On Monday I covered a Halloween highlight from a book/movie. Today I’ll be covering my favorite Halloween special from a TV show.

Pretty Little Liars

Unlike the Harry Potter book series and movie adaptations, the Pretty Little Liars book series and TV show are not close enough to do a comparison. So, I will only discuss the TV show for this particular post. Specifically Season 2 Episode 13: “The First Secret.” This episode is the Halloween special for season 2. But before we dive deeper, a quick summary of the series for those who have never seen it.

Pretty Little Liars is about four teenage girls dealing with the disappearance of their best friend and leader, Alison DiLarentis. Each young woman has at least one scandalous secrets that only Alison knows. A year after Alison’s disappearance, they start receiving notes, text messages, and emails from an anonymous person (“A”) who knows the same secrets Alison does. The girls spend episode after episode trying to figure out who A is, prevent their secrets from spreading, and trying to figure out what happened to Alison. 

“The First Secret” is unique because it is a prequel to the pilot episode. It’s also entirely from Alison’s point of view. Up until this episode, any scene with Alison was a memory that belonged to Aria, Spencer, Emily, or Hannah. This episode holds information the four main characters don’t know. 

It’s Halloween, and the five main characters are going to a high school costume party. Even as a grown woman in her thirties, I still love dressing up for Halloween. Every year my husband and I match. Alison dresses up as Lady Gaga, Hanna as Britney Spears, Emily as Pocahantas, Spencer as Mary Queen of Scots, and Aria as a witch. Prior to Halloween day – and the party – Alison gives viewers a glimpse of two important details: the beginning of her issues with Jenna, and the knowledge that A existed long before Alison disappeared. 

Jenna’s family moved in just before Halloween, and she is invited to the Halloween party. She is buying a Lady Gaga costume, and Alison tells her not to because that’s who she is going as. Jenna says she’ll think about it, but “disobeys” Alison anyway. Alison overlooks this problem and offers Jenna her friendship and promises popularity. Jenna declines, making Alison angry. And the rivalry between the two begins – which we know will “end” with Alison setting off some sort of firework that causes Jenna to go blind. 

A was tormenting Alison long before they targeted Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily. In this episode, Alison gets a text from a blocked number that says, “I’m watching you. – A” During the party she gets a text that says, “Dying to know who I am? You’ll soon find out. – A” 

In between the two texts, Alison plays a prank on her girlfriends that goes too well. She texts them that she’s in trouble and needs their help. The girls go running to help her in a creepy house that had been highlighted earlier in the episode. They find Alison who claims someone locked her in there under threat of death. In an attempt to get cell phone service, they get separated from Alison, who gets locked in the room with a masked man. Alison and the man fight. Alison becomes confused as the man is fighting harder than he is “supposed to.” When Alison and the girls meet up again, she tells them it was a prank and the masked aggressor was their classmate Noel Kahn.

When they return to the party, Noel apologizes for not being able to make it to the prank. Alison then realizes that whoever fought her in the house was actually fighting her. This leads the viewer to believe that whoever attacked Alison in the house is A. 

The reason why I love this episode and added it to my series of favorite fictional Halloweens is first, and foremost, the costumes. I love how much effort the costume designers put into these special episodes in Pretty Little Liars, and they did not disappoint for this one. The second reason is the trope of the prankster becoming the one pranked. While Alison did succeed in scaring her friends, she also received her own fright from A and other classmates who despised her. Alison definitely reminds viewers to be careful who you harm, you never know who will bite back. 

Check back on Friday for part 3 of my favorite fictional Halloweens!

Halloween is the best holiday ever. From cutesy blow-up decorations to haunted houses, almost everyone’s interests can be met. My home decorations are themed around traditional Halloween characters: witches, ghosts, bats, and black cats mixed in with my Harry Potter obsession. (You can watch a virtual tour on tiktok here.)

Halloween specials on TV shows, highlighting Halloween in books, and full length movies all about Halloween complete my entertainment for October each year. So, I would like to share with you my favorite fictional Halloweens.

First: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Chapter 10 Halloween in the Sorcerer’s Stone is the best Halloween in the Harry Potter series. 

Let’s start with the decorations. A thousand live bats bewitched to flutter near the walls and ceiling, and a thousand more bewitched to swoop over the tables. Have you ever experienced a cauldron (yes, that’s really what they’re called) of bats flying right above you? There was an alcove in my first apartment that a cauldron of wild bats had chosen for their home. The landlord either didn’t know or didn’t care because for the two years I lived there, an exterminator was never called. I actually really enjoyed hearing and seeing them as the sun set.

We also know that the Great Hall is filled with carved pumpkins and lit with candles. The movie gives us a more advanced visual. The jack-o-lanterns are floating, the ceiling is dark with thunder and lightning, and the tables are full of apple and pumpkin desserts and other candies in fall colors. This is exactly the sort of holiday party that I would love to host, but alas, I do not have the culinary and decorating skills to do so. 

In that same chapter, a more important part to the plot would be the  

What J.K. Rowling does with this scene is something I am practicing myself as a new writer. At this point in the book, Harry – and the reader – are still learning about magic, Hogwarts, and the wizarding world. So, when Hermione is correcting Ron’s “Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa” in charms class, Harry and the reader (at least, for our first time reading it) don’t yet realize that we are being set up for an important plot point. Ron’s loud complaints about Hermione send her to the bathroom to cry; which is where the troll ends up. 

There are some small detail changes between book and film. In the book, Harry and Ron see Snape going off on his own to the third floor (where the three headed dog is), then they see the troll walk into a room. They lock the door, only to hear Hermione scream from within the room. In the movie, they simply follow the troll into the bathroom. Harry and Ron attempt to fight the troll, with Ron being the victor as he chants “Wingardium Leviosa!” correctly, crashing the troll’s own club on its head.

“But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, pg. 179 

Once again, the book and movie go in different paths at this point; but the main idea is Harry eventually figures out that while the students were rushing to the dormitories, and the teachers were rushing to the dungeons, Severus Snape went to the third floor and was bitten on the leg by Fluffy (Hagrid’s three headed dog). This leads Harry to investigate, deduce that the Sorcerer’s Stone is being guarded by Fluffy, and Snape must want it for himself or Voldemort. All of this happened because Hermione angered Ron, and Ron insulted her in return. 

I know what you’re thinking, “I figured this out the first time I read it, why are you pointing it out to me over twenty years later?” Well, I appreciate it more now that I’ve attempted it myself. Making a seemingly benign moment full of important hints that the reader will remember later takes a lot of careful thought, planning, and at least a dozen rewrites.

This scene in the Sorcerer’s Stone will remain a favorite for me for the rest of my life. In fact, it inspired my classroom door decorations for this year. And maybe one day I will host a party that spectacular – or maybe on of my future characters will.

Check back in on Wednesday evening for Part 2 of my Favorite Fictional Halloweens.