Modern Family — Halloween Episodes
Modern Family embraced Halloween like few sitcoms did, turning out seven themed episodes over eleven seasons as Claire's drive for the scariest house on the block became a running tradition. All seven stream in the U.S. on Hulu and Peacock (and now through Hulu on Disney+). Ratings are each episode's IMDb user score.
| Series Title | Streaming Availability | IMDb Rating (RT has no episode score) |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Family — "Halloween" (S2E6) | Hulu Peacock |
8.5/10 |
| Modern Family — "Open House of Horrors" (S4E5) | Hulu Peacock |
7.9/10 |
| Modern Family — "Halloween 3: AwesomeLand" (S6E6) | Hulu Peacock |
7.5/10 |
| Modern Family — "Halloween 4: The Revenge of Rod Skyhook" (S8E5) | Hulu Peacock |
7.6/10 |
| Modern Family — "It's the Great Pumpkin, Phil Dunphy" (S9E5) | Hulu Peacock |
7.3/10 |
| Modern Family — "Good Grief" (S10E5) | Hulu Peacock |
7.4/10 |
| Modern Family — "The Last Halloween" (S11E5) | Hulu Peacock |
7.8/10 |
Note: All seven episodes are also purchasable individually on Amazon Video and Apple TV, and the series airs periodically on TBS.
Episode Synopsis
"Halloween" — Season 2, Episode 6 (aired October 27, 2010) Claire pours her heart into turning the Dunphy house into a haunted attraction for trick-or-treaters, but the family struggles to pull off their assigned roles. Cameron avoids the holiday entirely, since it stirs up a painful memory from his childhood, and Gloria snaps after Jay and Manny tease her about her accent. This one became the highest-rated episode of the series to that point and picked up several Emmy nominations.
"Open House of Horrors" — Season 4, Episode 5 (aired October 24, 2012) After scaring a neighbor into a near heart attack the year before, Claire is ordered to keep things kid-friendly this time around. Phil sees an opening and decides to run an open house during trick-or-treating hours instead. Meanwhile Mitch and Cam host a costume party while fielding Lily's questions about her birth mother, and a very pregnant, very hormonal Gloria is even less patient than usual.
"Halloween 3: AwesomeLand" — Season 6, Episode 6 (aired October 22, 2014) Phil takes over Halloween decorating duties from Claire and builds a cheerful, brightly lit "AwesomeLand" instead of the usual haunted house. That plan falls apart once Claire learns there's a neighborhood contest for scariest house, and she can't resist turning his creation gory again. Jay, meanwhile, wants to dress as Prince Charming, but Gloria hands him a Shrek costume instead, and Mitchell runs into trouble in court over a stenographer's unsettling getup.
"Halloween 4: The Revenge of Rod Skyhook" — Season 8, Episode 5 (aired October 26, 2016) The Dunphys try to get Luke's Halloween party off the ground while Cam faces down his old Halloween rival. Jay heads to a party thrown by an old enemy, determined to finally deliver the perfect prank he's been planning for years.
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Phil Dunphy" — Season 9, Episode 5 (aired October 18, 2017) Phil takes it hard when he realizes the Dunphy kids have outgrown Halloween. Claire tries to manufacture some scares of her own, first with her kids and later with her coworkers, but nothing quite lands the way it used to.
"Good Grief" — Season 10, Episode 5 (aired October 17, 2018) Claire and Phil kick off the night dressed as a spider and a fly, decorating for what looks like a normal Halloween. That changes fast when Claire gets a phone call and learns her mother, DeDe, has died, sending the rest of the episode into unexpectedly emotional territory for the whole family.
"The Last Halloween" — Season 11, Episode 5 (aired October 30, 2019) The series' final Halloween episode finds Phil determined to scare Claire for once instead of the other way around. Gloria has a rough time being mistaken for Jay's wife instead of assumed to be his daughter, which needles her more than she expects. Lily heads off to her first Halloween party without her dads, a small but pointed sign of how much time has passed for everyone.