10 Best Scooby-Doo Mysteries To Watch Around Halloween, Ranked

Image via Warner Bros. Animation Published Sep 30, 2026, 5:12 PM EDT Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain, was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family. Sign in to your Collider account Spooky season is nearly here, folks, and the best way to prepare for Halloween is undoubtedly with some Scooby-Doo. There are plenty of great Scooby projects out there worth revisiting this fall, from classic cartoons like Scooby-Doo! Where Are You? and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated to the popular live-action films to even "The Scooby Project" short that you can still find on YouTube. But whichever your preferred method, movies or shows, we've put together some Halloween-themed Scooby-Doo mysteries for you. What's great about Scooby-Doo is that there has always been something for everyone. Be it the older, more traditional cartoons with fake costumed monsters or newer installments where the specters and ghosts are real, there's always a mystery to be solved somewhere. Fortunately for you, here are some of the best fall-themed Scooby installments out there, from direct-to-video features to standalone episodes of your favorite show. 10 ‘Scooby-Doo! and the Ghoul School’ (1988) A feature-length Scooby adventure, this one follows Shaggy (Casey Kasem), Scooby, and Scrappy-Doo (Don Messick) as they become the new gym teachers for an all-girls school of monsters. Really. Scooby-Doo! and the Ghoul School briefly touches on Halloween with the young monsters as Shaggy and the dogs try to keep them out of the multiple hands of an evil witch who aims to bring them under her bidding. This was a bit of a strange time in Scooby history where Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy starred in several made-for-TV movies, including Scooby-Doo! and the Boo Brothers and Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf (both excellent accompaniments to this one). As one of the spookiest Scooby cases out there, Ghoul School is loads of fun for younger viewers — even if Mirror Monster Shaggy is a bit terrifying. 9 “The Headless Horseman of Halloween” (‘The Scooby-Doo Show’) Season 1, Episode 5 Image via ABC What do you get when you combine Scooby-Doo with one of America's earliest folktales? You get "The Headless Horseman of Halloween," that's what. The Scooby-Doo Show is one of the longer-running Scooby-Doo shows, and this episode follows the gang as they encounter a — you guessed it — Headless Horseman on Halloween! Although, he's not fully headless since he does wear a jack-o-lantern on his head. As one of a small handful of episodes featuring the short-lived Scooby-Dum (Alan Oppenheimer) alongside Scooby and the gang, this mystery is sort of an obvious one, but it's still fun for folks who love "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Even if there are better riffs on the Washington Irving short story out there, there's never been one quite like this Scooby tale. At 22 minutes, it's a Halloween no-brainer! 8 “Halloween” (‘Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!’) Season 2, Episode 7 Image via Cartoon Network Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! is a more recent take that wasn't as well-received as some of its predecessors (it's certainly on the lower end of the highest ranked Scooby-Doo shows), but it had its moments along the way. "Halloween" may not be a novel mystery, but it's a fun episode that highlights one of the gang's most underappreciated members: Fred (Frank Welker). Haunted by a witch from his youth, the gang vows to solve a mystery that has stuck with him from a Halloween long ago. According to Fred, it's impossible for him to solve a mystery on Halloween because everyone wears a mask. So, the gang sets out to trap the Baba Yaga, leading to the witch's home in the woods. The art style is a bit of a departure from typical Scooby fare, but "Halloween" is best watched around, well, you know. 7 “Ghost Who’s Coming to Dinner” (‘A Pup Named Scooby-Doo’) Season 1, Episode 10 Image via ABC A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was certainly a product of its time. Back in the '80s, re-imagining classic cartoon characters into babies or toddlers was all the rage for some reason (though the trend continues in some forms today). Either way, this Scooby series was a hoot, and "Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner" is one of those Halloween-themed episodes that's always worth revisiting. When the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency are hired by a ghost to solve a mystery surrounding a haunted house, there's no better pup to call than Scooby-Doo. "Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner" strikes a fun balance between real ghosts and villains in elaborate costumes and masks. It follows the typical Pup Named Scooby-Doo pattern, but with a spectral twist to keep things festive. Plus, it's fun seeing the gang all dressed up for the occasion. 6 ‘Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!’ (2020) Image via Warner Bros. Animation One of the few Halloween-themed Scooby movies — in 2020, Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! hit the direct-to-video market with a Scooby-flavored comedic take on the horror genre (very light horror, by the way, as in, kids can definitely still watch). Along with Scooby and the gang, it featured none other than Cassandra Peterson as her iconic persona "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark." That alone will no doubt get some folks interested. As the Mystery Inc. gang seeks to save Crystal Cove from a new threat, Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! doubles as a soft DC Comics crossover as Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow (Dwight Schultz), plays a role in the holiday antics. That's right, the same Scarecrow known for battling none other than Batman himself. While the Dark Knight doesn't appear (though there are plenty of great Batman/Scooby-Doo crossovers out there), this is the sort of Halloween special that'll make you forgive that oversight. 5 “A Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle” (‘The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries’) Season 1, Episode 8 Image via ABC For another classic Scooby-Doo mystery that speaks to the fall festivities, consider "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle." This episode of The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries feels like a slight homage to Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? classics like "Hassle in the Castle" and "A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts," but it's very much its own thing. Well, sort of. It also doubles as a Scooby-inspired take on the classic Universal Monsters. When the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency arrives at a Halloween party, they come unprepared to meet with the group of monsters awaiting them. It's a whole "Monster Mash" full of spooky fiends that Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy, and the gang have to evade here, including Dracula and his bride, Wolfman, Frankenstein's Monster, Gil-Man, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man. Of course, this time the monsters are in need of saving, as the Ghost of Dr. Van Helsing (voiced by the uber-talented Phil Hartman) haunts their little gathering. