It's that time of the year when we relive our favorite Halloween episodes from our comfort shows. The Office still maintains its status as one of the best comedy series to air. Its holiday episodes are no different. Years after the series concluded, loyal fans continue to rewatch the shenanigans surrounding Dunder Mifflin's office parties. It's the Halloween season again, meaning fans will dress up as their favorite salesmen, accountants, and regional manager from the show in their best and worse moments.
The Office provides the perfect inspiration for a TV character to dress as this year for Halloween, and the show featured some great and hilarious costumes as well. The series produced six Halloween episodes over its nine seasons. They can be found streaming on Peacock as "Halloween" (season 2, episode 5), "Employee Transfer" (season 5, episode 6), "Koi Pond" (season 6, episode 8—the original scene was cut from Netflix), "Costume Contest" (season 7, episode 6), "Spooked" (season 8, episode 5), and "Here Comes Treble" (season 9, episode 5).
Pam as Charlie Chaplin
Pam's (Jenna Fischer) Halloween in New York did not go as planned. The dead giveaway should have been she was working at corporate, not for Michael Scott (Steve Carell): Pam dresses as Charlie Chaplin with no other employee dressing up. As a creative artist, Pam used grease paint for her mustache and eyebrows and even colored her hair darker. In her talking head, she says, "And I can't even take off my hat because then I'm Hitler."
The Halloween party episodes have yielded some entertaining costumes throughout the series, but Pam's takes the cake. We all felt her pain of showing up to work dressed up when no one else did, that stomach-drop feeling of having no way of fixing it and suffering through it.
Three Hole Punch Jim
The classic Jim (John Krasinski) solution to a minor problem. For the series' first Halloween episode (season two, episode five), audiences see the members of Dunder Mifflin Scranton dress their best for the occasion. By now, we know Jim to be sarcastic and a goof-off. We'd expect nothing less from his Halloween costume.
In an unintended poke at Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Jim does the bare minimum and places three black paper circles on his right side, becoming Three Hole Punch Jim. Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) finds it clever and entertaining. Dwight, clearly not impressed, attempts to get recognition for his Sith Lord Star Wars costume, but gets none, inspiring more distaste for his desk mate.
Dwight as Kerrigan
Just as elaborate as his final ReCyclops Earth Day or Belsnickle costume, Dwight wowed Dunder Mifflin with his cosplay dedication in season eight, episode five, "Spooked." Dwight arrives fully dressed as Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, from the StarCraft gaming franchise. He walks in knives and all but is quickly disarmed by Toby (Paul Lieberstein).
No one recognizes him, and everyone confuses him with many other ideas. Just when Dwight gives up hope, Robert California's (James Spader) son, Bert (David Mazouz), recognizes him, and the two bond over the franchise, even loading the game on the office computers.
Two-Headed Michael
Another costume favorite from the series' first Halloween episode is Michael and his second head. Definitely a costume that fits Michael's personality as a performer, he manages to pull off a well-crafted paper maché head that looks just like him. Like many things in The Office, the costume is a meta-commentary on Michael being Michael's biggest fan, with a head so big it might as well be two.
While Michael's costume is entertaining alongside the rest of the office members, he has the unfortunate task of firing someone by the end of the day. Downsizing had loomed over the Scranton branch since season one, but Michael waited until the last day of the month, ultimately firing Devon (Devon Abner) after being convinced by Creed (Creed Bratton).
Michael as MacGruber
Season seven's Halloween episode, "Costume Contest," is packed full of excellent costumes and, of course, Michael's drama. This year, Michael dressed as MacGruber (Will Forte). It's a perfect fit for the regional manager, given his love for comedy. His portrayal of the SNL sketch turned film is spot on and entertaining to watch.
This episode's costumes are more elaborate and pop-culture-themed as the office competes for a coupon book with a marketed savings value of over $15,000. Michael would end up changing his costume halfway through to impersonate Darryl (Craig Robinson), his coworkers upset Michael's drama ruins another party.
Kelly as Katy Perry
Another costume contest contestant, Kelly (Mindy Kaling), goes above and beyond for her pop-star costume. Dressed as Katy Perry, Kelly is bright and bubbly (well, beyond her normal self), complete with a green wig and cotton-candy-esque dress. She, too, vies for the savings book, arguably doing a couples costume with Ryan (B.J. Novak) as he dresses like pop-sensation Justin Bieber. They are a pair of music icons in the same year.
In her talking head, Kelly admits she voted for Oscar since she couldn't vote for herself. While she didn't win the contest, we applaud her effort to hit Party City or Spirit Halloween to find the pieces for this look. As always, Kelly goes above and beyond regarding her love for pop culture.
Creed as...Creed?
There's never a dull moment when Creed steps in for a talking head scene. In earlier seasons, Creed always dresses for the occasion, even doubling as The Dark Knight's Joker with Dwight and Kevin (Brian Baumgartner). Our forever favorite costume of his is one that (apparently) wasn't a costume at all.
In the final Halloween episode (season nine, episode five), Creed is found enjoying the Halloween party wearing the normal business attire but spattered in red paint (or blood). A fan-favorite quotable line ensues when he sits in for a talking head. Creed, with eerie relief, says, "It's Halloween. That's really, really convenient." We never get any other explanation.
Pam Beesley as Olive Oil
Besides the Charlie Chaplin attempt, this is one of Pam's top costumes. During "Costume Contest," Pam dresses as the classic cartoon character Olive Oil. She is missing her Popeye as audiences (and Pam) now recognize Jim's general dislike for Halloween. At one point, Dwight confuses her costume as an attempt to dress up as his mother.
Throughout the episode, Halpert's struggle with Pam's old flame Danny Cordray (Timothy Olyphant) and how their minimal dating experience truly ended. Jim sees how discouraged Pam is when Danny admits he thought she was dorky and didn't call her back. To show her how much she's loved, he dressed as Popeye with their daughter as a can of spinach.
Nellie as Toby
A character that indeed rode the rollercoaster of ups and downs through Dunder Mifflin, one of Nellie's highs, comes in the series' final Halloween episode in season nine. In episode five, "Here Comes Treble," Nellie (Catherine Tate) dresses as the infamous Toby Flenderson. This is a Halloween favorite for its clever charm, not as brilliant as Jim and Dwight's season three cold open.
While not one of the most awkward confrontations, it's in the running; Toby realizes that Nellie has mimicked his style and seems flattered and romanced. He slowly moves in as if to kiss Nellie but scurries off to the annex when she doesn't reciprocate.
Gabe as Lady Gaga
By far the most awkward character to join Dunder Mifflin/Sabre, Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods) hit a home run in season seven with his portrayal of Lady Gaga. Gabe competed with the crew for the highly coveted Scranton-area coupon book (worth over $15,000 in savings).
He strutted the runway to "The Monster Mash" but ended up losing out to Oscar (Oscar Martinez) and his "rational consumer" costume. Gabe, as the famous pop star, is a fan favorite, for it was impossible to take him seriously in the conference room meeting he tried to lead.