WHO'S BEEN WAITING FOR ME!? HUH?! HUH?! — Dib

Invader Zim Episode
Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom
Chronology
Previous:	Battle of the Planets
Next:	Mysterious Mysteries
Information
Episode No:	Episode 14
Production No:	16
Airdate:	October 26, 2001
Credits
Writer(s):	Jhonen Vasquez Rob Hummel

Contents 1 Plot Summary 2 Facts of Doom 2.1 Cultural References 2.2 Trivia of Doom 2.3 Things You Might Have Missed 2.4 Inconsistencies and Animation Errors 3 See also 4 References

Plot SummaryEdit

It is Halloween, and the entire town is getting into the Halloween spirit. Zim, unfamiliar with the holiday, panics when he becomes convinced thst the Skoolchildren have transformed into candy-starved monsters, so he fortifies his base to protect his blood from them. Meanwhile, Dib has been acting crazier than normal, seeing strange hallucinations of hideous creatures. The class decides to use one of their Crazy Cards, and Dib is taken to the Crazy House for Boys. However, this is a cover-up for the truth that Dib is really being teleported to an alternate dimension due to meddling with one of his father's inventions. The "flashes", as he calls them, get progressively longer, and Dib predicts that he will eventually be stuck in the Nightmare Realm forever. He escapes from the insane asylum, but is unable to return home.

Instead, Dib goes to Zim's house, in hopes that the alien can help him. Zim, of course, refuses, but ends up getting involved in Dib's problems anyway, when both of them are permanently teleported into the Nightmare Realm. Zim and Dib decide to work together to get home, which is through Dib's mind. This truce does not last long, however, and only a short period of time passes before Dib leaves Zim to be captured by the Halloweenies.

Dib finds himself in the Nightmare version of his house, only to be captured by Nightmare Membrane and Nightmare Gaz. While in captivity, Zim meets the leader of the Halloweenies, Nightmare Bitters. She explains that they want to capture Dib so they can travel through the portal in his mind to take over the real world. Zim escapes the Halloweenies, but has to save Dib.

Meanwhile, Nightmare Bitters has opened the portal in Dib's head, but Zim shows up with a mech he found in Nightmare Membrane's lab just in time. The robot slows down Nightmare Bitters and the Halloweenies long enough for Zim to force his way through the portal in Dib's head. Meanwhile, Dib is left trapped in the Nightmare Realm, surrounded by Halloweenies, until he manages to force himself through the portal in his own head.

Back in the real world, Dib and Zim abruptly appear (As a result of having to go through his own head, Dib shows up inside-out, but he somehow manages to turn himself right-side-out instantaneously). All seems well for Dib and Zim, until Nightmare Bitters also forces her head through the not-quite-gone portal, but triumph turns to horror when the first thing she sees is GIR, who has become morbidly obese from eating all of the skoolchildren's candy. Convinced the real world is far worse than the Nightmare Realm, Nightmare Bitters retreats and closes the portal for good.

Facts of Doom Edit

Cultural ReferencesEdit

When Zim's base is being assaulted by the trick-or-treaters, he has his windows all boarded up and he refers to the children as "zombies". This is a reference to Night of the Living Dead.

When the kids come trick-or-treating to Zim's house, he uses a monitor that tracks the children's movement; it sounds and works just like the motion tracker in the film Aliens.

• In addition to the Aliens reference, GIR is dressed in a Xenomorph costume in the opening sequence.
• Nightmare Bitters' transformation into the horrific, insectoid creature is likely a homage to werewolf films.
• GIR's bloated appearance at the end may be a reference to Jabba the Hutt from the Star Wars franchise.
• During one scene, Willy is dressed as Captain Underpants.
• The flashes that Dib keeps experiencing is a reference to the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where a scientist transforms into a murderer using a potion, but the transformations start happening more frequently getting progressively longer without the potion.

Trivia of DoomEdit

• Also, after turning back to normal, you can see Dib licking a purple lollipop, which in fact is very weird the way he got it, since his body was messed up and his hands were in the "inner side".

• In this episode, Dib admits for the first time there is a possibility he's crazy and that his head may be big.
• The Halloweenie who explains the prophecy to Dib could possibly be a nightmare version of himself; they even share the same voice actor.
• GIR appears to be the size, if not larger, of Zim's base from eating too much candy at the end.

