Top 15 Live-Action Disney Channel Halloween TV Episodes — Ranked!
Calling all the monsters because it’s the greatest time of year!
The leaves are falling, the Pumpkin Spice Lattes are abundant, and the Halloween watch lists are growing. Disney Channel’s family-friendly tricks and treats from shows like Girl Meets World, The Villains of Valley View, That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody are necessary additions to the latter.
While Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs) like Halloweentown and Twitches are understandably known as spooky classics, the show’s Halloween episodes — spanning over two decades — go unnoticed too often.
This list is by no means exhaustive of all the Halloween episodes, but it has 15 of the best that Disney Channel offers.
Here are the top 15 live-action Disney Channel Halloween episodes:
15. K.C. Undercover (Season 1 Episode 24)
Written by: Dava Savel
Directed by: Jon Rosenbaum
K.C. Undercover Season 1 Episode 24, “All Howl’s Eve,” is a creative take on the familiar tale that the characters of a Disney Channel show are getting older and want to celebrate the holiday differently.
For K.C., that means throwing a Halloween party to spend time with her crush, River, and prove her responsibility to her parents.
Meanwhile, Ernie’s bout of responsibility means retrieving a world-changing serum with Judy at the Central Park Spooktacular, where other Disney Channel characters celebrate all things Halloween.
Both missions don’t go as planned, with spy-related hijinx causing stressful and funny outcomes — K.C. questioning a pesky neighbor about her missing spy bracelet and some of the evil wolf serum going into Ernie’s bloodstream.
This K.C. Undercover outing is a howling watch to get in the Halloween spirit.
14. Stuck in the Middle (Season 2 Episode 18)
Written by: Linda Videtti Figueiredo
Directed by: David Kendall
Don’t let Stuck in the Middle Season 2 Episode 18, “Stuck in a Merry Scary,” slip past your scary marathon this season.
While you may be more inclined to seek out the cast’s more recent roles (some of which are on this list!), Stuck in the Middle delivers a memorable Halloween outing in its own right when the Diaz family works together to scare Harley.
In the family tradition “Secret Scarer,” the Diazes shout “Merry Scary” after successfully frightening whichever person’s name they choose from a hat.
Where some Disney Channel holiday episodes fall into a specific storytelling structure, “Stuck in a Merry Scary” stands out as one of the more original approaches on this list — and one of the scarier ones, too.
It’s easy to get swept up in the scare with Harley. Jenna Ortega has always been a Scream Queen.
13. Austin and Ally (Season 3 Episode 20)
Written by: Jay Dyer
Directed by: Rich Correll
Austin and Ally Season 3 Episode 20, “Horror Stories and Halloween Scares,” is one that sets the mold for that pattern. Breaking down the Halloween episode into three haunting stories becomes a staple for Disney Channel, but few do it better.
The cast’s commitment to their reenactment is memorable even when the stories themselves aren’t. Though, Dez and Trish playing eternally fated romantic partners is kind of iconic — Calum Worthy and Raini Rodriguez are too good.
The best part of the episode is Ally pulling the biggest prank on her friends. Underestimating her gives Ally the upper hand to truly frighten Austin, Dez, and Trish by closing the story introduced in Act 1 about the headless security guard haunting the mall, eventually making his way to Sonic Boom.
“Horror Stories and Halloween Scares” is a light-hearted, hauntingly good time.
12. Girl Meets World (Season 2 Episode 18)
Written by: Jeff Menell
Directed by: Joel Zwick
Girl Meets World Season 2 Episode 18, “Girl Meets World of Terror 2,” is the best of the Boy Meets World spinoff’s three Halloween episodes.
With Auggie Matthews as its host, the episode tells two effective stories about friendship featuring bay window ghosts from the 1920s, trick or treating, and the Central Park Spooktacular crossover.
Girl Meets World pulls off a heartwarming take on the Halloween Disney Channel episode by honing on sweet thrills, like synchronized compulsory singing and dancing and Ava being, well, Ava.
“Girl Meets World of Terror 2” deserves a spot on this list — and your spooky marathon.
11. The Villains of Valley View (Season 2 Episode 13)
Written by: Ken Blankstein
Directed by: Victor Gonzalez
Despite being the newest Disney Channel show on this list, The Villains of Valley View deserves a spot alongside the greats with The Villains of Valley View Season 2 Episode 13, “The Haunted Jukebox.”
The show is about a family of supervillains hiding their secret in a suburban neighborhood, so it always has a Halloween spirit running through it. However, the Halloween vibes leap out with a song and dance during this outing.
Isabella Pappas and Kayden Muller-Janssen’s performance of “This Is Where the Party’s At” livens up the undead of Monster Town and revives the nostalgia of the formerly prevalent trend of original songs featured in Disney Channel shows.
The ensemble’s costumes are a fun touch, with Malachi Barton’s mummy one, presumably, being a not-so-subtle nod to his role in 2021’s Under Wraps. What’s not to love about The Villains of Valley View‘s ghostly adventure?
