He may be synonymous with Christmas, but The Grinch totally hates Halloween too.
There are few pop culture curmudgeons more iconic than the Grinch, a Dr. Seuss creation who has come to life in the form of a children’s book, an animated special, a live-action movie and a Broadway musical, with a brand new animated film headed our way this November. With his termite smile and trademark green fur, the Grinch is essentially a kid-friendly Krampus, an anti-Claus who wants nothing more than to spoil the joy of the holiday season. For you. For me. For everyone. But particularly, for all those adorable Whos down in Whoville.
Introduced in 1957 and brought to life in 1966’s animated special (where he was voiced by horror icon Boris Karloff), the Grinch is of course most known for stealing Christmas, a holiday that he’s become as synonymous with as Santa Claus himself. But there’s a noteworthy part of the Grinch’s history that time has largely forgotten. And though red and green are the colors he’s most often paired with, one mustn’t forget that he also tangled with orange and black.
Yes, the Grinch and his dog Max once upon a time starred in their very own Halloween special, which aired on October 29th of 1977!
The first Dr. Seuss special to air on ABC, Halloween is Grinch Night served as an 11-years-later sequel to the How the Grinch Stole Christmas! animated special, and in it the Grinch once again set his sights on ruining the holidays for the Whos.
Though the word Halloween is never mentioned in the special – which is probably why it was re-titled Grinch Night on home video – it’s immediately clear that ‘Grinch Night’ is the term used in place of Halloween, in the land of Whoville. On this night, a sour/sweet wind marks the impending arrival of the Grinch, who comes down from his mountaintop abode to wreak havoc on the otherwise peaceful Whoville.
An obvious attempt to capitalize on the massive success of the Grinch’s Christmas special, his Halloween special also featured a giant carriage that Max is forced to pull up a steep hill, with the sleigh this time around being replaced with what’s referred to as the “paraphernalia wagon.” Rather than being full of stolen presents, the wagon is essentially a Pandora’s Box of evil shit, loaded with monstrous entities that the Grinch aims on unleashing into Whoville.
If you saw this special as a kid and still have nightmares about that hellscape, I don’t blame you.
After being swept up in the harsh Autumn winds on a trip to the outhouse, it’s up to young Euchariah to prevent the Grinch from carrying out his sinister plan and save the day.
Does the Grinch’s small heart grow three sizes on Grinch Night, as it did on Christmas? Does Euchariah save Whoville, before it’s too late? You’ll have to watch this trippy and oftentimes nightmarish animated special to find out.
Check out Halloween is Grinch Night below, a forgotten piece of history that’s just begging to be rediscovered. If you’re not in the Halloween spirit after these 26 minutes are up, then I’m afraid there’s just no hope for you…
*A version of this article was originally published on Halloween Love*