When it came to Halloweentown, there was never an off day. Since their last Halloween, the citizens had been planning long and hard in anticipation of this year's festivities. However, although it seemed as though this year's Halloween was looking to be something special, one citizen in particular didn't quite have the same level of enthusiasm as the rest. And that citizen was none other than Jack Skellington; the Pumpkin King.
Jack of course dedicated himself to making sure that every single Halloween would be one to remember. But this year, it seemed like there was no inspiration. As he sauntered through Halloweentown, observing the citizens gleefully preparing for the holiday, he found himself growing more and more depressed.
The witches were preparing what looked like a big barrel for bobbing for apples which the werewolf popped out of, scaring them; much to their delight.
The father of the corpse family opened a can to find bunch of snakes slithering out of it. Turned out they were from the monster with snakes for fingers who had given him the can in the first place.
The vampires called real bats to hang upside down as Halloween decorations.
As for the mayor, he was supervising the hauling of the pumpkins. One pumpkin ended up rolling towards him, causing him to roll on the pumpkin.
Indeed it seemed as though everything was going as planned; as far as Jack was concerned, maybe too 'as planned.' Wanting to relieve his depression, he decided to head on home.
Jack's trusty ghost dog, Zero, happily greeted him after he arrived. Unfortunately, Jack didn't return the sentiments as he sulked on his desk. Zero hovered towards him to find out what was wrong. It seemed as though Jack was in a bit of a trance. It wasn't until he gave a loud bark that Jack finally noticed him.
"Oh! Sorry, Zero. My skull is just aching trying to think of something new for Halloween this year," said Jack.
The Pumpkin King racked his nonexistent brain trying to come up with something. It felt as if he was losing his mojo as he just couldn't think of anything. so he figured maybe the answer would be in one of his books. However, the result was just the same. He looked through everything; from jack-o-lantern designs, to Jump Scares 101, How to Terrify a Muscular Guy in Five Minutes or Less; but nothing worked. He had read these books hundreds and hundreds of times and nothing in them was anything new to him.
On top of that, he had pretty much used up his best ideas on 300 previous Halloweens. It seemed as though the frustrated king of Halloween was at the end of his rope; which was ironic considering he was already dead.
Just then, Jack, who had slammed his head on his desk in frustration, heard a knocking on his door. "Come in!" he said.
It was Jack's girlfriend, Sally, coming in for a visit.
Sally's presence helped to relieve some of the angst Jack was feeling in his bones.
"Jack? Are you alright?" Sally asked.
Jack slowly arose from his seat with drooping eyes directed towards the innocent rag doll. "Oh, Sally. Another Halloween is coming and I have nothing," he said.
'What do you mean? From I've seen, this year's Halloween looks pretty good," said Sally.
"Yes, 'pretty good,' but not 'stupendous' good, not 'earthshattering' good, not 'make your eyeballs pop out of your head and make you scream so loud that your vocal chords explode' good," said Jack.
"Oh, I'm...sure we've got something like that. Dr. Finklestein is working something really bone-chilling and terrifying..." said Sally.
"Really? What is it?" asked Jack.
"Tap dancing skeletons!" said Sally.
Jack groaned in disappointment. He didn't want this Halloween to be predictable, he yearned for something new and exciting. Something to really keep the kids talking; something they had never seen before.
Sally understood where Jack was coming from and upon seeing his disappointment, she suggested that he try to look around the Magic Kingdom for his inspiration.
"Splendid idea, Sally! Come along Zero! We've got inspiration to find!" Jack exclaimed after he gave Sally a kiss on the cheek.
Meanwhile, Sally hurried back to Dr. Finklestein's lab, not wanting to keep him waiting; for he had a chocolate chip and fungus cookie recipe he wanted her to try.
The bright yellow eyes of jack-o-lanterns filled the windows of Main Street; plastic bats; skeletons and ghosts were decorated on the trees and walls; and children and adults alike were adorned in all kinds of unique costumes. As always, the Magic Kingdom was not shy about its Halloween festivities.
