Welcome to Day 27! I originally was going to do a list of the best horror movie opening scenes. However, I was struggling a little bit with that article. I started getting back into South Park recently and as I was rewatching the show, I was enjoying all of the horror references and homages. So, I wanted to discuss all of my favorite horror parodies from the show!

Note: there were a lot of parodies I had to leave out because I don’t have access to some episodes so I couldn’t rewatch them and discuss them properly. So, if you don’t see your favorite horror parody on this list, that does NOT mean I won’t mention it in the future! (SPOILER ALERT!!!)

The Shining – A Nightmare On FaceTime

The reason South Park is one of the best at parodies is because they’re able to take memorable moments from famous films and perfectly combine them with relevant current events. A prime example of their genius is A Nightmare On FaceTime. After Randy (Trey Parker) buys a Blockbuster store on a whim, he starts to feel isolation and lose his mind when no one shows up to rent movies on Halloween. When it comes to turning Randy into a more hilarious Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), they nail everything from Jack’s icy stare, to his limping, to his conversation with the dead bartender. The events that were made creepy in The Shining were made hysterical in this episode! 

Children Of The Corn – The Wacky M*l*st*tion Adventure

Fed up with their parents’ rules, the children of South Park make false accusations against them and get them all arrested. With all of the adults gone, the children live isolated in a divided town. Children Of The Corn was the perfect scenario to put the boys in. Instead of He Who Walks Behind The Rows, they worship and sacrifice to a statue of John Elway – probably the most Colorado thing to do. This episode also takes the ending of the original Children Of The Corn and gives it a more realistic turn. 

Scooby-Doo – Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery

Yes, I’m including Scooby-Doo on this list because this parody is too epic! As the South Park residents celebrate Halloween with a special performance by Korn, pirate ghosts go to great lengths to stop the festivities. The show was able to bring the original Scooby-Doo show’s animation, silly jokes, and iconic laugh track. They bring in the actual members of Korn and turn the band into a groovy mystery solving gang with the power to turn themselves into different varieties or corn. In many ways, the whole episode is very “corn”-y. 

George Romero’s Original ‘Dead’ Trilogy – Night Of The Living Homeless

While the homeless overrun South Park, the boys have to figure out how to save their families. This episode perfectly showcased how society mistreats homeless people and views them as zombies. We get epic references from Romero’s original Dead trilogy, and we get the most ridiculous conversations and logic that fit so well with the South Park residents. The elements that they used to make this story a zombie story was brilliant. For instance, when Gerald (Matt Stone) gives all of his change to the crowd and has to ask for some back for the bus – thus, he “became one of them.” Also, when Glen (Matt Stone) realized he was now homeless and he slowly starts to ask the other survivors for change, like a person infected with the zombie virus slowly turning into one himself. It was all so genius. 

Red Dragon – Cartman’s Incredible Gift

Red Dragon is a very overlooked horror film, and I’m so happy to see South Park make a parody of it! After Cartman (Trey Parker) suffers a head injury, the Park County police believe he developed psychic powers and they hire him to help track down a psychotic killer. They only parody one particular scene from Red Dragon, but it was definitely memorable! When the killer captures Cartman, he forces him to watch a slideshow. In Red Dragon, the killer forces a tabloid journalist to see the horrific acts he did to his previous victims. In this episode, Cartman is forced to see the most boring slideshow of the killer’s vacation. It was so well done! 

A Nightmare On Elm Street – Insheeption

With Stan (Trey Parker) and Mr. Mackey’s (Trey Parker) hoarding problems on the rise, specialists are brought in to put the duo in a dream state to conquer their hidden traumas. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) is a legendary horror villain and whenever he’s referenced outside of the horror community, it fills me with joy. As Stan and Mr. Mackey are trapped in Mackey’s nightmare, the specialists call in every dream expert they could find. When all when all of their plans fail and more people get trapped in the dream, they turn to the TRUE dream master! It’s really cool seeing Krueger doing something noble. It’s a short but fantastic moment for horror fans!