Grunkle Stan and His Gift Shop of Horrors

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 25– Gravity Falls

Remember yesterday when I said I had Gravity Falls planned out? Well, I meant it. Since Halloween is one of the best possible excuses times to watch Disney’s hit show, I’m doing two for two on Gravity Falls. This time, we’re looking at the second official Halloween special. Be warned, though: this special is a ploy Grunkle Stan to get you to buy his merchandise!

Unlike the first special, this one’s told in a Treehouse of Horror style. It features three tales told to an unnamed guest (the viewers) by Grunkle Stan to get them to buy his stuff!

Hands Off!

In our first story, Grunkle Stan steals a watch from a witch at a swap-meet, invoking her wrath. As a result, Stan’s cursed and loses his hands, and the only way to get them back is to apologize. He also may have to kiss the hand-witch.

This story is Grunkle Stan at his Stan-iest: underhanded and stubborn as possible. While getting one’s hands magically stolen doesn’t sound creepy, this is Gravity Falls, the cartoon that raidiates weirdness. The Hand-Witch lives in a creepy cave with an army of disembodied hands that remind me of spiders. The unsettling combination’s Gravity Falls at its finest!

Abaconings

In this next story, Dipper tries to make himself smarter to solve an impossible puzzle. So he covers his face in a rare mushroom to increase his intelligence. What he failed to count on is Waddles eating the mushroom paste and becoming sentient. While Dipper loves smart Waddles, Mabel’s sad to lose her pet pig; will she get him back?

This story wasn’t actually scary. However, not all the Treehouse of Horror segments are scary, either. Even so, I enjoyed the story because of how sweet the bond between Mabel and Waddles is. He gives up being smart to to be with Mabel again. Not to mention, Smart Waddles gets vices by renowned scientist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson. That man’s got an amazing voice!

Clay Day

When Stan learns that Mabel’s terrified of stop-motion claymation, he tries to cure her of her fear. They go to see local animation effects artist Harry Claymore, but it turns out all the clay figures are real. It’s up to Mabel to face her fears and save the day.

I don’t know how the staff did, but they managed to place stop motion over normal animation. The contrast between the two makes it so appealing to watch. In addition, the stop motion creatures are creepy, in an old-fashioned way. The story also makes several playful jabs at how tedious animation is, both modern and stop-motion.

The Cheapskate

Grunkle Stan’s stories were entertaining, but the real clincher’s the ending. When the viewer doesn’t buy anything from him, he drugs them and turns them into his latest attraction. Introducing, the legendary Cheapskate!

That’s right, Grunkle Stan’s a jerk. Good thing this episode’s as non-canon as Treehouse of Horror. I enjoyed this special, but like I said yesterday, all of Gravity Falls is Halloween worthy. Happy Halloween everyone, and stay weird!

Also, check out this creepy thing!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.