Here at Pop Culture Spin we refuse to accept that Halloween is only one day. We’re going to be celebrating Halloween all month, by highlighting one of our favorite Halloween episodes every day. Today’s we’re looking at the Gravity Falls episode “Little Gift Shop of Horrors.”
Basic Info
Directed by: Stephen Sandoval
Written by: Shion Takeuchi, Matt Chapman & Alex Hirsch
Episode Number: Season 2, Episode 6
Where to Watch It: The Disney XD website
Why It’s Great
This Halloween special is an anthology episode of weird scary stories. In the opening, Grunkle Stan greets the viewer and gives him his introduction to the episode: “Well, hello there, traveler. I see your car broke down on this lonesome country road, a place so remote that no one can hear your screams. Pretend I didn’t say that. Come in, come in, but be warned: if you enter, you may be subjected to my tales… Tales designed to sell my merchandise!” He laughs maniacally but quickly explains, “Sorry. I was thinking about something funny I heard earlier.”
Why It’s Full of Halloween Spirit
Every Gravity Falls episode has plenty of supernatural creeps, but they really go for it in this episode with witch’s curses, a super-intelligent pig and stop-motion creatures that come to life.
They nail a silly-scary tone. When a witch removes Granule Stan’s hands in one of the stories, he finds her and tells her, “Now can I have my hands back? I have a certain gesture I’d like to share with you.”
Another story deals with Mabel’s fear of stop-motion animation. When she finds out that all stop-motion animation characters are actually real and life-size, she happily announces, “I’m scared twice as much now. But now I know it’s rational!”
The story where Mabel’s pig becomes hyper-intelligent (and is voiced by guest star Neil Degrasse Tyson) feels less Halloween-y but it is very sweet.
Costume Count
Sadly, there are no costumes in this one.
