The Spooktober Anthology

The Spooktober Anthology is AndrusTV’s titular Halloween special. It is the 5th episode of the current canon and the 7th episode overall.

The Spooktober Anthology is AndrusTV’s current most viewed, most liked, and formerly most commented on video. It has broken numerous channel records. The episode also introduced the characters of Gragazorr the Demon and Gary the Ghost.

The episode has received much praise and is considered by many to be the best of AndrusTV.

= Plot =

Spoiler warning.

The Spooktober Anthology follows Jonathan Andrus through three loosely connected Halloween-themed shorts.

Prelude and opening credits
In the prelude, Jonathan can be seen in his room, playing Charlie Charlie well chanting an altered version of Johny Johny. When Jonathan asks if there will be an AndrusTV Halloween special, the pencil moves to no, and Jonathan freaks out.

The opening credits begin to play and royalty free horror music can be heard. The title card flashes over a stock thunder sound effect.

First Skit: "Bad Roommates"
Jonathan enters Bill Todd's home, loudly affirming that he has done so to Gary (who is off-screen). Jonathan then sits in the living room and turns on the TV. After a few seconds, he gets up again to get himself a snack from the kitchen. He opens the pantry door and picks his snack (a bag of Doritos). When he closes the pantry door it is revealed the kitchen has been made a mess of in the few seconds it took him to get his snack, to which Jonathan blames Gary for (who is still nowhere to be found). Jonathan sits back down on the couch, but is quickly interrupted by a noise upstairs. He angrily rushes up the steps and finds Gary in his room (the first time Gary is revealed on screen). The two bicker, but Jonathan interrupts, realizing that he can't hear the TV downstairs even though he left it on. He rushes back downstairs. Upon finding that the TV is in fact off, Jonathan freaks out, and the skit ends on a 'To Be Continued'.

Second Skit: "The Haunting of the Park"
Jonathan is seen walking into his neighborhood park where he stops to take a rest on a bench. While resting he notices the swings moving on their own. He then spots a knife sitting on the bench next to him, which wasn't there before. He picks the knife up and shouts about how cliche the ghost is before turning to the camera and asking if they agree. It then cuts to Jonathan in his room, watching the skit on his computer, to which he laughs and exclaims how fourth wall breaks aren't funny, while at the same time speaking directly to the audience. Then the video makes one final cut to a YouTube web browser, with the Spooktober Anthology playing.

Third Skit: "The Summoning"
In this skit, Jonathan can be seen setting up to make a YouTube video. He then turns all the lights off and tells the audience that for his Halloween special, he will be summoning a demon. As her begins to chant in tongues, Gary walks into the room and turn on his bedroom light. Gary asks Jonathan what he is doing, to which Jonathan tries to explain that he is pretending to summon a demon for his YouTube channel. Gary cuts him off mid explanation, only picking up on the fact that he wants a demon. Gary takes out a phone, ignoring Jonathan's pleas for him not to get a real demon to come to Bill's house. The skit then jumps to Jonathan, Gary, and Gragazorr (in his first on-screen appearance) sitting on the couch from the first skit. Gragazorr asks if Jonathan has any chips, to which Jonathan begrudgingly gets up to retrieve the Doritos once again. Just as before, when he closes the pantry he finds the kitchen is a mess, and the episode ends with Jonathan freaking out at Gary.

= Production =

The Spooktober Anthology is the first AndrusTV episode that is known to have had a script. It is also the first episode with a scene entirely outdoors. For a time, The Spooktober Anthology was AndrusTV's longest video.

The idea of having three skits in one was, according to Andrus, "a decision made from a lack of decisions". Initially five skits were created with the purpose of being AndrusTV's Halloween special, however no single skit could be decided on, and instead the top three were chosen to be shown together. The at-the-time unreleased fourth skit would be uploaded a little over a month later as it's own separate episode; ''"Jonathan Plays Five Finger Filét"'.

Hiatus
The episode underwent development hell, due at first to trouble deciding on a skit, then due to the sheer amount of time it took to write, film, edit, and animate (something never done before on AndrusTV) three full skits. This cuased a four week period of silence from the AndrusTV channel in which no new videos were uploaded. It remains the channels' only minor hiatus, and the first of two hiatuses caused by overwork during production.

=Reception=

See also: List of milestones achieved by The Spooktober Anthology

Initial response
From upload, The Sppoktober Anthology already proved to be a successful video. This is thought to be due in part to the hiatus taken as a result of it's production.

Shortly after upload, Jonathan posted to his Instagram a picture of the view count of The Spooktober Anthology, with the caption "New Record: 37 views in 6 hours". As seen in the photo, it had also already become AndrusTV's most liked video. After just it's first day it had around 60 views, and on November 2, 2018, it surpassed "My Scariest Day of High School (So Far)", becoming AndrusTV's most viewed video, a position it still holds today.

Comments on the video were overwhelmingly positive and it maintained having no dislikes.

Effects on AndrusTV
The Spooktober Antholgy introduced new reoccurring characters to the show; most famously Gary the Ghost, a fan favorite. It was also the first time AndrusTV experimented with animation, which would continued to be used more and more regularly as the show progressed. Comedy skits on the channel after The Spooktober Anthology also seem to have a slightly different tone, usually being more faced paced and having multiple jokes, instead of a single joke tied into a contained storyline (such as in Don't Say That Word).

Resurgence
In October 2019, the video once again started gaining views at a fast rate. This spike is certainly due to the video's holiday theme and another resurgence may occur in 2020. Comments continued to be positive during the spike, and The Spooktober Anthology became somewhat of a YouTube anomaly by maintaining having no dislikes.

Long term reception
The Spooktober Anthology is considered to be the best of AndrusTV, as shown by it's high view counts, positive comments and ratings, and the milestones it has set. It has also become a small part of pop culture. Scenes within the episode are the subject of several internet memes, and it has even been made reference too by a few small YouTube creators.

In April 2020, the episode received its first dislike on YouTube, breaking it's streak.

=Characters featured=

All characters are portrayed by Andrus.


 * Jonathan Andrus
 * Gary the Ghost (first appearance)
 * Gragazorr the Demon (first appearance)

= Abandoned sequels =

Jonathan Andrus expressed a desire to make a Spooktober Anthology every Halloween, as a regular part of the channel.

There was not a 2019 Spooktober Anthology, as the series was on hiatus at the time it would have been released.

More recently, Andrus has stated that AndrusTV season 2 will be released before Viare is (which has a launch date of October 21st) diminishing the possibility of a 2020 Spooktober Anthology. He also stated that AndrusTV will not continue after season 2.