7 Essential SNL Halloween Sketches

Parents, please make sure to check your children’s Halloween candy. We just found an entire Tom Hanks as David S. Pumpkins in our son’s lollipop.  

Spooky season is here, with pharmacy aisles full of chocolate and Halloween stores haunting vacant retail space nationwide. What’s as sweet as candy corn but less waxy? Revisiting these highly quotable SNL Halloween sketches.  

1. Haunted Elevator (ft. David S. Pumpkins)  

“The scariest thing to the mind is the unknown,” says Kenan’s elevator operator. In a baffling and beloved sketch that’s taken on cult-hit status, the unknown comes in the form of David S. Pumpkins (Tom Hanks). He’s “his own thang,” and the skeletons are “part of it.” Any questions? 

Stream SNL Season 42

2. A Girl’s Halloween 

The girlies (Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, and Vanessa Bayer) are gonna keep it “so chill” this year. Except they can’t, because it’s Halloween. Jump back and forth in time with our brave heroines as they face all the horrors of a messy night out.  

Stream SNL Season 42

3. Weekend Update: Stefon on Halloween’s Hottest Tips 

Paging Sidney Applebaum. New York’s hottest club will always be the Update desk with Stefon (Bill Hader) behind it, and his Halloween escapades make for one of the character’s most spit-take-worthy outings.

Stream Stefon SNL Season 38

4. The Merryville Brothers: Haunted Castle 

Halloween sketch MVPs Tom Hanks and Bill Hader join Taran Killam and Bruno Mars as animatronic carnival workers. Truly excellent physical comedy and face acting abound.

Stream SNL Season 38

5. Chad Horror Movie 

What happens when Pete Davidson’s Chad is hunted by a serial killer (John Mulaney)? Not much, and that’s what makes this installment of Chad so beautiful. 

Stream SNL Season 44

6. A Frightening Tale 

SNL veteran Seth Meyers gathers ‘round the campfire with friends to tell the most fearsome tale of them all: Some guy with bad takes wants to “pick your brain” over coffee. Truly. Terrifying.  

Stream SNL Season 44 Episode 3

7. Twins 

This isn’t a Halloween sketch per se, but we think it’s earned its place on this list by virtue of involving creepy twins. John Krasinski plays a man being interviewed via video for a news program, and his children (Kate McKinnon and Mikey Day) begin a campaign of demonic mischief more unsettling than most horror films.  

Stream SNL Season 46

Want to laugh this Halloween season? Check out all scary and non-scary Halloween movies & TV shows Peacock has to offer!

Want to know who's on SNL? Find more information about the SNL Cast!