10. Shake It Up (Season 3 Episode 25)
Written by: Alison Taylor
Directed by: Kimberly McCullough
Shake It Up Season 3 Episode 25, “Haunt It Up,” is one of the better depictions of the Disney Channel leads, Bella Thorne’s Cece and Zendaya’s Rocky, thinking they’ve outgrown Halloween.
The longer these shows run, the more inevitable an episode like this becomes.
Because of those kinds of episodes’ higher frequency on the channel, their storylines can become redundant, but Shake It Up breaks through those presumptions with a funny take on growing up too soon — and how you’re never too old to enjoy the frights of Halloween night.
Mature-a-Ween could be an alternative to Halloween at some point, but “Haunt It Up” makes a thrilling case for embracing the original.
9. Raven’s Home (Season 1 Episode 11)
Written by: Octavia Bray
Directed by: Leonard R. Garner Jr.
While the show has a few Halloween episodes to its name, Raven’s Home Season 1 Episode 11, “The Baxtercism of Levi Grayson,” is the first, most fun, and surprisingly heartfelt of them. The wordplay in the episode’s title is just a major bonus.
The themed outing tells the story of Eliza Crane, a ghost made up by Tess (The MVP of the episode!) when Booker and Levi plan a Halloween prank on a mean kid named Travis. Raven (and Raven-Symoné’s top-tier comedy) gets involved when reality starts leaning too close to the afterlife.
Trap doors, possum jump-scares, and Chelsea in a sloth costume ensue.
The beating heart of “The Baxtercism of Levi Grayson” is in the Tess and Nia story. It’s sweet when Tess transforms Nia’s room into a memorable Halloween because Nia is too sick to celebrate as usual.
Raven’s Home delivers more than cheap thrills with this one.
8. Jessie (Season 3 Episode 23)
Written by: Vanessa Mancos
Directed by: Bob Koherr
Jessie Season 3 Episode 23, “The Runaway Bride of Frankenstein,” is the best and most even Halloween episode Jessie delivers throughout its run.
More often than not, Jessie’s arc doesn’t hold a (Black Flame) candle to the kids’ storylines, but the Disney Channel show pulls out the reanimated stops in this one.
While it certainly works as a standalone episode to add to your watchlist, Jessie‘s Season 3 Halloween adventure directly responds to the previous episode’s cliffhanger — Brooks proposed to Jessie. What should be a celebratory moment in Jessie’s life becomes a bit of a waking nightmare. The kids don’t like him.
What follows is a few genuinely sweet scenes between Bertram and Jessie about what she wants and Brooks doing everything he can to win over the kids.
Oh, and Jessie envisions a black-and-white Frankenstein universe where Ravi makes Brooks into her ideal man. Eventually, she realizes there is no such thing as perfection, and she loves Brooks as he is.
“The Runaway Bride of Frankenstein” is a great time from start to finish!
7. Wizards of Waverly Place (Season 3 Episode 2)
Written by: Todd J. Greenwald
Directed by: Bob Koherr
The show’s premise gives it an advantage on Halloween because any of its episodes could qualify, which is why Wizards of Waverly Place Season 3 Episode 2, “Halloween,” makes the Top 10.
The episode finds a way for the family of humans and wizards to celebrate the holiday the way many mundane people do — a haunted house — while expanding the lore of the wizarding world it has been building for two seasons.
Everything that occurs, like Justin getting boring ghosts from the wizarding world to make their haunted house scarier, is entirely in character. Equally so is Alex wearing a shirt that reads “Costume” and getting Mantooth, the most frightening ghost in the wizard world that Justin has been terrified of since he was younger, to come to their haunted house.
Though mixing the human world with the wizard world gets their haunted house shut down, Wizards of Waverly Place delivers a fitting entry with “Halloween.”
6. Good Luck Charlie (Season 4 Episode 14)
Written by: Christopher Vane
Directed by: Bob Koherr
Good Luck Charlie Season 4 Episode 14, “Fright Knight,” has the most unique spin on trick-or-treating on this list.
Teddy and her friends decide to go “Halloween Caroling” to raise money for their drama club. They sing songs like “I’m Dreaming of a White Werewolf” and “Away in the Graveyard,” but Teddy’s friend Victor ends up away — in a hole in a yard.
That mishap helped their financial venture, but Good Luck Charlie‘s Season 4 Halloween episode doesn’t stop there with the themed surprises.
PJ and Gabe’s story with the trick of the vengeful neighbor gets a bit scary, while Bob and Charlie remix the meaning of a sweet treat when they get creative while passing out candy. The great A, B, and C stories push “Fright Knight” into the Top 10 on the list of Disney Channel’s best Halloween episodes.
5. Liv and Maddie (Season 3 Episode 4)
Written by: Danielle Hoover and David Monahan
Directed by: Adam Weisman
Liv and Maddie Season 3 Episode 4, “Haunt-a-Rooney,” is a hoot for all the Rooneys.
