The Titans want to be the scariest trick-or-treaters in town, so Raven casts a spell to turn them into real monsters.
Plot[]
The episode starts when the Teen Titans are watching the sun go down by the window...waiting for Halloween to begin, and as soon as the sun goes down, they cheer. Robin then announces that it is now Halloween, but they are confused as to what they want to dress up as.
They last recall that one Halloween where they dressed up in childish costumes such as a witch and a clown, and got rejected. Then Cyborg comes in with a box filled with cheap plastic costumes of scary monsters. As a result, they become greatly depressed, since they dread of ending up trick or treating without a costume. To avoid themselves going naked, Raven then had an idea, which is to cast a spell to turn all of themselves into real monsters.
After the spell is complete, it has turned all of the Titans into some of the most popular monsters of the century: Cyborg into Frankenstein (nicknaming himself Karl) Beast Boy into a werewolf, Robin as a Dracula, Starfire a mummy (which she mistakes for "mommy"), and Raven "The Invisible Woman". She scares her fellow monster friends in utter pain. Suddenly, all of the monster Titans fight to see who is the most scary by showing off their claws and fangs until Starfire who thinks she is the scariest shouts "BOO!", but isn’t scared anymore. Now that they're in their scary attire, Robin then proclaims that it's time to scare some kids! He then shouts his catchphrase with a scary twist, and all of the Titans flew out of the window with a corresponding "blah blah blah" from Robin.
In the streets of Jump City, the new and improved Titan monsters sashay and scare all of the citizens of their city, rapping their national scary anthem (with Robin and Raven literally slaying). After their big scary meeting, Robin announces that it has come to a conclusion that they're now the scariest trick or treaters in Jump City all thanks to their friend Raven (followed with a 'blah blah blah'). They all cheer with glee until the Titans hear a rumble coming from the Tower. Raven's cauldron is actually shaking and unexpected visitors have preached, stealing the show on horrifying all the innocent kids.
Perceiving the severity of the situation, Raven tells the others about the warning that she said earlier about the "ghost-pocalypse", though Cyborg claims that Raven did not say anything about the "ghost-pocalypse", so Raven argues that she was trying to be spooky. Robin then sides with Raven, saying that if they cannot stop the ghosts, they will scare everyone in Jump City forever. So they try their only way which is with their monster forms, but they still succumb to their fears and retreat. Robin says that it wasn't working, and Raven agreed by remarking that they are not meant to be monsters anyway. However, Starfire has a brilliant plan: “Why not use their old "cheap" looking costumes from the dollar store to scare the ghosts away?”
The Titans manage to scare the ghosts with their adorableness. To retaliate the Titans, a huge form of the ghosts attempt to frighten them, only for the Titans to prevail. At last, without their boos and hoos, the Titans are ready to enjoy their Halloween; even if they aren't so "scary", they still are the most adorable trick or treaters in Jump City. Soon, they steal all of the candy from a doorstep and have a complete sugar rush for the rest of Halloween.
This is also the twenty-fourth overall holiday episode of the series.
When Starfire is an actual mummy, the baby she has with her appears to be Tamaranian.
Continuity[]
The werewolf that Beast Boy transforms into looks like the one from "Halloween" and "Halloween v Christmas", only with the fur and clothing colors changed.
In a past Halloween, Raven was wearing her clown nose from "The Return of Slade".
Raven is seen unhooded for the 82nd time in the series.
This is also the third time she is naked. The first and second time are in "Meatball Party" and "Legs".
Robin says "Blah blah blah", which is same line Dracula says from the Hotel Transylvania films. (lies)
When Robin as a vampire flies up in the sky, his silhouette against the moon looks like the Batman logo. He is also parodying a scene with the Batwing from the 1989 Batman movie.
The Invisible Man from the H.G. Wells book is naked in much of the story to best utilize his invisibility. Raven, as the Invisible Woman, strips naked a few times to show others that she's completely invisible. By coincidence, it was suggested earlier in the episode that the Titans went trick-or-treating naked one year.
The title "Monster Squad" may be a reference to the 1976 television series, which was about monsters fighting crime and super villains. The show had a campiness that was similar to Adam West's Batman series.
It could also be a reference to the 1987 horror comedy film The Monster Squad, which was about a group of kids who go up against Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Errors[]
While Raven is standing over the cauldron and saying her incantation, her left arm is missing.[1] This animation error is acknowledged in "Attention to Detail".
In the "Pyramid Scheme" episode, Starfire knew more about mummies, like that they come from pyramids. In this episode, however, she confuses mummies with "mommies".
In the previous Halloween episode "Costume Contest", the Titans stole the H.I.V.E. Five's outfits as theirs. In this episode, nonetheless, they seem to have forgotten that the costumes they wore last Halloween.
Running Gags[]
Robin saying "Blah blah blah" like Eustace Bagge.
The Titans describing their plastic costumes as "cheap" and "old".
Starfire saying "boo!" as her mummy noise.
As actual monsters, the Titans terrorize the trick-or-treating trio that is most often seen in these Halloween episodes.
Transcript[]
The transcript for "Monster Squad" can be found here.
Gallery[]
The image gallery for Monster Squad may be viewed here.