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another. ⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World) 💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth) ⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away) 🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier) FIND YOUR PEOPLE → 01 What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one. AThe same thing I have watched a hundred times. BSomething long, slow and beautiful. CSomething big and loud with a great score. DOne clever episode of something hopeful. NEXT QUESTION → 02 How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends. AI know every character and all the gossip. BI have read the appendices and studied the maps. CI have a ranked opinion on every instalment. DI want to know how the world actually works. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years. AWhich one of us is which type. BWhether the adaptation got it right. CWhether the new stuff ruined the old stuff. DWhether the right thing was actually done. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room. AGreat, and I will know everybody by the end. BFine, as long as they take it seriously. CBrilliant, especially if there is something to dress up for. DHappy, provided the conversation is interesting. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget. AAn old castle somewhere rainy. BMountains, long walks, no phone signal. CA desert with an unbelievable night sky. DA city built around a university. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree. AMost of them turn out better than expected. BThe smallest ones decide the biggest things. CAnybody can change, even very late on. DWe work it out if we keep talking. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer. AEverything I owned when I was twelve. BHardbacks, in order, read more than once. CFigures, posters, and a few things still boxed. DBooks about how things work, plus a model or two. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom. AA place I can go back to whenever I need it. BA world complete enough to get lost in. CSomething huge I can share with everybody. DAn idea that changes how I think. REVEAL MY FANDOM → Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week. Harry PotterYou belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you. You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped. This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be. The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love. The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again. Lord of the RingsYou belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture. You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it. This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that. Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes. Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument. Star WarsYou belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity. You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that. Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution. The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy. You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time. Star TrekYou belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done. You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better. The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else. Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar. You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 4 “A Scooby-Doo Halloween” (‘What’s New, Scooby-Doo?’) Season 2, Episode 4 Image via Cartoon Network Speaking of all dressed up, What's New, Scooby-Doo? gave its own Halloween-themed episode a go with the aptly-titled "A Scooby-Doo Halloween." Between the pumpkin-headed scarecrows and a strange appearance by the rock band KISS (which, funny enough, was not their only crossover with the Mystery Inc. gang), this spook-tastic Scooby special is everything you'd want in a Halloween-centric episode of the show. Although, there are a few more robots than you're probably expecting. "A Scooby-Doo Halloween" contains plenty of groovy homages to Scooby shows and movies of yesteryear (and several other pop culture references as well — it is Halloween, after all), but makes it all work with the program's typical wild and wacky antics. Its classic Scooby updated for the 21st century, and with a performance of "Shout It Out Loud" by KISS, who can beat that? Oddly enough, this isn't even the only Halloween special that KISS headlined around that time, but that's another article entirely. 3 ‘Scooby-Doo! on Zombie Island’ (1998) Image via Warner Bros. Animation The first in Warner Bros. Animation's long-running wave of direct-to-video Scooby features, Scooby-Doo! On Zombie Island is arguably among the best of them. While there's nothing about the plot itself that demands a Halloween-centric watch, it was originally released a month before Halloween back in '98, so many of us still have fond, festive memories of watching it around October 31st. When the gang reunites to investigate a mysterious haunting down in Louisiana, they discover that sometimes the monsters are real. Scooby-Doo! On Zombie Island is a madhouse of Scooby-themed spooks and surprises. First-time viewers will be more frightened than they thought they could from a Scooby-Doo animated flick, but that's part of why we remember it so fondly. It's a foundational moment in Scooby history that doubles as a true haunt to all who grew up with it — which sounds about perfect for Halloweentime. When ranked against all other Scooby-Doo movies, Zombie Island consistently comes out on top. 2 ‘Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King’ (2008) Image via Warner Bros. Set on Halloween itself, Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King broke the brand's multi-film streak of monsters in masks (there was a moment there where none of the monsters were real) by thrusting Scooby, Shaggy, and the gang into a dark fantasy musical adventure. Yes, this one is a musical, and as Scooby and Shaggy brave the fairy underworld in hopes of preventing doom and gloom upon the Earth, they encounter the titular Goblin King (Tim Curry), who is not a creature to be trifled with. As one of the best animated movies to watch this Halloween, Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King is a musical triumph that deserves high praise for being the first Scooby feature made without either William Hanna or Joseph Barbera. Since most Scooby-Doo flicks have gone back to the "creeps in masks" formula, this one is a refreshing outlier that fully embraces the supernatural. Sure, it's really weird, but the very best Scooby adventures typically are! 1 ‘Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost’ (1999) Perhaps no animated Scooby-Doo movie is most vital once the seasons begin to change as Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost. A powerful second entry in the direct-to-video line of Scooby films, the gang follows Stephen King-like author Ben Ravencroft (another classic Tim Curry performance) to his New England hometown just as a witch shows up to cause some trouble. Of course, there's more to this small-town mystery than meets the eye, and the big twist is one you won't see coming... Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost is a haunting flick best revisited around Halloween for the same reason as Zombie Island: it was purposely released in the fall! Between the October festivities and the costumed spooks prowling around, Witch's Ghost has everything a Scooby fan could ask for. It's also just one of the most memorable Tim Curry movies period.