Halloween Screams: A Villainous Surprise in the Skies is a Halloween-themedfireworks show that is presented atDisneyland during the seasonalMickey's Halloween Party event. Based on the similarly themed, former fireworks showHalloWishes atMagic Kingdom,Halloween Screams is hosted byJack Skellington and features appearances fromDisney Villains and music from Disney animated features.

Halloween Screams: A Villainous Surprise in the Skies
Disneyland
Status	Operating
Opening date	September 25, 2009; 15 years ago (September 25, 2009)
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Fireworks spectacular
Designer	Walt Disney Creative Entertainment
Theme	Halloween
Wheelchair accessible

The show was produced byWalt Disney Creative Entertainment, and its development was supervised by Steven Davison and designer Eric Tucker. This display was held nightly in 2009, during Disneyland's Halloween Time Celebration. The show is similar to that ofWalt Disney World Resort'sHalloWishes and uses portions of the show's audio. The Anaheim version differs in that it is hosted byJack Skellington fromTim Burton'sThe Nightmare Before Christmas. The show ran from September 25 to November 1, 2009 (the duration of Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort) and since 2010, it ran exclusively forMickey's Halloween Party until 2018. On non-party nights, the current Disney fireworks show runs unlessHalloween Screams was cancelled due to winds or other issues the night before and must be presented as the fireworks can't be removed from their tubes in the event of a cancellation. Beginning in 2019, when Halloween Party moved toDisney California Adventure, the fireworks spectacular will be running again for public showing for the first time since its opening year. In the 2019 season, the show was modified to run likeMickey's Mix Magic only having fireworks during select evenings and run projection only on other nights.

On the select nights where there was high winds or weather issues which forced to cancel the fireworks part of the show, a B-show consisted of all-new low level pyrotechnics and small sized firework shells would be introduced. On other occasions, the show can still played even without fireworks as well. In September 2022, Disneyland announced that the updated version of Halloween fireworks shows will return.

In 2023, due to the aftermath ofFantasmic! Maleficent dragon fire that happened last April, the flame effects was cut and replaced by a new simulated flame fog effect utilize at the castle's ralling.

The show opens with the overture fromTim Burton'sThe Nightmare Before Christmas, an instrumental medley of songs from the film including "What's This?" and "Making Christmas". Zero (Jack Skellington's dog from the film) flies aboveSleeping Beauty Castle. He is shortly joined by Jack, or rather his head (in the form of projection onto a sphere shaped balloon), located on the upper left of the castle. These projections can also be viewed along the Rivers of America, which recycle the mist screens used inFantasmic!. There are onlysearchlights andprojection mapping used in the show's introduction. No actual pyrotechnics are used for the first two minutes.

Jack and Zero fade into the night and the first pyrotechnics are launched when "Grim Grinning Ghosts", from the Disneyland attraction theHaunted Mansion, begins to play. Projections of rising ghosts make an appearance on the castle. The music from "Grim Grinning Ghosts" changes to an upbeat pop tempo, as synchronized isobar flames, shoot up from both sides of the castle. Then the mood is set with "This is Halloween" fromThe Nightmare Before Christmas.

Then Disney's most infamous villains begin to arrive, beginning withUrsula (fromThe Little Mermaid). The guests are serenaded with a montage of Disney's most spookiest music. Later,Oogie Boogie (fromThe Nightmare Before Christmas) soon follows, and arriving last isMaleficent (fromSleeping Beauty), showing guests howHalloween should really be celebrated. The party ends with Jack and Zero initiating the "scream-along" grand finale.

• "Overture" (fromThe Nightmare Before Christmas) (Danny Elfman)
• "Grim Grinning Ghosts" (fromHaunted Mansion) (Buddy Baker /X Atencio)
• "This is Halloween" (fromThe Nightmare Before Christmas) (Elfman)
• Ursula's Spellbound Medley:
  • "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (fromThe Little Mermaid) (Alan Menken /Howard Ashman)
  • "Cruella de Vil" (fromOne Hundred and One Dalmatians and its1996 live-action remake) (Mel Leven)
  • "Never Smile at a Crocodile" (fromPeter Pan) (Frank Churchill /Jack Lawrence)
  • "The Elegant Captain Hook" (fromPeter Pan) (Sammy Cahn)
  • "The Skeleton Dance" (from theSilly Symphonies short,The Skeleton Dance) (Edvard Grieg, adapted byCarl Stalling)
  • "Trust In Me" (fromThe Jungle Book) (The Sherman Brothers) mixed in with "AEIOU" (fromAlice in Wonderland) (Oliver Wallace /Ted Sears)
  • "Heffalumps and Woozles" (fromWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day) (The Sherman Brothers)
  • "Pink Elephants on Parade" (fromDumbo) (Wallace /Ned Washington)
  • "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" (fromThe Three Little Pigs) (Churchill)
• Oogie Boogie's Underground Casino Lair:
  • "Oogie Boogie's Song" (fromThe Nightmare Before Christmas) (Elfman)
• Maleficent's Visit:
  • "Night on Bald Mountain" (fromFantasia; voice over by Maleficent) (Modest Mussorgsky)^×
  • "Hellfire" (fromThe Hunchback of Notre Dame) (Menken)^×
• Reprise of "This is Halloween" and "Grim Grinning Ghosts" in a "Scream-Along" medley finale
• "I Put a Spell on You" (lyrics fromHocus Pocus) (written byScreamin' Jay Hawkins; plays as the exit music for the show)

^× — Instrumental version is played.

• Chris Sarandon asJack Skellington
• Pat Carroll asUrsula the Sea Witch
• Ken Page asOogie Boogie
• Susan Blakeslee asMaleficent

The projections used on the sphere to the upper left of the castle were later used as projections on theFantasmic! mist screens at theRivers of America during the show. The decision to have video playback during the fireworks was made in October 2009. In 2015, the projectors installed forDisneyland Forever at the castle were also utilized. Not only are they an addition to the show, they are also used to project various images during the party hours. Projections used on the sphere were modified as well.

In 2018, the last year of the show exclusive to Mickey's Halloween Party, the projections were expanded to across the park withMain Street U.S.A. now using the projection mapping and searchlights to accommodate the show's viewing.

The show was formerly only performed during Mickey's Halloween Party, for party guests only. On occasions where the show is cancelled during the Halloween Party, the show is presented the next night, even if this is not a party night, as the fireworks cannot be taken out from the launch tubes to be saved for another night.

The 2019 showing of the show was the first public showing in decades since the opening year in 2009 after Halloween Party moved to Disney California Adventure. The show saw many changes:

• The only location to not had projections updated had updated many scenes of the show.
  • That location already had projections since it debut, but wasn't updated in 2015 or 2018.
• InRivers of America, the show was enhanced and utilized with fountains, lasers, new projections in the area, and searchlights, which were also used for many firework shows such asTogether Forever (first firework show to have this technology),Believe... In Holiday Magic,Mickey's Mix Magic, and 2019 version ofDisneyland Forever.
• There were more fireworks than in the previous year of showing for select nights (mainly Friday to Sunday) and more of lasers (albeit without fireworks) which were used in other weeknights.

• HalloWishes
• Disney's Nightmare in the Sky

• Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort

• Video of part 1 of the show onYouTube
• Video of part 2 of the show onYouTube
• Jack and the Castle (photo)