It has a bit of everything — hauntingly hilarious pranks with Johnny Nimbus and swoon-worthy romantic scenes with big implications. Not to mention, Liv and Maddie joins in on the Central Park Spooktacular festivities with this episode.
By this point in the show’s run, Maddie has quite the reputation for scaring but never being scared, so it’s fun that “Haunt-a-Rooney” puts a zany twist on that assertion. Like many of its predecessors and contemporaries, the Disney Channel show pays homage to horror staples but makes them family-friendly.
If you’re going to watch only one of Liv and Maddie‘s Halloween episodes, let it be “Haunt-a-Rooney,” and don’t forget to rate the Rooneys on The Treat Beat.
4. Hannah Montana (Season 1 Episode 17)
Teleplay by: Todd J. Greenwald
Written by: Christian McLaughlin
Directed by: Roger S. Christansen
Hannah Montana Season 1 Episode 17, “Torn Between Two Hannahs,” isn’t a traditional Disney Channel Halloween episode.
There aren’t three scary stories. There isn’t a lesson about growing up too fast and missing out on the joys of the holiday.
Nevertheless, this Hannah Montana episode is a classic, placing it in the Top 5, and not only because of the clever reference to Emily Osment’s brother, Haley Joel Osment’s turn in 1999’s The Sixth Sense. The triple-threat Miley Cyrus pulls triple duty as Hannah Montana, Miley Stewart, and Miley’s cousin Luann, who she describes as “the devil’s little helper.”
With Halloween looming, a “Hannahween Party” sets chaos into motion as Luann enacts revenge on her cousin for hurting her feelings. A mix-up ensues with a laugh-out-loud moment between Miley (as Hannah) and Oliver. Not to mention, Billy Ray and Jackson take Halloween decorations to the highest level.
“Torn Between Two Hannahs” delivers a tale about trust with the backdrop of a holiday that is all about anything but. It’s silly, not too scary, and one of this list’s most memorable Halloween episodes.
3. Even Stevens (Season 2 Episode 11)
Written by: Sean McNamara and David Brookwell
Directed by: Sean McNamara
Viewers looking for spooky delights may gravitate towards more recent projects, but Even Stevens Season 2 Episode 11, “A Very Scary Story,” which aired in 2001, is a surprise in Disney Channel’s Halloween catalog.
It gets pretty scary with the horror elements it adapts to the children’s comedy. The physical results of Ren’s eye exam are creepy, and the overall nightmare-inducing situation finds grounded stakes from Louis’ perspective.
Even Stevens elevates a kid’s reasonable fears into a top-tier Halloween episode.
“A Very Scary Story” stepping back to reveal that the entire episode is all a plot on Louis’ behalf to scare Beans makes it even better.
2. That’s So Raven (Season 2 Episode 2)
Written by: Michael Carrington
Directed by: Richard Correll
That’s So Raven Season 2 Episode 2, “Don’t Have a Cow,” is a Disney Channel Halloween episode that is likely seared into the mind of anyone who grew up watching — and loving — That’s So Raven.
The episode expands the lore around Raven’s family of psychics by introducing Raven’s grandmother Vivian’s spell book, which returns in Season 5.
Moreover, this episode gives fans the unforgettable imagery of Raven and Chelsea slowly turning into cows — and mooing all the time — that Raven sees in her vision because Chelsea’s pin falls into the pot they use for a spell.
Even though Raven prevents the girls from fulfilling the vision, it’s still a fixture in Disney Channel history.
The wacky story to get Raven and Chelsea to Alana’s annual Halloween party is unique to That’s So Raven. However, the girls’ motivation for the spell and Cory’s story about outgrowing Halloween makes “Don’t Have a Cow” a universal Halloween episode to enjoy this season.
1. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (Season 1 Episode 19)
Written by: Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan
Directed by: Rich Correll
Was there ever going to be a different #1 than The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Season 1 Episode 19, “The Ghost of Suite 613?”
No Disney Channel Halloween episode has ever topped it. Zack, Cody, Maddie, London, and Esteban’s sleepover in the haunted Suite 613 is wall-to-wall with ghostly attractions, per Irene, who died in 1945.
Everyone at The Tipton knowing of or encountering Irene over the years (The Mr. Moseby flashback!) adds to the history, elevating the fear factor and tension. In excellent The Suite Life of Zack and Cody fashion, “The Ghost of Suite 613” cuts through it all with a now iconic seance (“I’m on hold.”) held by Esteban.
The show pulling back the curtain to reveal it’s all a prank against the King of Pranks, Zack, sets the episode up for the classic twist: Irene is a spirit in that suite. However, she’s much kinder than all the ghost stories. It’s the best of the best.
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All Disney Channel Halloween episodes are streaming on Disney+.
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Shelby Elpers
Shelby is an entertainment enthusiast and pop culture writer. She's an avid podcast listener, green tea drinker, and football fan. Her brand can be summarized in teen dramas, superheroes, and rom-coms.