History Recap / StrangerThingsS2E2ChapterTwoTrickOrTreatFreak

''(cue ''Ghostbusters'' theme and end credits)''

* JumpScare: A few.

** When Max jumps in front of the boys wearing her Halloween mask. (Sadie Sink managing to do this to herself i.e. jumping when watching the episode)

'''Hopper:''' Yeah I see that.

* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Lucas lets out a high pitched scream when Max jumps them, which she makes jabs at.

** When Max jumps in front of the boys wearing her Halloween mask.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Nancy and Steve discuss what to do about Barb's parents. Steve thinks that they should keep the secret, sighting the government breathing down their necks and attempting to punish them. Nancy, however, believes they should tell them to stop them from selling their house and essentially uprooting their lives further.

* InternalReveal: How did Eleven escape the Upside Down? She walked over to a previous tear in reality made by the Demogorgon and passed through it herself, just minutes after killing the monster.

* OneDimensionalThinking: Downplayed. When Billy is about to run over Dustin, Mike, and Lucas on their bikes, they don't think about getting off the street until the last possible moment.

* BrickJoke: In the previous episode, Bob mentions that he loves Music/KennyRogers, unaware that Jonathan was [[DamnedByAFoolsPraise using him as an example of extremely boring people]]. In this episode, he dances with Joyce to a record of "Island In The Stream."

* NotSoAboveItAll: Jonathan shows off a more humourousu and silly side of himself when he repeats Bob's Dracula impression of "I hope it doesn't suck!" when dropping Will off with his friends.

* TroubledFetalPosition: After his encounter with the Mind Flayer in the street, Will hides around the corner in this position.

* HalloweenEpisode: This episode takes place on Halloween, complete with the much of the cast donning costumes and going Trick-or-Treating, or attending a WildTeenParty.

* NotSoAboveItAll: Jonathan shows off a more humour and silly side of himself when he repeats Bob's Dracula impression of "I hope it doesn't suck!" when dropping Will off with his friends.

* BlatantLies: Jonathan gives his mother the impression he's taking Will trick-or-treating, only to fob Will off to his friends at Mike's place and go to the party with the intention of seeing Nancy.

* DrowningMySorrows: Nancy attempts to do this at the Halloween party, but it only makes her emotionally volatile, to the point that she lashes out at Steve when he realizes how drunk she is and tries to take her home.

* InVinoVeritas: Nancy gets drunk at the teen party and starts laying into Steve about covering up Barbara's death from the previous year. She doesn't remember this incident the next day, but when he presses her on it she admits that's pretty much how she feels.

* KeepingSecretsSucks: Nancy feels this way about not being allowed to tell Barb's parents about what happened to her.
-->Come on.
-->'''Nancy:''' ''[slurring]'' You wanted--you wanted this!
-->'''Steve:''' No, I didn't want this. I told you to stop drinking!
-->'''Nancy:''' It's bullshit!
-->'''Steve:''' No, it's not bullshit, okay?
-->'''Nancy:''' ''Bullshit!''
-->'''Steve:''' No, it's not bullshit, Nancy.
-->'''Nancy:''' No, ''you''. You're...bullshit.
-->'''Steve:''' [[FlatWhat What?]]
-->'''Nancy:''' You're--you're pretending like--like everything is okay. You know, like we didn't--like we didn't kill ''Barb''? Like, like, "it's great. Like, we're in love and we're partying. Yeah, let's party, huh? Party. We're partying." This-'tis bullshit.
-->'''Steve:''' [[WasItAllAlie "Like we're in love"?]]
-->'''Nancy:''' It's bull''shit''.
-->'''Steve:''' You don't love me?
-->'''Nancy:''' ''[looking glassy-eyed]'' It's bullshit...
* LiteralMinded: Eleven's response to Hopper responding to her costume.
-->'''Hopper''': Jesus!
-->'''Eleven''': Ghost.
-->'''Hopper:''' Yeah I see that.

* NightmareFuelColoringBook: Will starts creating creepy drawings much to his mother's concern.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Jonathan repeats Bob's Dracula impression of "I hope it doesn't suck!" when dropping Will off with his friends.

* ThePromise: Hopper makes a big promise to Eleven to be back at 5:15 pm but he gets distracted by an investigation and turns up late. He seems genuinely regretful, but Eleven is obviously angry and won't talk to him.
* ScareChord: Played for laughs early on when Eleven sneaks up on Hopper [[BedsheetGhost dressed as a ghost]].
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Lucas when Max jumps them.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Steve reacts this way when Nancy belittles him and implies that she doesn't love him.

* SoUnfunnyItsFunny: Bob's brand of humor, especially his vampire puns.

