After a less-than-lucky fishing trip, the Mystery, Inc. gang is taking a shortcut through a spooky swamp. When they get lost, Fred pulls over to get directions from a man on the side of the road...but Shaggy discovers that it's actually a grunting zombie! After speeding toward a nearby general store, the gang learns that a Wicked Witch has apparently invaded the swamp, raising the zombie to serve as her minion for unknown purposes and driving all but two of the townspeople away. Mystery, Inc. decides to investigate and uncover the hoax behind the hex.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Daphne and Velma immediately rush to pummel the "witch" when it seems like she's kidnapped Scooby. It's actually Shaggy in the Paper-Thin Disguise described below, but both girls are shown getting in a few good punches before he reveals himself.
- Bullying a Dragon:
- It doesn’t seem to cross Daphne’s mind that challenging a witch with apparent magic powers is a bad thing to do, probably because she figured (correctly) that she couldn't actually do magic.
- When Shaggy emerges from his hiding place in the sack of money, he thrusts some cash into the zombie's hands and shouts "HERE, DOUBLE UGLY! Go buy yourself a new face!" In this case it's deliberate, as he and Scooby are goading the zombie and witch into chasing them.
- Cast as a Mask: Zeke's real voice is supplied by Don Messick, but his vocal effects as the swamp zombie are provided by John Stephenson. Somewhat averted with the Zeb as the witch; while we never hear Zeb's true voice, Don Messick provides the witch's fake "old woman" voice, which makes a man disguising as a witch more realistic.
- Damsel in Distress: Daphne, again, is captured by the Monster of the Week. She’s taken to a hidden shack where she’s Bound and Gagged.
- Disguised in Drag:
- Shaggy and Scooby disguise themselves as a witch to get away from the zombie. Shaggy even uses the old "What are boys/girls made of?" nursery rhyme as his attempt at imitating a witch's spell.
- The "witch" haunting the area turns out to be a man in a dress and mask. Bonus for points for having Don Messick supply a fake "old woman" voice for the "witch" (even though we never hear the man's real voice.)
- Fair-Play Whodunnit: Viewers can actually solve the mystery by taking note of the various clues the gang finds: a metal-tipped pole in the zombie's boat, a wench, and various power tools. From there it's logical to determine that the zombie and witch are hunting for something large and metallic in the swamp—and sure enough, they're after an armored car full of sacks of money.
- Gone Horribly Right: Zeb and Zeke pulled off an armored car robbery, then hid the car itself in a swamp, figuring they could go back for it once the heat died down. Unfortunately, the plan worked too well—they lost the car and had to start searching for it, prompting them to don the witch and zombie disguises to scare everyone off.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Shaggy suggests he and Scooby have a coin-toss to decide who checks on a shadowy figure outside; "Heads I win, tails you lose." Scooby falls for it and agrees (well, he is a dog).
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: The gang encounters an "Enter at your own risk" sign with a hissing crocodile for atmosphere. However, the crocodile itself doesn't do anything.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Shaggy and Scooby disguise themselves as the titular villain using nothing but a purple sheet and a mop, with Shaggy passing off the "What Are Little Boys/Girls Made Of" nursery rhyme as a witch spell. It works. Shaggy and Scooby call the zombie stupid as they're walking away...and then Scooby notices that the zombie saw and grabbed his tail, which was protruding from the back.
- Rise from Your Grave: The zombie is brought 'back to life' by the eponymous witch.
- Smoke Out: This is the witch's main power—she can conjure a "smoke of evil" to make herself and others appear and vanish instantly. Velma later proves that Zeb is using small pellets to create the smoke and vanish in the confusion.