As the Pumpkin King arrived and looked around, he figured there was probably something here that could give him new ideas. Just then, he was approached by the wicked queen in her hag form, carrying a large barrel.
"Good evening, Jack!" the witch said.
Jack looked at the barrel and saw a bunch of apples inside. "Bobbing for apples? So cliché." he said.
"But these are poisoned apples," said the witch.
Curious, Jack took out an apple and took a bite, falling asleep. The witch laughed in glee, but her laughter was soon cut short as Jack quickly got up, looking unimpressed.
"Doesn't seem like anything special to me," said Jack, throwing the apple to the ground and walking off.
As Jack walked further into Main Street, unbeknown to him, he was spotted by Donald Duck, dressed as the creature from the black lagoon, spying on him from a tree.
"Oh boy! Jack's here. I'm gonna scare him with my costume, HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" Donald said.
He slowly crept from behind, making sure that Jack did not see him, getting closer and closer until...he tapped Jack on the shoulder. When Jack turned around, Donald attempted to scare him, but the Pumpkin King wasn't even phased.
"Not a bad scary face, but try this one out for size," Jack said before he made a terrifying face that sent Donald fleeing straight out of his costume and feathers.
Continuing on, Jack observed the many kids and adults in their costumes; from ghosts to goblins; monsters, demons, cowboys, princesses, and bank accountants; Jack thought that maybe the costumes could help him. But alas, not an inspirational thought came to his mind.
Not the costumes, the decorations, or even the Halloweeny music was enough to fill Jack's skull with ideas. It looked as though it was a hopeless cause as Jack turned to make his way out of Main Street.
However, as he passed a store, he noticed something interesting. He looked through the window and found a group of kids and adults buying as much candy as they could. Just barely hearing the conversations, he pressed he skull to the window.
"Nice work, honey! I tell ya, there's nothing better on Halloween than candy!" a man dressed as a werewolf said to his wife dressed as a billy goat.
"The trick-or-treaters will love these chocolate crunch bars!" said another man.
Outside, said trick-or-treaters were anxiously talking about how much candy they would rack up this year.
Jack looked again into the shop, observing the many candies and the people desperately trying to get as much as they could get their hands on. Then his thoughts came Lock, Shock, and Barrel; and how ever year, they would often play tricks to take others candy. At that moment, it had happened, Jack Skellington had found it, he had found his inspiration.
"HAHA! That's it, Zero! THAT'S IT!" exclaimed Jack.
With that, Jack, along with Zero, rushed back to Halloween Town.
Meanwhile, in Dr. Finklestien's lab, Sally had 'tried' about 30 of the doctor's cookies. Secretly, she fed them to his assistant, Igor.
"I'm so glad you like the cookie, Sally. These will be a big hit at Mickey's party," said Finklestien.
"I'm sure they will be," Sally said.
Suddenly, there was a knocking at the doctor's door.
"The door is open!" Finklestien said.
It was Jack who came rushing into the doctor lab like a house of fire.
"Doctor! Have I got a project for you!" Jack exclaimed.
"What kind of project?" asked Finklestien.
"I have been racking my skull, trying to find something, anything, to really shake this year's Halloween up!" said Jack.
"Well what about my tap dancing skeletons?" Finklestien asked, showing Jack the skeletons.
"That's all fine and good, but what I have in store will make all our previous Halloweens look like child's play!" said Jack.
The doctor was intrigued, but Sally was a bit weary. She knew Jack had a creative mind, but more often than not, his ideas tended to go a bit overboard. Nonetheless, she kept an open mind as always when it came to Jack.
Reaching into his coat, Jack pulled out a piece of candy corn. Sally and Finklestien were confused as Jack eyed the piece of candy with a sinister smile on his face. They could only imagine what was going through the complex mind of the Pumpkin King.