “Do not open until Doomsday,” yet they decide to carry on with their construction anyway, opening the door prematurely and releasing energy from another dimension that transforms everything it touches.
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, ‘Knock, Knock’ is a very trippy ride for the Ghostbusters as they descend into the transforming depths of NYC, encountering several Lovecraftian horrors as they approach the Doomsday Door. From the Ghostbusters standing alone in a subway car only to be surrounded by skeletons and ghouls when the lights flicker to a half-man half-tree eldritch abomination, there is plenty of eerie imagery heightened by the episode’s impressive animation.
The Thing in Mrs. Faversham’s Attic
Basements, closets and attics are always the stuff of children’s nightmares and Straczynski again used that to great effect when he wrote ‘The Thing in Mrs. Faversham’s Attic’. An elderly lady calls upon the Ghostbusters to rid her of a disturbance she has dealt with in her house for decades, yet all of it is restricted to her attic. Upon entering, the Ghostbusters find a powerful and vengeful entity has been trapped in the attic after Faversham’s father summoned it but could not control it or send it back, instead sealing it in the attic and having his young daughter promise never to enter it. With nowhere else to go, the entity has transformed the attic and uses everything inside to torment Mrs. Faversham and the Ghostbusters.
One of the most interesting aspects to the episode is the ghost’s many designs as he takes on several shapes made up of various clothing or objects until his final form seen above is revealed. The attic space of an old mansion is also a cool location to place most of the action, but where Straczynski excels at in the story is making Peter Venkman’s development just as important as the ghostly nonsense. Always the snarky and aloof character, Venkman is given more depth as he’s revealed to have a soft spot for old ladies due to his guilt of not being there for his mother in her final years. The episode concludes on a pretty impactful and emotional note as, once the entity is no longer haunting the attic, Pete decides to give Mrs. Faversham some much deserved company.
Mrs. Roger’s Neighborhood
Not all elderly women are kind as the Ghostbusters discover in ‘Mrs. Roger’s Neighborhood’ during a routine haunted house call. When Mrs. Roger asks for the Ghostbusters help ridding her home of some poltergeists, it turns out she is actually the spook they need to catch as she traps them in her home to be tormented by her ghosts while she infiltrates the firehouse with a plan to open up the containment unit, recruiting all the freed ghosts into her army to conquer the world.
There is quite a bit of spookiness in this episode as the Ghostbusters are trapped in Mrs. Roger’s haunted house, full of transforming rooms, furniture, ghosts and dimensional rifts. If this were a live-action R-rated movie, it would feel right at home next to Poltergeist as the team endures several of Roger’s monstrosities. As if that wasn’t enough, her true form seen above can be pretty terrifying to a young child, as is the possessed Peter Venkman when she tries forcing him to open the unit. ‘Mrs. Roger’s Neighborhood’ is a pretty good collection of problems for the Ghostbusters to fight through.
The Boogieman Cometh
Before I was ever introduced to Pennywise, Real Ghostbusters‘ Boogieman was what gave me nightmares. The animators must have taken a very strong dose of nightmare fuel to create Boogieman’s iconic and horrific look with his oversized head and teeth, clown-like face and cloven feet.
The Ghostbusters are approached by some curious clients – two children, in fact, who want to hire them to capture the Boogieman who has been sneaking out of their closet to scare them. The boogieman has always been a staple of children’s horror stories which makes all but Egon skeptical as to the kids’ request, but at his urging they investigate anyway and discover the Boogieman is a very real and frightful creature. Add to this Egon’s personal stake as the Boogieman not only tortured him as a child, but is the very reason Egon began studying the supernatural and occult in the first place.
Another factor that makes Boogieman a very memorable villain is his voice to go along with his unique look. Voice legend Frank Welker, who also played Ray in the series, provided his voice and made him absolutely terrifying with his deep rasp and laughter. Boogieman is also one of the very few ghosts to reappear, getting a sequel episode several seasons later in ‘The Bogeyman is Back’. If his first appearance didn’t already cement his legacy as one of the Ghostbusters’ iconic villains, his return most certainly did.
When Halloween Was Forever
If there is any episode of Real Ghostbusters to watch for Halloween, it is certainly When Halloween Was Forever. While perhaps not the spookiest episode, its Halloween theme definitely gets you in the spooky mood with yet another villain known for his design and terrifying presence.
A couple of low-level ghosts release Samhain, an ancient being who was worshipped on Halloween with the power to stop time, creating an eternal night. After centuries of being trapped in a special stone, Samhain wasted no time using his power on Halloween to cast night over New York with his army of ghosts attacking the Ghostbusters while his power grew. The team had to stop Samhain before his power grew strong enough to cast darkness across the rest of the world.
While the episode doesn’t have imagery quite as creepy as the previous entries, Samhain was an instant classic villain for his Halloween-theme and the size of his army. His look of a pumpkin head and flowing robes was simple yet unique among the villains of Real Ghostbusters and his power and popularity made him, like Boogieman, one of the few ghosts to make a rare return in ‘Halloween II 1/2’ by taking over the firehouse and using his army to specifically attack the Ghostbusters in revenge.
What are some of your favourite Real Ghostbusters episodes? Which ones scared you the most? Let us know on our social channels at @FlickeringMyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
