History Recap / TalesFromTheDarksideS0E1TrickOrTreat

Gideon Hackles (Creator/BarnardHughes) is a tyrannical old man who enjoys having an absolute stranglehold on his small farming community. He regularly rakes in the townsfolk's riches because he owns the town's only store, where everything can only be bought on credit. The one day a year that the townspeople can pay off their debts to him is Halloween, where they send their children into his house to search for their I.O.Us. But as a means to ensure that they don't succeed, Gideon transforms his house into a haunted mansion with animatronic ghosts and goblins, scaring the children away. This year, however, the various things that go bump in the night plan to turn the tables on the old miser.

Gideon Hackles is a tyrannical old man who enjoys having an absolute stranglehold on his small farming community. He regularly rakes in the townsfolk's riches because he owns the town's only store, where everything can only be bought on credit. The one day a year that the townspeople can pay off their debts to him is Halloween, where they send their children into his house to search for their I.O.Us. But as a means to ensure that they don't succeed, Gideon transforms his house into a haunted mansion with animatronic ghosts and goblins, scaring the children away. This year, however, the various things that go bump in the night plan to turn the tables on the old miser.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Gideon's first scene establishes what a stingy old bastard he is by not only rebuffing a job offer to a pair of accountants out of sheer distrust, but also charges them 4 cents for every cup of coffee he offers them, and even demonstrates one of his animatronic spectres on them.

* IgnoredEpiphany: Gideon's view on people is nothing short of cynical, viewing them as a "backwards" folks. That said, when he witnesses Mr. Muldoon [[PetTheDog comfort his frightened son]] (despite he returned empty-handed), he merely growls "Backwards!" This establishes that Gideon is incapable of understanding the value of compassion and familial love.

* WhamShot: Once we see what's behind the door Gideon was leaning against.

* PetTheDog: With Gideon disposed of, the Witch gives Billy all of his money and the whole town's IOU's, effectively freeing the town from his control once and for all before flying off.

Gideon Hackles is a tyrannical old man who enjoys having an absolute stranglehold on his small farming community. He regularly rakes in the townsfolk's riches because he owns the town's only store, where everything can only be bought on credit. The one day a year that the townspeople can pay off their debts to him is to have their children enter his house on Halloween. But as a means to ensure that they don't succeed, Gideon transforms his house into a haunted mansion with animatronic ghosts and goblins, scaring the children away. This year, however, the various things that go bump in the night plan to turn the tables on the old miser.

* HateSink: Gideon Hackles, a sadistic old miser who has gained his massive fortune from the fact that he owns the only store in his farming town. Everything is payable by credit only, and thus the whole town is in debt to him. Every Halloween, he combines his love of money with his other favorite pastime: tormenting children. He hides the I.O.U.s of every family in town somewhere in his house, forcing the families to send their children into said house to find them. When they step inside, Gideon transforms the house into a haunted mansion by way of ghoulish sound effects and animatronics, laughing in sheer delight as the children run screaming into their parents' arms. Thankfully, the Devil and his minions turn the tables on the old man, and manage to give Billy all the I.O.U.s and all his money.

* MadnessMantra: Of a sort. As Gideon tries to collect the I.O.U.s and his cash, all he can seem to mutter is "money", even as the door to Hell opens.

* MortonsFork: The townsfolk are forced by Gideon to bring their kids to his house in order to win their I.O.U.s. Given how severely scary he turns his house on October 31st, no loving parent would ever make their kids attend something so cruel. They unfortunately have no choice: they're in debt to Mr. Hackles, and making their kids go is the only way to appease him for another year.

* {{Determinator}}: Young Billy is determined to find his family's I.O.U. and free them from Gideon's debt, in spite of his father's wishes. Lucky for him, Gideon's already been taken care of by the time he gets to his house

* HateSink: Gideon Hackles, a sadistic old miser who has gained his massive fortune from the fact that he owns the only store in his farming town Everything is payable by credit only, and thus the whole town is in debt to him. Every Halloween, he combines his love of money with his other favorite pastime: tormenting children. He hides the I.O.U.s of every family in town somewhere in his house, forcing the families to send their children into said house to find them. When they step inside, Gideon transforms the house into a haunted mansion by way of ghoulish sound effects and animatronics, laughing in sheer delight as the children run screaming into their parents' arms. Thankfully, the Devil and his minions turn the tables on the old man, and manage to give Billy all the I.O.U.s and all his money.

