Batman: The Animated Series earns its status as an all-time classic in part because of the sheer variety of tones and genres it touches. Beneath its distinctive film noir version of Gotham City, it explores all kinds of stories, from comedy to romance to gothic horror to science fiction. Yet, they're all still Batman stories, and its universe remains effortlessly cohesive.
Naturally, it also includes more than a few episodes suitable for Halloween. Bruce Wayne's gothic alter-ego makes a great fit for the season, and Batman: The Animated Series delivers a terrific batch of both monstrous villains and genuinely unsettling storylines. Below is a list of the 10 best, along with a special memorable mention for one very scary clown.
11 Honorable Mention
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Justice Leage Season 1, Episode 22 "Wild Cards, Part 2"
While Mark Hamill's immortal Joker is always menacing, his antics in The Animated Series tend to stick to his funnier side. The show didn't have the leverage to really push the envelope early on. It keeps The Clown Prince of Crime buttoned down in the horror department.
That changes in the conclusion to Justice League Season 1, Episode 22 "Wild Cards, Part 2." In the episode, the Joker comes within a hair of making the entire human population lose its mind thanks to the psychic powers of Ace. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker eclipses this idea with a horrifying flashback, in which the Joker mentally tortures Tim Drake into becoming his brainwashed "son." The remainder of the film is largely sci-fi action, but the former Robin's fate is unforgettably horrific.
10 Chemistry
Season 3, Episode 21
Poison Ivy makes a surprisingly durable mad scientist in Batman: The Animated Series, and her various plant-based creations are routinely the stuff of nightmares. "Chemistry" gives her a new angle on one of her old schemes: creating "perfect" mates for Gotham's wealthy in order to murder them and take control of their fortunes. Naturally they're all floral horrors underneath.
That pays dividends as Ivy targets Bruce Wayne, who figures out the scheme on his honeymoon cruise. While her sentient seaweed tries to crush the ship like a sea monster, the Bat Family battles Ivy's minions with herbicides that cause them to melt. It comes on top of similar earlier moments, such as when Ivy literally rips the skin off of one of her creations.
9 Critters
Season 3, Episode 16
"Critters" isn't generally considered a classic, but it definitely carries strong vibes for the spooky season. It introduces an original villain, Farmer Brown, who genetically engineers giant farm animals in hopes of curing the world's food shortage. When the courts ban his experiments for being too dangerous, he unleashes a horde of monstrous livestock on Gotham.
The plot is fairly straightforward, and the villain -- while amusing -- doesn't have much long-term sustainability. The real joy lies in the monsters themselves: creepy, menacing, and presenting a one-of-a-kind challenge for the Bat Family. Kaiju fans and lovers of giant bug movies will find a lot to enjoy.
8 8. Eternal Youth
Season 1, Episode 15
Not every character in The Animated Series is a hit, including an aborted love interest for Alfred named Maggie Paige. "Eternal Youth" sends them both to a day spa, which is unfortunately run by Poison Ivy. The villain then uses an "eternal youth" formula to turn her victims into trees. Alfred and Maggie take Bruce Wayne's invitation, and end up joining her "haunted grove."
"Eternal Youth" goes for the creepy vibe right away, as one of Ivy's victims tries vainly to escape her. The living trees are suitably horrific without violence or bloodshed. While Maggie doesn't last long in the series, her initial outing with Batman gives one of his greatest villains a proper showcase. It wouldn't be the last time Ivy pulled something terrifying out of her bag of tricks.
7 Feat of Clay, Parts 1 and 2
Season 1, Episodes 5 and 6
Clayface has a long and tangled history in the comics, stretching back to the days of Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Four different villains using the title actually teamed up in the Mud Pack storyline just a few years before Batman: The Animated Series began. For its version of the character, the show creates a single amalgamation of all of them: actor Matt Hagen is fed an overdose of experimental age cream that turns him into a monster.
Ron Perlman voices Hagen as every bit the awful person he is on the inside that he becomes on the outside. His status as a sentient sludge makes him disturbing to the extreme. "Feat of Clay" milks that during the conclusion, when Batman forces him to lose control by playing his numerous movie performances all at once. The screaming Hagan melts into a blob of ever-changing features before seemingly electrocuting himself in a moment of pure David Cronenberg body horror.
