The Ghoulish Plot: In the halcyon days of the 1980s, things were different. You could smoke cigarettes literally everywhere, sugary cereals were a part of “a complete breakfast,” and people everywhere looked to a big fat cat who hated Mondays and loved eating lasagna to help us celebrate holidays.

Garfield wakes up on Halloween day to realize it’s Halloween and he can go get candy that night, so he puts together a pirate costume and heads out in the evening to fill up a sack of goodies…only to encounter ghouls and ghosts. Greedy for as much candy as possible, Garfield finds a rowboat and tries to take it to another neighborhood for even more treats, only to find the boat floating to a tiny island with a creepy house on it.

Once he arrives, they find a weird old man who tells them that the island is the location of a buried pirate treasure, and at Midnight the ghosts of those pirates will return. Then the old guy bails and leaves them stuck at the island, and then the ghosts show up and Garfield and his pal Odie have to make a run for it. Will they get home and get to enjoy their candy and catch the latest episode of Dynasty? It’s an animated special from the 80s, so probably!

This animated special somehow made it into the annual rotation for my sister and I growing up, and while it’s no longer a Halloween staple and it’s generally pretty corny and silly and literally every kid I’ve ever tried to show it to since thinks it’s dumb and slow, it’s a fun nostalgia watch every few years. If you grew up when Garfield was at his peak and somehow even inspiring Heathcliffe-era copycats and you’re up for some pretty mediocre jazz songs about finding a costume, then this one is your jam.

The Scariest Part of the Movie: the old man on the island is way scarier than he needed to be. Everything else in this is pretty lame, but some animator must have decided, “fuck it, let’s give some kids nightmares.”

Spookiness Factor: almost zilch, except for the old man.

Rating: 5 out of 10 lasagnas