SinceAdventure Timewrapped its original run in 2018, the franchise has lived on through imaginative and emotionally rich follow-ups. FromDistant LandstoFionna and Cake, each spinoff has explored different corners of Ooo while diving deeper into fan-favorite characters and concepts. With such a flexible and surreal world to play in, it’s no surprise that the show’s creators keep finding new angles to explore. However, the nextAdventure Timespinoff doesn’t just need to go deeper - it needs to go darker. There’s already a blueprint within the series itself that reveals exactly what direction to go in next.
Adventure Timewas never afraid to get weird or unsettling, but some of its most unforgettable moments are when it fully embraced the eerie, the disturbing, and even the outright terrifying. These aren’t just outliers - the show’s horror-inflected episodes are consistently among its most creative and well-received. With the multiverse now cracked wide openthanks toFionna and Cake, the path is clear for the franchise to fully commit to a genre it’s been quietly excelling at all along: horror. The nextAdventure Timespinoff should take that plunge, and the evidence is already right there in the show’s best episodes.
Adventure Time’s Spooky Episodes Are Some Of The Show’s Best
Finn And Jake’s Darkest Adventures Shined The Brightest
Adventure Timebuilt its reputationon whimsical adventures and heartfelt storytelling, but some of the show’s most powerful episodes came when it pulled back the curtain on something much more sinister. These weren’t just Halloween specials - they were masterclasses in atmospheric worldbuilding, visual storytelling, and emotional weight, often grounded in horror tropes that elevated the show far beyond its kid-friendly surface.
TakeAdventure Timeseason 4’s “King Worm,” where Finn (Jeremy Shada) and Jake (John DiMaggio) are trapped in a surreal nightmare landscape, stalked by a massive, mind-controlling worm.It’s one of the most psychologically disturbing episodes of the entire series, and it doesn’t rely on jump scares - just an unrelenting sense of dread and dream-logic horror that would make David Lynch proud.Then there’s season 7’s “Blank-Eyed Girl,” an obvious homage to the creepypasta-inspired phenomenon of black-eyed children, where Finn and Jake encounter two emotionless, unblinking girls who stalk them with no explanation. It’s straight-up unnerving, and the ambiguity makes it even more effective.
It’s not just the creepy visuals in the spooky or scary episodes ofAdventure Timethat hit the mark
Season 4’s “Return to the Nightosphere” and “Daddy’s Little Monster” delve into Marceline’s (Olivia Olson) hellish family drama, placing her in demonic dimensions and wrapping personal trauma in gothic aesthetics.TheseAdventure Timeepisodes use horror elementsto explore character backstory in a way that’s both thrilling and emotionally resonant.Even episodes like season 3’s “No One Can Hear You” - which traps Finn in a deserted Candy Kingdom with a mind-broken Jake - push the limits of what animated horror can look like without ever compromisingAdventure Time’s unique tone.
It’s not just the creepy visuals in the spooky or scaryepisodes ofAdventure Timethat hit the mark, either. The music, the pacing, the sudden tonal shifts - all of it adds to the tension. Season 3’s “The Creeps,” a murder-mystery ghost story set during a masquerade party, is a perfect blend of classic horror setup andAdventure Timeabsurdity.These episodes didn’t just experiment with horror - they showed thatAdventure Timecould integrate it into its DNA.And with audiences now fully embracing genre storytelling in animation, especially when it leans weird or dark, the nextAdventure Timespinoff has every reason to push further into horror territory.
The Next Adventure Time Spinoff Should Lean Into The Horror Genre
A Horror-Themed Adventure Time Spinoff Could Be Its Most Creative Yet
The nextAdventure Timespinoff has a clear opportunity to stand out by embracing full-blown horror.The franchise has already laid the groundwork with episodes that flirt with nightmare logic, eerie creatures, and psychologically intense storytelling. A horror-centric series wouldn’t feel like a departure - it would feel like a natural evolution.
There are countless waysanAdventure Timehorror spinoffcould take shape. One option is to follow a brand-new character or timeline entirely, much likeFionna and Cake, but framed more like an anthology. Each episode could explore a different horror subgenre - cosmic horror, body horror, psychological thriller - filtered through the offbeat lens of theAdventure Timeuniverse.ThinkCourage the Cowardly DogmeetsOver the Garden Wall, but with the franchise’s signature surrealism and emotional depth.
The horror elements wouldn’t need to strip away the heart or humor that definesAdventure Time.
Alternatively, a spinoff ofAdventure Timethat embraces horror could spotlight underexplored characters with mysterious pasts. Imagine a series centered on the ghost-filled past of Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch), or a dark miniseries diving intothe origins of the Lich(Ron Perlman).Even a return to the Nightosphere, reimagined as a Lovecraftian dimension of nightmares, could yield a spinoff that is both scary and mythologically rich.
Crucially, the horror elements wouldn’t need to strip away the heart or humor that definesAdventure Time. If anything, they would heighten it. The show has always thrived in contrast, mixing candy-colored whimsy with post-apocalyptic undertones. Leaning into horror allows the nextAdventure Timespinoff to explore deeper emotional truths while delivering chilling, genre-savvy storytelling unlike anything else in animation.