6 Moon of the Wolf
Season 1, Episode 36
While some episodes of The Animated Series are genuinely scary, "Moon of the Wolf" thrives more on a spooky antagonist (a werewolf) than any specifically creepy content. That said, it takes full advantage of the opportunity, with a new character straight out of Universal sprouting hair and fangs thanks to a formula from Professor Milo.
The results are an affectionate homage to classic lycanthrope movies, and indeed, the title comes from a not-at-all-bad 1970s TV movie. It even makes Batman a potential horror movie victim: bound and helpless with a raging monster threatening to disembowel him. He wins, as always, by reasoning that a physical fight with such a brute force ends only one way.
5 Avatar
Season 2, Episode 3
Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia routinely go poking in some of the DC Universe's darker corners with unsettling ease. Even more so with their access to Lazarus Pits. "Avatar" makes them both pay the piper, as Ra's seeks an ancient Egyptian queen who holds the secrets of life and death. This culminates with him reaching his goal, only to find a very angry mummy waiting for him.
Once again, the series reveals its fondness for classic movies, as the horror comes with its fair share of swashbuckling adventure. It also shows Bruce and Talia on the same side for once as they try to stop Ra's from unleashing something he can't control. A trio of fantastic guest stars tops it off, as the late Nichelle Nichols joins David Warner and Helen Slater in the credits.
4 The Demon Within
Season 3, Episode 10
Etrigan the Demon is built for Halloween, and he appears for the first time outside the comics in "The Demon Within." Billy Zane voices both him and Jason Blood as they cross swords with Klarion the Witch Boy, who also makes his animated debut. The Bat Family gets involved when a relic from Morgan Le Fay splits the two and puts the Demon under Klarion's control.
The episode focuses more on Blood than Etrigan (and it largely ignores the latter's signature rhyming dialogue), but the pair make natural additions to the Diniverse's Gotham. Black magic takes a turn in the spotlight, and puts Batman out of his comfort zone as he faces two powerful enemies on their terms. That lets the series revel in the occult trappings, while slowly bringing Batman into what would soon become a much larger DC Universe.
3 Dreams in Darkness
Season 1, Episode 31
Batman's rogues gallery is full of terrifying figures, but the Scarecrow knows how to get him where he sleeps. Scarecrow's early appearance in The Animated Series struggled with visual design, with his soft reboot in Season 3 doing wonders on that front. However, his best episode comes at the end of Season 1 with "Dreams in Darkness." A blast of fear gas lands Batman in Arkham Asylum where he must confront his nightmares even as Professor Crane plots to gas the city.
The same loose plot is used for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, which speaks volumes about its effectiveness. But the episode's real power lies in the exploration of Bruce's demons -- specifically the night his parents died -- while trying vainly to convince the Arkham staff that he's not mentally unstable. It was a sign that the series had far more than children's entertainment on its mind, and was willing to go where other superhero cartoons wouldn't dare.
2 House & Garden
Season 2, Episode 1
Poison Ivy's creepiest scheme arrives as a genuine effort to reform. Released from Arkham Asylum, she seemingly establishes a new life with a handsome doctor and his two sons. Naturally she has something more up her leafy green sleeve. Most of the episode plays like a mystery, as eligible bachelors are being poisoned and Ivy's apparent innocence leaves Batman baffled.
The finale, however, turns into Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style horror, as Ivy's "happy family" turns out to be the product of genetically modified seed pods. It conjures a cornucopia of Giger-esque horrors, including veiny plant babies, monstrously distorted hitmen, and bodies that collapse screaming into puddles of biogenetic goo. Worst of all is Ivy's unhinged belief that it's all perfectly normal, and that she's just living the American dream on her terms.
1 1. Over the Edge
Season 3, Episode 11
Technically, the Scarecrow doesn't appear in "Over the Edge" save a single brief scene. He remains the villain of the episode regardless, as a gassed Barbara Gordon envisions a Gotham where she's been killed and her father ruthlessly hunts the remainder of the Bat Family into extinction. It's all a hallucination, but the narrative freedom lets the episode go darker than anyone expected.
It's all too easy to believe that Jim Gordon would lose his bearings upon the death of his daughter, and the ruthless efficiency with which he prosecutes his war on Batman is more than even the Caped Crusader can handle. Gotham's underworld laughs through it all, ready to claim the city when its two champions finish destroying each other. The plausibility of it all is enough to unsettle even the biggest Batman fan.