Peanuts Halloween Strips: 8 That Aged Perfectly

More than 70 years after "Peanuts" debuted, the strip's Halloween comics still get laughs. Screen Rant recently rounded up eight that have held up especially well, and they're worth your time this season.

Linus and the Great Pumpkin

Linus van Pelt's annual vigil for the Great Pumpkin is the strip's most reliable Halloween gag. In one example highlighted by Screen Rant, Linus writes a letter to the Great Pumpkin, asking him not to reveal whether he exists. He wants to keep the possibility alive. It's a clever bit that only grows funnier with age.

Another strip shows Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch with Snoopy. Snoopy tries to camouflage himself among the leaves, proving he's not as indifferent to being seen as Linus is. The joke works without a word of dialogue, a Schulz specialty.

Lucy makes a memorable appearance, too. She goes trick-or-treating and asks for an extra share for Linus, who is stuck waiting. After too many adults ask where he is, she loses patience and throws the candy at him. Screen Rant calls it a sweet moment that captures sibling love.

Snoopy Gets in on the Act

Snoopy uses Halloween to adopt his Joe Cool persona. In one strip, he sits with Linus in the pumpkin patch, wearing dark glasses so he won't be recognized. The article notes that Snoopy has a reputation to uphold, even though everyone knows who he is.

Another strip plays with pumpkin carving. Lucy finishes carving a jack-o'-lantern, and Snoopy sticks his head inside. Linus mistakes Snoopy's feet for ears and starts tickling them. The absurdity of a boy tickling a pumpkin's ears without questioning it is pure Schulz.

Snoopy also appears dressed as Frankenstein in a strip about being too scared to sleep. The whole gang watches horror movies and ends up turning on multiple lights to banish the dark. Even Snoopy, sleeping outside on a full-moon night, keeps a nightlight on. It's a relatable Halloween experience.

Charlie Brown's Costume Tribulations

Charlie Brown makes a ghost costume from a bedsheet, but his laundry arrives late, so he tries to scare Patty a day after Halloween. He fails three times, but his persistence is the joke. Screen Rant points out that this strip laid the groundwork for the iconic ghost costume in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Linus got there first, though. An early 1956 strip shows him cutting too many eyeholes in his sheet, creating a ghost with dozens of eyes. It's a classic case of Schulz taking a simple idea and finding the absurdity in it.

Schulz's Halloween strips work because they focus on character. Linus's faith, Snoopy's vanity, Charlie Brown's determination, and Lucy's grudging kindness are as funny now as they were decades ago. Screen Rant argues these strips are essential seasonal reading. They're right. If you haven't read them in a while, this is the year to pull them up.

• Charles M. Schulz
• comic strips
• Halloween
• Linus van Pelt
• Peanuts
• Snoopy