Elderly miser Gideon Hackles, who enjoys tormenting the children of his town on Halloween, has the tables turned on him when real monsters visit him to give him a taste of his own medicine.

!!"Trick or Treat" provides examples of:

* {{Determinator}}: Billy is determined to find his family's IOU and free them from Gideon's control, in spite of his father's wishes. Lucky for him, Gideon's already been taken care of by the time he gets there.
* DraggedOffToHell: Gideon at the end.
* EvilOldFolks: Gideon is a man in his winter years, and a greedy son of a bitch at that.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Devil is...well the Devil, but he and his minions successfully take Gideon to Hell and based off of the Devil using Gideon's "You're getting warmer" against him, he's been waiting to claim Gideon for a long time.
* HateSink: Gideon, a sadistic miser who has gained his massive fortune from the fact that he owns the only store in town, where everything is payable by credit only, and thus the whole town is in debt to him. Every Halloween, he combines his love of money with his other favorite pastime: tormenting children. He hides the IOU's of every family in town somewhere in his house, forcing all the families to send their children into said house to find them. When they step inside, Gideon transforms his house into a haunted mansion by way of ghoulish sound effects and animatronics, laughing in sheer delight as the children run screaming into their parents' arms. Thankfully, the Devil and his minions turn the tables on the old man, and manage to give a brave little boy all the IOU's and all his money.
* IronicEcho: One of Gideon's favorite lines to taunt the children going through his haunted house is "You're getting warmer." Once he finds the door to hell, the Devil tells him that exact line as he steps through.
* {{Irony}}: The prologue has Gideon demean the farmers for being "careless little people leading careless little lives" just because they rely on weather like farmers are ''supposed to''.
* MadnessMantra: Of a sort. As Gideon tries to collect his flying money and IOU's, all he can seem to mutter is "money", even as the door to hell opens.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: As if he wasn't odious enough, it's [[EstablishingCharacterMoment established]] with Mr. Kimble that Gideon doesn't simply let the parents choose whether to bring their kids to the haunted house or not: he "insists" that they come. If they don't, he will take their farms.
* PetTheDog: With Gideon disposed of, The Witch gives Billy all of his money and the whole town's IOU's, effectively freeing the town from his control once and for all before flying off.
* TheScrooge: Gideon fits this to a T.

** Later, as Billy walks off with the money the witch gave him, we see a tombstone with Gideon's name on it, confirming without a doubt what happened was real.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: As if he wasn't odious enough, it's [[EstablishingCharacterMoment established]] with Mr. Kimble that he doesn't simply let the parents choose whether to bring their kids to the haunted house or not: he "insists" that they come. If they don't, he will take their farms.

* DraggedOfftoHell: Gideon at the end.

* PettheDog: With Gideon disposed of, The Witch gives Billy all of his money and the whole town's IOU's, effectively freeing the town from his control once and for all before flying off.

!!"Trick or Treat" Provides examples of:

* Determinator: Billy is determined to find his family's IOU and free them from Gideon's control, in spite of his father's wishes. Lucky for him, Gideon's already been taken care of by the time he gets there.

An elderly miser who enjoys tormenting children on Halloween has the tables turned on him when a real witch visits him to give him a taste of his own medicine. But is there more going on here than meets the eye?

* Determinator: Billy is determined to find his family's IOU and free them from Gideon's control, even in spite of his father's wishes. Lucky for him, Gideon's already been taken care of by the time he gets there.

* IronicEcho: One of Gideon's favorite lines to taunt the children going through his haunted house is "You're getting warmer." Once he finds the door to hell, the devil tells him that exact line as he steps through.
* MadnessMantra: Of a sort. As Gideon tries to collect all of his flying money and IOU's, all he can seem to mutter is "money", even as the door to hell opens.
* PettheDog: With Gideon disposed of, The Witch gives Billy all of his money and the town's IOU's, effectively freeing the town from his once and for all before flying off.