Nothing deserves the name Looney Tunes more than the scary episodes of Bugs Bunny and his friends. I went through all my Looney Tunes DVDs and Blu-rays to pick my ten favorite scary episodes, which make for a perfect Halloween marathon. Quite a few of them were incorporated into Bugs Bunny’s Howl-Oween Special from 1977, which was my inspiration for this post. The holiday special is comprised of clips from several episodes I cover here, strung together with some new scenes to make a cohesive narrative. Even though I watch that special every year, it’s always fun to see the full-length episodes, plus a few extra episodes I’ve included in my list.
BROOM-STICK BUNNY
An official Bugs Bunny Halloween cartoon, this one features Bugs trick or treating in an ugly witch costume. That doesn’t sit well with Witch Hazel, who prides herself on being the ugliest witch of them all. Despite Witch Hazel doing everything in her power to kill Bugs to eat him when he shows up at her door, the part that scared me most about this episode as a child was the pervy genie in Witch Hazel’s mirror, who becomes predatory when she accidentally turns pretty. Witch Hazel appears in other Bugs Bunny episodes, but they are based on Hansel & Gretel and Macbeth rather than being specifically “scary” episodes.
A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO
Another Halloween episode, this one features Daffy Duck’s nephew trick or treating…in the same witchy costume Bugs did! He also ends up at Witch Hazel’s door. He runs from her house in fear and tells Daffy he saw a witch, so Daffy heads off to investigate. Meanwhile, Witch Hazel wants to go out for a while, so she turns Speedy Gonzalez into a mirror image of herself to take her place temporarily, so he is the one who actually deals with Daffy’s arrival. This is an odd episode that feels rushed and incomplete.
WATER WATER EVERY HARE
This episode terrified me when I was a kid. Bugs Bunny’s rabbit hole gets flooded, and he is washed away to a spooky castle where a mad scientist with a green face is creating a robot that needs a brain. Eek! The mad scientist unleashes our favorite furry monster Gossamer to track Bugs down, but the part that freaked me out comes at the end, when the mad scientist is chasing bugs in slow motion.
HAIR-RAISING HARE
The image during the opening credits of this episode is haunting, featuring just evil eyes and gnarly hands. For the story, we once again have a freaky scientist (in the likeness of actor Peter Lorre), who lures Bugs to his castle so he can feed him to his pet monster Gossamer.
HYDE AND HARE
This one ruined me as a child. Bugs is brought home from the park by a kindly, soft-spoken scientist…who keeps turning into Mr. Hyde and chasing Bugs around the house! The freakiest part is when Bugs hides in a closet with the scientist to keep them safe from the monster…and we see nothing but eyes as the man turns into the monster in the dark!
HYDE AND GO TWEET
Both the scientist and his alter ego Hyde make a cameo at the beginning of this episode, although drawn slightly different than in Hyde and Hare. This time around, Tweety hides in the scientist’s potion bottle to escape Sylvester, turns into a giant monster bird, and chases Sylvester around. His evil laugh rules, and it’s hilarious how every time he turns back into little Tweety, single-minded Sylvester starts chasing him all over again without a second thought.
TRANSYLVANIA – 6-5000
Bugs accidentally burrows his way up to a vampire’s castle in Transylvania while on a trip to Pennsylvania. He thinks the castle is a hotel, and the count is more than willing to allow him to stay for the night. The count has every intention of making a meal out of Bugs, but Bugs reads out of a magic book he finds in his bedroom, which drives the count batty…
SCAREDY CAT
Porky Pig moves into a creepy house with his cat Sylvester, and Sylvester is absolutely terrified by all the classic haunted house tropes…as well as murderous mice. These are some seriously macabre mice. Sylvester tries desperately to protect Porky from the killers, but Porky thinks he’s acting crazy.
CLAWS FOR ALARM
Porky Pig and Sylvester are back in what is basically a sequel to Scaredy Cat. This time they are on a road trip and stop at a hotel in a ghost town. Sylvester is well-aware of the green eyes of evil mice watching them from dark corners and shadows and once again goes to great lengths to keep Porky alive, yet we never actually see the mice. Which begs the question…are mice really the threat lurking in the shadows?
CASE OF THE STUTTERING PIG
This oldie is in black and white. Porky Pig and his family members gather in a house on a stormy night for the reading of his late uncle’s will. Little do they know their lawyer turns into a monster after drinking a potion…and family members begin disappearing one after the other. He is more menacing than any monster that came in the full-color episodes.
