The moment we’ve been waiting for has finally occurred. Not only do we get to go back to Table Town for a new adventure with the ensemble of Kiff, it’s a Halloween episode at that! Now, while some might argue that it was hard to top last years’ episode “Trevor’s Rockin’ Halloween Bash,” this new special met that bar and (in my opinion) surpassed it.
This new standalone special (meaning that it’s not part of the upcoming second season) takes us to a place we’ve not seen before in the Kiff universe, Miss McGravy’s House. It seems that this place – a friendly haunt that Kiff and her friends have been going to for quite some time and even the locale of an unfortunate incident with Kiff’s ear – has been sold and they will no longer be able to visit their treehouse or other familiar places around the property. The new property owners distinctly said that they don’t want to have grimy children running all over the place, and have plans to turn their yard into an outdoor gym.
While yes, the kids are sad, Kiff and her friends inevitably take action and decide that this Halloween, they are going to haunt Miss McGravy’s house and scare the new owners away. But things get genuinely creepy at times, while still keeping the special brand of Kiff humor as the group discovers they are not the only things haunting this home.
Like I said, this special is at times, genuinely creepy, but nothing completely over the top or outside of what would be expected from an episode of Kiff. Therefore, it is safe for the family, if not at times a bit unsettling. Parents especially will love some of the horror movie tropes and parodies that lie within, each with their own unique Kiff spin. There are no huge jump scares or any imagery that is too gory, and everything is done in the name of fun. If there are any issues, just keep a comforting kazoo nearby.
I’d argue that the scariest thing about this episode is how many times you’ll listen to the new song, “Creeping Closer” from the special episode. Kicking off the episode, it’s one of the catchiest tunes in the entire series, and will soon be added to Halloween playlists by fans if it hasn’t already. Parents will likely hear it again and again, and will likely also hear their kids repeating “it’s creeping closer, it’s creeping closer” until the big day at the end of the month, and maybe even beyond.
While I don’t want to give too many spoilers, just keep your eyes peeled for a handful of fun references not only to past episodes in the series, but a fun moment that pays homage to the aforementioned previous Halloween episode, and all the spiders and characters contained within.
Because of the genuine spookiness combined with the signature humor of the series, I give this 4.5 comforting kazoos out of 5, and I look forward to the next special, as the network ordered two standalone holiday specials before the debut of season 2, with this Halloween one being the first. If you miss this special on the Disney Channel, be sure to catch it when it arrives on Disney+ on October 16th. A good thing, since it may just become an annual viewing each Halloween.