Angels and Demons. The Sacred and the Profane. Gods and Monsters. They go together like chocolate and peanut butter, which is why there’s so much horror entertainment featuring superheroes.

What? You thought it was just Clayface? You clearly weren’t a DC Animated Universe devotee! Otherwise, you’d know that executive producer Bruce Timm and his collaborators poured their lifelong love of the horror genre into many of its acclaimed shows. So, if you’re tired of watching the same old horror movies or reading the same stale stories this spooky season, settle down in a comfy chair, pour yourself your favorite pumpkin spice beverage, and watch these five truly terrifying DC Animated Universe episodes for Halloween…
 

“On Leather Wings”

The very first episode of 1992’s Batman: The Animated Series is also one of its most effective, adapting the first appearance of the Man-Bat from Detective Comics #400. It’s no wonder “On Leather Wings” (written by Mitch Brian and directed by Kevin Altieri) was first televised during prime time (that’s 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time for the streaming generation). Moody, suspenseful, disturbing and the perfect introduction to the show’s “dark deco” vibes, it boasts a great design for scientist Kirk Langstrom’s alter ego (courtesy of comic artist Kevin Nowlan; the character is voiced by Marc Singer) that nods to the devil himself—Chernabog—in the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence of Disney’s Fantasia. 
 

“Unity”

“It’s just so weird,” Bruce Timm once told me when I asked him why this third-season episode of 1996’s Superman: The Animated Series wasn’t more popular. And indeed, it is weird. Playing much more like a Stephen King tale than a traditional Superman story, “Unity” is written by Paul Dini and Rich Fogel and directed by Shin-Ichi Tsuji. With shades of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Children of the Corn, it’s about a tentacled alien parasite that possesses Smallville’s citizenry with the aid of its herald, a creepy rural preacher, the Reverend Amos Howell (voice by Barry’s Stephen Root). Its goal? To unite all of humanity in a mindless soulless mass.
 

“Feat of Clay”/“Mudslide”

We mentioned Clayface at the start of this article, and with the new DC Studios movie now in theaters, it’s the perfect time to revisit the DCAU’s take on the Dark Knight’s shapeshifting foe. The character’s introduction in Batman: The Animated Series’ first-season two-parter “Feat of Clay”—written by Marv Wolfman and Michael Reeves and directed by Dick Sebast and Kevin Altieri—is the stuff of classic, tragic monster movies and served as an inspiration for the film. Disfigured actor Matt Hagen (voiced by Hellboy himself Ron Perlman) is betrayed and damned by the criminals he agrees to work for. Rendered an abomination, he battles Batman in a display of cartoon body horror worthy of Akira. The same season’s “Mudslide” is an even more disturbing follow-up, with a desperate, disintegrating Clayface absorbing Batman and commenting, “I can hear his heart slowing... slowing..."
 

“Lost Soul”

The futuristic Batman Beyond offered more than its share of sci-fi-infused chills, from the Cronenbergian “Earth Mover” and “Disappearing Inque” to the nightmarish spin-off film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. But the second season’s “Lost Soul”—written by Stan Berkowitz and directed by Butch Lukic—features today’s greatest boogeyman: technology. The tale of a corporate oligarch intent on using his grandson’s body to host his digital consciousness, it’s a satisfyingly scary watch for all who are terrorized by the sudden rise of artificial intelligence and all that it implies.
 

“The Terror Beyond”

Earth’s vast oceans can host all kinds of horrors, as director James Wan so aptly demonstrated in his 2018 Aquaman movie. The King of Atlantis also stars in this horror-laced second-season episode of 2001’s Justice League animated series. A two-parter (like most of the show’s first two seasons), “The Terror Beyond”—written by Dwayne McDuffie and directed by Butch Lukic—channels no less a horror legend than H.P. Lovecraft in a story that pays tribute to the author’s Cthulhu mythos. Here, Arthur Curry (voiced by Scott Rummell) teams up with the sorcerous Doctor Fate (Oded Fehr) and DC’s resident zombie Solomon Grundy (Mark Hamill) in what can be seen as a nod to Marvel’s The Defenders (with Fate as Doctor Strange, Grundy subbing for the Hulk, and Aquaman playing the role of Namor the Sub-Mariner) to stop the evil “Old One” Icthultu. It’s as wild and outrageous as it sounds and introduces a surprisingly heartfelt relationship between Grundy and Hawkgirl.

Happy Halloween, DC fans!
 

Joseph McCabe writes about comics, film and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Instagram at @joe_mccabe_editor.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joseph McCabe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC, Warner Bros. or Skydance, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.