The film takes place on
Halloween night in the fictional town of Warren Valley,
Ohio. The plot follows a
nonlinear narrative, with characters crossing paths throughout the film. At the center of the story is Sam, a peculiar
trick-or-treater in an orange footie pajama
costume, who appears to enforce the "rules" of Halloween.
Opening In the opening scene, Emma and her Halloween-loving husband Henry return home after a celebratory night. Emma, who secretly hates Halloween, blows out their jack-o'-lantern before midnight against Henry's advice. As Henry falls asleep in the house, Emma begins tearing down the decorations; but is then ambushed and murdered by an unseen assailant. Hours later, Henry discovers Emma's mutilated corpse on display with the decorations.
Principal Overweight delinquent Charlie vandalizes
jack-o'-lanterns and steals candy from unattended bowls. When school principal Steven Wilkins catches him red-handed, Steven offers Charlie a candy bar while lecturing him on the importance of respecting Halloween rules and traditions. Shortly after, Charlie begins vomiting violently. As Charlie dies, Steven reveals that he
laced the candy with
cyanide. Steven attempts to bury Charlie in his backyard along with the body of another victim, but is continually interrupted by trick-or-treaters (including Sam), his young Halloween-loving son Billy, his cantankerous elderly neighbor Mr. Kreeg, and Kreeg’s dog Spite. The other victim turns out to still be alive, and Steven beats him to death with a shovel to keep him quiet before burying both bodies. Returning indoors, Steven notices Kreeg seemingly in distress; but brushes it off before something attacks Kreeg. Steven guides Billy downstairs to carve a jack-o'-lantern, which is revealed to be Charlie's severed head.
Halloween School Bus Massacre A group of teenage trick-or-treaters—Macy, Chip, Schrader, and Sara—meet devout Halloween traditionalist Rhonda. Macy leads the group to a flooded
quarry and recounts the
urban legend of the "Halloween School Bus Massacre". The parents of eight mentally disabled children bribed their bus driver to dispose of them. A child dressed as Dracula got loose and the bus got driven off a cliff into the quarry. The children all drowned, and the driver (the only survivor) was never heard from again. No one tried to find the bus as the people did not want it found. Macy leaves eight jack-o'-lanterns by the lake as a tribute to the deceased. The group splits up, leaving Rhonda and Chip behind. Rhonda gets separated and is then pursued by horrifying figures, which turn out to be the other teens in disguise, a prank planned by Macy. Realizing that the trick has gone too far, Schrader tries to comfort the hurt and terrified Rhonda while a bitter Macy kicks a jack-o'-lantern into the water. The actual drowned children, now risen as undead, emerge from the lake and attack the teens, killing Sara. Rhonda abandons the rest to their deaths as revenge for their prank. As she leaves with a wagon of jack-o'-lanterns, Rhonda encounters Sam and exchanges a respectful nod with him.
Surprise Party Laurie, a self-conscious 22-year-old virgin from out of town, joins her older sister Danielle and friends Maria and Janet for Halloween. The girls select princess costumes, while Laurie dresses up as
Little Red Riding Hood. A devout Halloween traditionalist, Laurie misses trick-or-treating and is uncaring of her friends' and sister's talks of dates. While the other girls pick up dates and head to a bonfire party in the woods, Laurie stays behind and enjoys the town festival instead. Later, on the way to meet up with her friends, she is attacked by a man in a vampire costume. Laurie arrives at the girls' bonfire with the injured and frightened "vampire", who turns out to be a disguised Steven Wilkins. Laurie, having decided to take part after what happened, agrees to join in on the party. Under the light of the full moon, the girls all shed their clothing and skin, grow fur with claws and tails as their heads become lupine; revealing themselves to be
werewolves. Having chosen Steven as her first kill (her "virginity" being a metaphor for having never killed before), someone "special" (who she felt truly deserved it), Laurie also transforms and kills Steven before devouring him. Sam watches as the werewolves feast on their deceased dates.
Sam Mr. Kreeg, a curmudgeonly Halloween hater, dresses up his dog to scare trick-or-treaters off his doorstep. As the night proceeds, Kreeg encounters increasingly unusual phenomena: the front of the house is egged; the lawn is filled with ornate jack-o'-lanterns; and the hallways and ceiling are scrawled with Halloween and Samhain greetings. Sam ambushes and attacks Kreeg. In their struggle, Kreeg manages to unmask his assailant, whose head resembles a grotesque hybrid of a skull and a jack-o'-lantern. Kreeg shoots Sam several times with a shotgun, knocking him down. However, Sam incapacitates and corners Kreeg, who fails to get Steven to help him. When Sam tries to stab Kreeg, he instead hits a candy bar which had fallen on the old man's lap. With this, Kreeg accidentally "gives" the candy to Sam; completing the tradition of handing out treats on Halloween. Satisfied, Sam spares a confused Kreeg and departs. Meanwhile, photographs burning in the fireplace reveal that Kreeg was the missing driver from the School Bus Massacre.
Conclusion A heavily-bandaged Kreeg gives candy to trick-or-treaters and witnesses other people upholding Halloween traditions. Billy sits on his father's porch while handing out candy, Rhonda casually pulls along her wagon filled with jack-o'-lanterns, and Laurie and her friends drive by while laughing to each other. After Emma and Henry arrive at home, Sam sees Emma prematurely extinguishing the jack-o'-lantern and moves in to kill her as punishment. Kreeg answers another knock at his door but is surrounded and brutally torn apart by the undead children from the bus while they now show up trick-or-treating. ==Cast==