It's Halloween night, and Phineas, Ferb, Candace and their friends visit a haunted house. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz's attempt to transfer his mind into a cow to declare war against grass has gone wrong, transforming him into a ferocious werecow Perry needs to keep from wreaking havoc.
Tropes
- Agent Scully: Baljeet refuses to believe in the existence of ghosts.
- All Just a Prank: It’s revealed that Russell’s home was never really haunted or filled with monsters, it was just some good old-fashioned Halloween Trickery put on by his parents.
- All Part of the Show: When Doofenshmirtz in his were-cow form rips through the backdrop of a little kids’ farm play, the audience thinks it’s part of the show and applauds.
- Balloon Belly: After turning back into a human, Doofenshmirtz has one from gorging himself on grass as a were-cow.
- Bedsheet Ghost: While in the Creepy Cemetery that’s inexplicable in Russell’s basement, a ghost can be heard describing herself as such and a clothesline with a ghost-shaped sheet flies past.Ghost: I’m not a ghost...I’m a sheet...that lives!
- Behind a Stick: Parodied. Were-Cow!Doofenshmirtz hides behind a lamppost and is clearly visible, but the angry mob completely misses him.Mob Member: He could be hiding behind any one of these poles!
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Baljeet borrows Phineas’ Once per Episode catchphrase, “Hey, where is Perry?”
- Brain Food: Like all good zombies, the ones in Russell’s basement are hungry for brains...and spleens and pancreases and kidneys."Proper" Zombie: I don't care for organs, but I do enjoy a cucumber sandwich. (gets trampled) Dash it all, they broke my saucer.
- Brick Joke: The couple at the house Candace trick-or-treats at with Phineas and Ferb thinks she’s not wearing a costume. Later, when they meet up with the rest of the kids, Buford also asks her why she’s not dressed up.Candace: Where’s your costume?! I haven’t worn my hair like this in two years!
- Carnivore Confusion: Played with. During his chase scene with Perry, Were-Cow!Doofenshmirtz makes a beeline for the refrigerated section of a grocery store and chugs a carton of milk.
- Continuity Nod: This wasn't the first time Carl pretended to be Monogram.
- Creepy Basement: Russell’s basement, to say the very least. It features a cemetery, ghosts, a river (possibly made of blood), and zombies.Buford: I gotta say, this is a really nontraditional use of interior space.
- Crop Circles: Doofenshmirtz as a were-cow makes a crop circle in the shape of a cow.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Candace is supposed to be dressed as Heidi, but one of the neighbors, who hasn't seen her in a long time, assumes this is what she is doing. Also, Isabella tries to claim this, before sheepishly admitting that she got her costume from the Googolplex Mall.
- Forced Transformation: As a result of an experiment gone wrong, Doofenshmirtz transforms into a were-cow, and a bull with udders at that.
- Funny Background Event: During the chase scene, one of the mob members takes a water cup and sips it as if he is running a race.
- Ghost Butler: Immediately after the group enters Russell’s house, the wind blows out the candles lighting the room and the front door slams behind them.
- Halloween Costume Characterization: The Bully, rough and tumble Buford, goes as a Pirate for Halloween. Baljeet however, who’s weaker and more In Touch with His Feminine Side, dresses as a daisy.
- Halloween Episode: The third, and the first to actually take place on Halloween.
- Haunted House: The kids meet a boy named Russell who lives in one of the Old, Dark House variety and they decide to help him rid his house of the ghosts that are terrifying him.
- The Igor: Perry dresses as this when trick-or-treating with the gang.
- Insistent Terminology: Baljeet is not dressing as a daffodil, he's a daisy.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: Angelic harp music plays when Isabella jokingly says she’s not wearing a fairy princess costume. When it goes right over Phineas’ head, the music dies down as Isabella admits she got her costume at the Googolplex Mall.
- Literal Metaphor: Doofenshmirtz uses one of his inventions to literally give a cow “a piece of his mind” by transferring some of his thoughts into the cow’s head.
- Noodle Incident: Doofenshmirtz, for reasons he refuses to explain, declared war on grass. He claims the reason is unimportant.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: Due to an inator gone wrong, Doof is cursed to transform into a werecow, which is as ridiculous as it sounds.
- Painful Transformation: Doof transforming into a werecow.
- Pumpkin Person: A monster with a jack-o-lantern for a head appears and says the Once per Episode, “Aren’t you a little young to be...” line.Jack-O-Lantern Monster: Aren’t you a little young to be hunting ghosts?The Gang: (frightened) Yes! Yes, we are!
- Punny Name: The little boy is named Russell (rustle), and his parents are Waylon (wailin') and Mona (moanin'). Lampshaded twice by Isabella.Isabella: Oh Russell! Like the leaves.
- Real After All: Subverted. Phineas mentions how he almost believed the haunted house was real and then looks back to see that the house has disappeared. It turns out it was just an inflatable house and Russell’s family was packing it up for the night.Phineas: Isn’t this the moment in one of these things when someone really turns into a ghost?(Beat)Russel: Dude, that's it!
- Robotic Reveal: The Jack-O-Lantern Ghost is revealed to be a robot after Ferb knocks its head off.
- Scary Flashlight Face: Russell does this while telling the other kids about his haunted house. Also Baljeet when asking the inevitable question.Buford: The light under his chin makes his story pretty convincing.
- Shout-Out:
- When the kids enter the haunted house, music similar to the theme from Halloween plays in the background.
- The devices used by the kids to investigate the house closely resemble the PKE Meters used in Ghostbusters.
- Doofenshmirtz uses a mind transmitter on a cow and turns into a Were-Cow, similar to how Wallace in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit used one on the rabbits and turned into the Were-Rabbit. Also, in the Book of Monsters, the page before Were-Rabbit is Were-Cow.
- Special Edition Title: Only the very last part of the title sequence is different, with spooky music and Halloween-themed scenes from "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!" and "The Monster of Phineas-N-Ferbenstein" as well as concept art from "Are You My Mummy?" (with Phineas having his original red and yellow striped shirt, green pants, and red shoes and Candace in her original green dress) in the background.Candace: Mo-om! Phineas and Ferb are making a Halloween special!
- Special Guest: Michael Douglas as Waylon and his real-life son, Dylan, as Russell. Interestingly, Waylon's wife is not played by Catherine Zeta-Jones to make it a full family affair, but instead by April Winchell.
- Tempting Fate: Baljeet asks how the situation could possibly get worse, and Russel says that the floor sometimes gives out. Immediately after, that exact thing happens.
- Thing-O-Matic: The Mind-Transferinator, which was supposed to allow Doofenshmirtz to transfer a portion of his mind into the head of a cow, but instead turned him into a were-cow.
- Torches and Pitchforks: After watching a news report about the were-cow, a couple decides to form an angry mob to hunt it town while lampshading the fact that they coincidentally already had a torch and pitchfork with them.Woman: Wait a minute. You brought a torch on our date?Man: Hello?? Pitchfork?!
- Too Old to Trick-or-Treat: Candace is only trick-or-treating with her brothers until she can get to Jeremy’s house, because she thinks she’s too old to spend the whole night doing so.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It is never shown what happened to Doofenshmirtz after he becomes a werecow, and chased by the mobs and Perry. However, knowing how Perry is always one step ahead and due that the next episodes always have Doofenshmirtz back to normal, it could be assumed that Perry manage to capture the mutated Doofenshmirtz and help him to cure his mutation.