• The Skool looks more like a building than the original one, and looks taller as well.
• After Zim gets into Dib's head to escape, when the screen was looking at children on the ground. Keep looking at the left side of the screen and you'll see a child dressed like the baby-like alien from Hobo 13, although the episode didn't appear before this one, it can be seen again when Dib was going around the other children as he leaves.
• The pictures in the end credits have a few points: 1. Zim is in his alien form despite being in his disguise in the nightmare world. 2. In one shot, there is a border with the two-eyed Irken two-eyed symbol on the sides. 3. The credits are only two shots that play in an order simultaneously. 4. One scene never happened in the episode.
• Since Zim never heard of Halloween, he never knew that Earth kids can dress up as anything, so he could have gone to Skool without his disguise.
• When Zita asks if she can send Dib to the Crazy House for Boys, Miss Bitters warns her that they only get three crazy cards a month. However, this episode took place on Halloween, the last day of the month, so there was really no point in warning her, as the class would receive three new Crazy Cards the next day.

Things You Might Have MissedEdit

• One of the nightmare monsters appears to be a shadow version of Nny from one of Jhonen's comics, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. He can be seen three times:
  1. When the camera pans down in Nightmare Ms. Bitters Lair, he can be seen at the right corner

2.in the crowd just before the second monster goes to the Realm of Eternal Screaming and Restlessness.

3. When Dib asks Nightmare Bitters "Don't I get any say in this?" and the beasts turn to look at him.

• When the whitecoats leave after they throw Dib in the cell, they go into the elevator and press a button. While some of the buttons say "POOL" and "GYM", the button they press says "TACOS".
• When Dib is looking around in the nightmare world after he has just been put in his cell, you can see Keef sitting around with the other monsters. He is unchanged from his regular form. Jhonen Vasquez says in the commentary that he's scary enough to even begin with.
• When Dib tries to explain the first glimpses of the nightmare world that he gets to the scientists, Count Cocofang appears in the flashes of monsters.
• In the beginning when Zim is imagining the other students are growling and hissing, you can very faintly hear Ms. Bitters continuing her rant and going "blah blah blah blah"
• A Bloody GIR is seen in the Opening Sequence on a glass shard that falls from the Swollen Eyeball logo after the snake arm destroys it.
• When Dib gets turned inside out after going in the portal in his head, you can see a streak of blood on the fence he appears on.

Inconsistencies and Animation ErrorsEdit

• After Ms. Bitters tells her story about how she used to be a Fairy Princess, the girl who was dressed as a Fairy Princess suddenly appears by Ms. Bitters' desk when she was sitting in her chair.
• In the scene where Zim is in the mech and Dib is talking about how he's still mad about something he did earlier, Zim is seen without his gloves, despite the fact that he had gloves on.
• During the scenes where Dib is in the asylum and when he runs to Zim's house, his straightjacket flashes on and off.

• Dib is not wearing a straightjacket when he enters Zim's house.
• After Dib brings Zim into the Nightmare World, Zim has two scars on his forehead.

• When Dib is first explaining the flashes to the scientists, his ears disappear in one of the shots.
• As Zim and Dib just enter the Nightmare Zim's house, when they run away, Dib's face is badly distorted for one frame.
• During the entire episode, Zim is in his human disguise, but in the credits, he is seen going through the Nightmare World without his disguise on.

See alsoEdit

• Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom (Transcript)
• Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom Screenshots

References Edit

Episodes of Invader Zim
Season One
The Nightmare Begins • Bestest Friend • NanoZIM • Parent Teacher Night • Walk of Doom • Germs • Dark Harvest • Attack of the Saucer Morons • The Wettening • Career Day • Battle-Dib • Planet Jackers • Rise of the Zitboy • Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain • Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy • A Room with a Moose • Hamstergeddon • Plague of Babies • Bloaty's Pizza Hog • Door to Door • FBI Warning of Doom • Bolognius Maximus • Game Slave 2 • Battle of the Planets • Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom • Mysterious Mysteries • Future Dib • Hobo 13 • Walk for Your Lives • Megadoomer • Lice • Abducted • The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot • GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff • Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom • Tak: The Hideous New Girl
Season Two
Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars • The Girl Who Cried Gnome • Dibship Rising • Vindicated! • The Voting of the Doomed • Mortos der Soulstealer • Zim Eats Waffles • Gaz, Taster of Pork • The Frycook What Came from All that Space • The Most Horrible X-mas Ever
Canceled/Unfinished
Simon Says "Doom" • Invader Poonchy• Return of Keef• GIR's Big Day• When Pants Ruled! • Mopiness of Doom • Nubs of Doom• The Trial• Top of the Line • Ten Minutes to Doom • Roboparents Gone Wild • Squishy: Hugger of Worlds • It Feeds on Noodles • Day of da Spookies • Those! • Invader Dib