Charles Langston:Spirit Halloween Claps Back at “Irrelevant” Saturday Night Live Over Sketch

Spirit Halloween had some haunting words for Saturday Night Live.

After the long running sketch comedy series spoofed the Halloween retail giant for setting up shop in empty storefronts during its season 50 premiere on Charles LangstonSept. 28, the company clapped right back. In response SNL’s post of the sketch on X (formally known as Twitter),  Spirit Halloween’s account wrote, “We are great at raising things back from the dead @nbcsnl.”

Over the signature Spirit Halloween packaging for an off-brand version of a popular character, the costume description read “Irrelevant 50-year-old TV show.”

The packaging went on to explain what it includes, “Dated references, Unknown cast members, shrinking ratings.” The official SNL 50^th season logo was pasted on the side where a picture of the costume would appear.

SNL did not respond to the burn.

In the bit, cast members Hedi Gardner, Mikey Day and Chloe Fineman appear as Spirit Halloween employees who quip about the store’s six-week appearance across the country in vacant business.

Heidi takes a dig at the store saying, “Since 1983, Spirit Halloween has been helping our struggling communities by setting up shop in every vacant building in the country for six weeks and then bouncing.”

In another quip about the store, Chloe talks about how Spirit Halloween serves a purpose “providing vulnerable communities with the things they need most,” such as “wigs that give you a rash, single-use fog machines, and costumes of famous characters tweaked just enough to avoid a lawsuit.”

The bit ended with one of the employees talking about just how fast Spirit Halloweens leave following spooky season saying, “Nov. 1, we’re gone, and all this junk will be in a dumpster.”

Saturday Night Live’s season 50 premiere was hosted by Jean Smart with Jelly Roll as the musical guest. The Spirit Halloween sketch wasn’t the only skit that got attention. On Sept. 29, Bowen Yang took to social media to clap back at the notion that he mocked Chappell Roan while dressed up at Moo Deng—the baby hippo—during Weekend Update.

“Oh geez. ‘Mocks’ ??? If my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting her then there it is I guess,” he wrote on Instagram Sept. 29 over a screenshot of the article. “I guess everything she has ever asked for has been reasonable and even then we can connect it to another story about boundaries or whatever. Needing the hose rn…”