Old Disney Channel original Halloween movies like Halloweentown (1998), its two sequels (2001 and 2004), and Don’t Look Under the Bed (1998) are historic examples of well-executed 90s spoop.

Spoopy can also be applied to modern movies, especially those that follow the trend of mixing comedy and horror genres.

While the Tumblr-era spoopy is usually explicitly funny in a stupid way, the current comedy/film/horror relationship is much more complex. Instead of the kind of gory-but-ludicrous comedy-horror collaborations from the past (see: Chucky), box office hits like Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Danny McBride’s Halloween, as well as Donald Glover’s dark comedy show Atlanta, deftly present elements of comedy in a way that leaves viewers uncertain of how to react. Typically they leave us scared or amused or a combination of both, and unlike pure comedy or horror, that reaction tends to evolve over time. At present, there’s not really a name for that feeling. Spoopy, however, gets pretty close.

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