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The Little Rascal s a k a Our Gang was something I remember watching very early Saturday mornings before the current cartoon lineup got rolling and afternoons after school As far as I was concerned it was the oldest TV show I d ever seen having no idea at the time that these were actually theatrical shorts that predated consumer television by good twenty years or so Despite their age the humor and appeal of the characters arrived in the 1970s intact save a few head scratching references to things like castor oil or mush Part of the appeal for me was the sheer anarchy on display in many of the episodes a sharp contrast t

the supervised and safety conscious play environments I was accustomed to These kids often operated in an adult free child ruled alternate reality like an urbanized Lord of the Flies Either that or they were being antagonized by a borderline criminal adult authority e g crooked orphanage evil dog catcher etc that wholly justified any mayhem they might partake in Either way it was alluring stuff Occasionally The Little Rascal s adventures took a turn for the scary and of course those are some of my best remembered episodes BOUNCING BABIES 1929 Our first entry is the only Little Rascals short I m aware of that is actually set on Halloween day Not that this has any import to the plot which revolves around Wheezer s Robert Hutchins attempt to return his toddler sister to the hospital in exchange for a goat But it does provide an excuse for the other Rascals to give him and Farina Allen Hoskins a scare while in costume THE FIRST ROUND UP 1934 In this 1934 episode Spanky George MacFarland Stymie Matthew Beard Scotty Scotty Beckett and others decide to go on a camping trip at Cherry Creek It isn t long after the campfire is lit when Spanky and Scotty the youngest of the group start speculating excitedly about the possible presence of ghosts SPANKY I hope it gets good and dark SCOTTY Yea maybe we ll see some ghosts Ironically its the older children that start to get spooked by this suggestion When Spanky notices the lantern is projecting his own shadow on a bridge beam he playfully strikes various lurking poses which appear as a sinister figure to the other kids After the others have fled the campsite Spanky and Scotty are in for a fright of their own when the lantern appears to move on its own we can see its merely sitting on the back of a turtle As they scramble to escape they become entangled in some bedding which makes them appear as some kind of unusual beast causing further panic OUR GANG FOLLIES OF 1936 1935 Spanky Alfalfa Carl Switzer Buckwheat Billie Thomas and the rest of the gang are putting on one of their famous variety shows One of the acts opens in a moonlit graveyard A spirit whistles past overhead Skeletons rise up one by one from behind the tombstones A skeleton dance begins Porky Eugene Lee provides the sound effects of the rattling bones The terrified faces in the audience are priceless As the dance ends the skeletons are lifted straight up into the rafters But the scares continue between acts after Spanky tosses off his skeleton mask and it lands on his pet monkey which proceeds to chase a frightened Buckwheat off stage SPOOKY HOOKY 1936 When the circus comes to town Alfalfa Spanky Buckwheat and Porky hatch a plan to get out of school the following day so they can attend They forge a doctor s note claiming they re all sick with colds or maybe new monia and leave it on the teacher s desk But when they later learn the teacher planned to take the entire class to the circus the following day anyway as a field trip they sneak back to the school later that night to retrieve their letter Buckwheat left out front alone to stand guard is freaked out by a nearby owl which is admittedly a little creepy with only its glowing eyes visible Meanwhile inside the school a distracted Porky has donned a sheet which interrupts Spanky s lecture to a frightened Alfalfa that there s no such thing as ghosts At this point all the commotion has awakened the sleep in janitor Buckwheat attempting to hide accidentally backs up into the bony grips of an anatomy skeleton which continues to cling to his shoulders as he runs through the school The janitor flees in mortal fear of the classroom skeleton even though he surely must have seen the thing every day he came to work HIDE AND SHRIEK 1938 Our next spooky episode begins when Buckwheat and Porky visit Alfalfa s detective agency which sports the coolest front door peephole I ve ever seen While looking for clues investigating a stolen box of candy the gang ends up hiding in a crate on the back of a truck that unknown to them is headed to a haunted attraction at a Long Beach amusement park They overhear the workers talk about delivering a pair of headless bodies to the murder house but the kids are unaware they re referring to decorations for a ride and exit the crate terrified Alfalfa accidently activates the ride while trying to switch on the lights A record player with a scary narrator is triggered Many enter this evil house but few depart alive But I will give you a chance There are two doors If you choose the right one you may escape But if you choose the wrong one Ha ha ha ha The first door they try opens to this jiggling figure The next door reveals this smoke breathing monster Porky and Alfalfa try to run but the floor is a treadmill and they merely run in place as the creature s arms stretch towards them Meanwhile Buckwheat who stayed behind in another room finds an aquarium populated by skeletal fish When he sits down on an organ bench he is joined by two skeletons which lower alongside him from above Soon Buckwheat joins Porky and Alfalfa A trapdoor has opened at the end of the treadmill and as each child tires and falls they are dropped through the floor and down a chute The exit is blocked by this devil masked skeleton that swings towards them The narrator commands them to sit on the bench When they comply a safety bar lowers trapping them as the bench lurches forward A massive buzzsaw positioned right at their neck blocks their path but lifts at the last second The terrified kids are deposited at the ride s exit SPOOK SPOOFING 1928 This final episode is also the oldest a silent episode starring Farina who plays a superstitious boy afraid of ghosts Through a series of practical jokes he is tricked into believing he s killed another boy and carries him to the graveyard for burial Of course the other Rascals are lying in wait with costumes and props to give him a good scare This creepy skeletal horse looks like something that escaped from a Survival Research Laboratories show The Little Rascals has been available in several different iterations on DVD and VHS but just go for the 8 disc 80 episode complete collection