Saturday Night Live presents the best in comedy, from comedic monologues to sketches and, if audiences are lucky, improvisation (usually when a sketch goes wrong). Every season, the nation’s wackiest and most versatile comedians write and perform their own sketches about topics including politics, pop culture moments (yes, even TikTok), and holidays!
Every Halloween weekend, the cast of SNL delivers a spooky and equally-hilarious show with some iconic sketches. There’s usually a compilation of the best Halloween sketches that also airs!
'Haunted Elevator'
In perhaps SNL’s most revered Halloween-themed sketch, “Haunted Elevator” follows a couple as they ride a scare elevator at a fictional “100 Floors of Frights” haunted house. Every floor is spooky: a ghostly bride, a severed head, and…David S. Pumpkins?
Tom Hanks is the iconic David S. Pumpkins, a man in a pimp-y jack-o-lantern suit with two dancing skeleton boys. He returns countless times throughout the sketch (much to the audience’s delight), and even spooks the couple at the end! Any questions?
'A Scary Story on Halloween'
A Chris Farley sketch from SNL in 1993, “A Scary Story on Halloween” begins with a father scolding his children for misbehaving and announcing he has hired someone to set them straight. Matt Foley, the man to set them straight, saunters in and begins to hound them.
Matt Foley is absolutely hilarious, and Farley excels in this type of character. He tells them a scary story and even body slams into a table. Just all around so funny!
'Garth and Kat Sing Halloween Songs'
Garth (Fred Armisen) and Kat (Kristen Wiig), a notorious duo of acclaimed songwriters (that tend to do most of their songwriting live on air) return for a Halloween special.
In their orange Halloween sweater vests, they perform a variety of songs including “Halloween Party, “Kids, Don’t Smoke Fake Cigarettes Because—You know—Every Time People See You and They Think You're an Adult They Think It’s the Most Unhealthy Thing Ever in This Town or Any Town,” and “The Wackiest Witch.” Spooktacular hits only!
'Chad Horror Movie'
“Chad Horror Movie” consists of the first-ever appearance of Pete Davidson’s famous “Chad” character. In this sketch, Chad sits watching TV. The phone rings, and a murderer to the likes of Scream is on the other side.
Chad, a not-so-smart and, frankly, uninterested man goes about his business as a masked murderer attempts to murder him. But the murderer quickly becomes the murderee when he tries to strike Chad down—watch and find out!
'Close Encounter'
“Close Encounter” is one of SNL’s most well-known and well-loved sketches to date. The story is not necessarily Halloween-themed but can be grouped in with Halloween sketches for the content material. In the sketch, 2 NSA agents interview 3 individuals who experience the first verified case of alien abduction.
2 of them describe a soothing, brightly-lit experience while the other (played by the remarkable Kate McKinnon) has a bit of a different story to tell. This sketch was so well-loved that they wrote multiple “Close Encounter” sketches and even wrote one for Aidy Bryant and McKinnon’s last episode.
'Headless Horseman'
John Mulaney is the legendary Ichabod Crane in this sketch. Ichabod is walking through a foggy forest when the Headless Horseman approaches, and things get a bit frisky. Ichabod grows curious about the severed head’s uses, and a once grim tale transforms into something increasingly sexual.
William (played by Davidson), enters and then also has a few inappropriate questions for the Headless Horseman. And another friend enters. The sketch spirals into insanity as more and more questions are asked, and the audience absolutely adored it.
'The Clinton’s Halloween Party'
In a sketch from 2007, Amy Poehler and Darrell Hammond play Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton as they host a Halloween party. More cast members enter playing famous Democratic candidates until one particular guest arrives.
The character is in a Barack Obama mask, and takes it off to reveal that underneath is the real Obama! The crowd was shocked, and Obama’s surprise appearance in an SNL sketch was an iconic point in SNL history. And, he got to say, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
'Haunted House'
“Haunted House” parodies some of the intense ghost-hunting shows that spice up their investigation with spooky voices and those night-vision cameras that wash them out. As the team enters a bedroom, they hear a noise on the machine that they believe to be a gassy ghost.
They replay it over and over, and try to deduce what it could be, while the leader (and the dealer) tries to change the subject. Sometimes bathroom humor can be funny!
'A Girl’s Halloween'
“A Girl’s Halloween” is a pre-recorded sketch about a few girls (Bryant, Cecily Strong, and Vanessa Bayer) that go out on the town for Halloween.
The sketch jumps back and forth from the present where they are preparing to go out and have a great time to the future where they are drunk and screaming at each other in the middle of the street. This sketch works so well because the humor is just a hair from reality!
'Spooky Song'
Chance the Rapper and a group of ghosts perform a spooky song in a graveyard all about how they died—from sharks to dynamite.
When Chance’s character arrives, he explains that his death was a little out-of-the-ordinary. Without explaining too much detail, Chance’s death was a bit…shocking!