* TimeCompressionMontage: Used throughout the episode to show what happened to Eleven after the end of Season 1. First she's seen surviving destroying the Demogorgon right after it happened, then there are two separate scenes of her living in the woods around Hawkins several months later, complete with her hair growing out.
* TitleDrop: When a couple of bullies with masks encounter Will while he's picking up candy and mock him.
* TrunkShot: The shot of Dustin looking into the trash bin to find the little creature.
* WhamLine: PlayedForLaughs. "Why is no one else wearing costumes?"
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Jonathan apparently thinks this about Bob and Joyce, not because he thinks Bob is a bad person, just that he's an absolute dork. Bob is otherwise shown to be nothing but loving and kind to Joyce and her children, and Will appreciates how Bob is apparently the only person in Hawkins to treat him normally.
* WildTeenParty: Billy, Nancy, Steve and Jonathan all attend one.

* LongingLook: After tucking Nancy into bed, Jonathan briefly pauses while closing her door to admire her sleeping form.

* ThatCameOutWrong: While chatting with the girl at the party, Jonathan suddenly asks, "Kiss?" He quickly clarifies that he was trying to identify her [[{{Music/Kiss}} costume]].
* TimeCompressionMontage: Used throughout the episode to show what happened to Eleven after the end of Season 1. First she's seen surviving destroying the Demogorgon right after it happened, then there are two seperate scenes of her living in the woods around Hawkins several months later, complete with her hair growing out.

-->'''Nancy:''' You're--you're pretending like--like everything is okay. You know, like we didn't--like we didn't kill ''Barb''? Like, like, "it's great. Like, we're in love and we're partying. Yeah, let's party, huh? Party. We're partying."
This-'tis bullshit.

* InVinoVeritas: Nancy gets drunk at the teen party and starts laying into Steve about covering up Barbara's death from the previous season and how she doesn't really love him. She doesn't remember this incident the next day, but when he presses her on it she admits that's pretty much how she feels.

-->'''Eleven''': No, ghost.

* InVinoVeritas: Nancy gets drunk at the teen party and starts laying into Steve about covering up Barbara's death from the previous season and how she doesn't really love him. She doesn't remember this incident the next day, but when he presses her on it she admits it.

* HalloweenEpisode

* OneDimensionalThinking: Downplayed. When Billy is about the run over Dustin, Mike and Lucas on their bikes, they don't think about getting off the street until the last possible moment.

* TheOner: A single continuous shot tracks Billy, then Nancy, then (briefly) Steve across the Halloween party they're attending.

* FauxHorrific / SeriousBusiness / WhamLine PlayedForLaughs: The boys are arguing about which of them was supposed to be Winston. Abruptly, the soundtrack turns sinister, a single deep, sustained synthesizer note, and Dustin looks around, fear blossoming across his face. We can't see what he's so scared of.
-->'''Dustin:''' ''Guys. Guys? GUYS!''
** And then we cut to see what he does: the school bus, dropping off most of the student body. All of whom are in normal clothes.
--->'''Dustin:''' ''Why is no no one else wearing costumes?''
** True middle-school horror.

* SeriousBusiness: The boys treat the fact that they were the only ones to arrive at school in costume for Halloween with the same kind of gravitas they would when dealing with the Upside Down.

* WhamLine: PlayedForLaughs. "Why is no one else wearing costumes?"

* InVinoVeritas: Nancy gets drunk at the teen party and starts laying into Steve about covering up Barbara's death from the previous season and he she doesn't really love him. She doesn't remember this incident the next day, but when he presses her on it she admits it.

* InVinoVeritas: Nancy does this at the party, being a "stupid teenager", and in the bathroom tells Steve that she thinks them pretending nothing is wrong and being in love is "bullshit."

The party go trick-or-treating dressed as Ghostbusters, and are joined by Max. While Lucas and Dustin are excited to have her with them, Mike is less than happy with her presence. But the quest for candy is cut short when Will has another vision of the shadowy monster from the Upside Down trying to catch him. Mike brings the shaken Will home to discuss his visions, during which he admits to him that he is still trying to contact Eleven.

In the present, Eleven asks to go trick-or-treating. Hopper says it's too risky, but promises her to be home early with candy so they can celebrate Halloween together. However while working he learns the strange blight has spread to farms all over town, and spends all day investigating it, and eventually has to break his promise.

* ScareChord: Played for laughs early on when Eleven sneaks up on Hopper dressed as a ghost.

* AlienKudzu: Averted, then played straight. The rot killing the pumpkins has spread to other crops, making it seem like a plant blight. However, Hopper then discovers the surrounding trees covered by a fungus/slime combination which he's only seen in one other place: the Upside Down.