Elaborate costumes, workplace tension and party planning drama were always something to look forward to in the Halloween episodes of The Office. The staff of Dunder Mifflin went out of their way to wear creative costumes for the office Halloween party, which made drama in the workplace even funnier than usual. With Halloween just around the corner, let’s take a look at the silliest episodes celebrating Spooky Season in The Office.
Season 2, “Halloween”
Season 2’s “Halloween” was the first Halloween-themed episode in the series. Michael (Steve Carrell) had been tasked with firing an employee and left it for Halloween because “it’s very scary stuff.” For most of the episode, he debated who he should fire and was even convinced by Creed (Creed Bratton) to fire someone else instead of him.
The costumes were not that creative in this episode but featured Two-Headed Michael, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) as Mr. Incredible and Kelly (Mindy Kaling) as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) leaned into his Sith Lord costume by attempting to sway Michael’s decision and get him to fire practically everyone in the office.
Season 9, “Here Comes Treble”
The Office‘s final Halloween episode featured many memorable costumes. Angela (Angela Kinsey) looked stunning as Nancy Reagan to match her husband’s costume. Meredith (Kate Flannery) dressed up as Black Widow, Pam (Jenna Fischer) as Dr. Cinderella and Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) wore a dinosaur costume to represent the Electoral College. Nellie’s (Catherine Tate) Sexy Toby costume was unforgettable, but Creed’s outfit was the most shocking as he was splattered in blood but hadn’t known that it was Halloween.
Andy (Ed Helms) had invited Cornell University’s a cappella group to perform at the Halloween party, so he dressed as George Michael in the hopes of joining their performance. The episode also featured a guest appearance by Stephen Colbert as Broccoli Rob, who kept upstaging Andy in his attempt to impress Here Comes Treble.
Season 5, “Employee Transfer”
The Halloween festivities were reduced to a cold open in Season 5. Inspired by The Dark Knight, there were three different versions of Heath Ledger’s Joker costume. Kevin’s look was the most understated, while Creed’s creepiness and Dwight’s eccentric impression of the Joker took their costumes to another level. Ryan, played by writer BJ Novak, was still trying to win Kelly back after his fall from grace and wore a slick Gordon Gekko look. However, a confused Kelly thought he was supposed to be the Geico gecko.
At this point in the series, Pam was enrolled in art school and was working part-time at Dunder Mifflin in New York. She went all out with a Charlie Chaplin costume, only to discover that no one dressed up for Halloween at the New York branch. Jim (John Krasinski), on the other hand, refused to dress up and just wore a nametag that said “Dave.”
Season 7, “Costume Contest”
Season 7 saw Pam hold a costume contest on Halloween, which led to a few outfit changes around the office. Kelly changed from a Snooki costume to a colorful Katy Perry-inspired look. This caused Angela to switch her penguin costume for a sexy nurse dress, hoping to increase her chances of winning the prize. Michael’s MacGruber costume allowed him to annoy everyone more than usual, but the standout in this episode was Gabe (Zach Woods), who wore a striking Lady Gaga costume.
This Halloween episode also brought up tension within the office, as everyone assumed that the presence of Danny Cordray (Timothy Oliphant) would upset Jim since Pam had gone on a date with him once. After finding out that Danny ghosted Pam for being too dorky, Jim decided to wear the Popeye costume she picked out to match her Olive Oyl one.
Season 8, “Spooked”
This episode of The Office took place during the Robert California (James Spader) reign and the Scranton branch was under pressure to impress him with their Halloween party. Erin (Ellie Kemper) had decorated the party for Halloween, but in an attempt to make it more mature she introduced adult-themed games and played one of Gabe’s gory homemade films. Robert spent his afternoon getting to know his employees, with a particular interest in their deepest fears. Once he had enough information, he improvised a short tale that incorporated each of their fears. The story frightened everyone enough to face their fears, just as Robert intended.
This was the most unsettling Halloween episode by far, but it missed out on the goofiness that came with Michael Scott’s excited and inappropriate behavior every Halloween. The costumes were impressive though, particularly Erin as the Wendy’s mascot and Dwight as Kerrigan from Starcraft.
Season 6, “Koi Pond”
The Office’s best Halloween cold open is also its most controversial. In “Koi Pond,” the Scranton branch hosted a haunted warehouse for children in the area. Darryl (Craig Robinson) took the kids around the warehouse and incorrectly described his colleagues’ costumes to them. The cold open was removed from streaming and syndication because the scene ended with Michael pretending to hang himself. It’s not unusual for Michael to cross a line like this, but the depiction of suicide was deemed too dark for a network sitcom.
The costumes in this episode were some of the most creative, with Kelly dressing as Leeloo from The Fifth Element and Dwight donning a Jigsaw costume. Creed and Ryan both dressed as vampires, but Creed wore a traditional Dracula costume while Ryan went for an Edward Cullen look. Jim’s costume was the most memorable though – he just wrote the word “book” on his face, and Darryl mistakenly identified him as Bookface.
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