Don't you love it when your favorite shows have holiday-themed episodes?

It's just fun watching grinchy characters deal with the bombastic holly, jolliness of Christmas, or couples get extra romantic over Valentine's Day, or human disasters try to cook the perfect Thanksgiving dinner (or face the bloody aftermath of an ill-advised turkey drop).

And who doesn't want to see what everyone's Halloween costume would be?

I watch a lot of crime shows. Crime can be pretty dang creepy already, but when my favorite police procedurals/period mysteries/comedic cop shows fully embrace the Samhain spirit, the result is extra amazing.

So put aside the movies for a moment and settle in for some shorter servings of horror-tinged fun, starting with:

6. "HAWAII FIVE-0," "Ho'oma'ike (Unmasked)" (season 5, episode 6). "Five-0" usually has great Halloween episodes; over the reboot series' nine seasons, McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin)'s task force has dealt with murders inspired by Hawaiian myths, urban legends, zombies and Satanic rituals. The fifth season's spooktacular episode, a particular fave, centers around a serial killer seeking revenge by re-enacting scenes from a cult slasher film. Meanwhile, conspiracy theorist Jerry (Jorge Garcia) is kidnapped by the counterfeiter he's been tracking and sees the man kill his partner — or does he?

5. "MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES," "Death Comes Knocking" (season 2, episode 2). In post-World War I Australia, lady detective Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) hosts a séance at her Aunt Prudence (Miriam Margolyes)'s urging. Aunt P wants to speak to her godson, who died on a French battlefield, in the hopes that it'll clear the conscience of his best friend, a shellshocked and sickly veteran nominated for a medal. Phryne doesn't entirely believe in Spiritualism or mediums — but then murder strikes, and the resolution of the resulting investigation leaves things open for otherworldly possibilities ...

4. "CASTLE," "Vampire Weekend" (season 2, episode 6). The show's first Halloween entry finds Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic) investigating the graveyard murder of a young artist who fully embraced the vampiric lifestyle. Along the way, they solve a decades-old cold case, uncover dark family secrets and meet a real vampire in an episode that plays with several horror tropes. Also, Castle dons his old "Firefly" wardrobe to be a space cowboy in a knowing nod to Fillion's sci-fi fans.

3. "PSYCH," "Tuesday the 17th" (season 3, episode 15). Fake psychic/real detective Shawn (James Roday) and his BFF Gus (Dulé Hill) faced plenty of horror scenarios in their show's run (ghosts, demons, aliens and werewolves, to name a few) — so many that you could do a pretty satisfying marathon of just "Psych" episodes for the 31st were you so inclined. "Tuesday the 17th" is extra delightful, though: A riotous and genuinely thrilling send-up of the "Friday the 13th" franchise guest-starring familiar genre faces like Shawn Roberts ("Resident Evil: Afterlife"), Elden Henson ("Daredevil") and Mackenzie Astin ("The Magicians," brother to the better-known Sean). Perhaps the best Easter egg in the episode is when Astin's character appears holding a toy that's clearly referencing the infamously haunted Robert the Doll (Google him for an extra shiver).

2. "THE X-FILES," "Bad Blood" (season 5, episode 12). It's just not Halloween without Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson), and rather than go for a scary episode, I'm recommending one of the funniest: An epic he-said, she-said story where everybody's favorite FBI Agents head to Texas to investigate a possible vampire killer. From the insane cold open — Mulder stakes a teenager only for a horrified Scully to pull plastic fangs from the kid's mouth seconds later — to the back-and-forth conflicting narratives and the twist ending, "Bad Blood" is a hysterical ride.

1. "BROOKLYN NINE-NINE," each season's annual Halloween heist episode. So maybe I'm stretching things a bit by capping this list with B-99; but it's still technically a cop show! Every year, Jake (Andy Samberg), Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) and the rest of the Nine-Nine precinct dream up increasingly complex, ridiculous heists to prove who's the "Ultimate Detective Slash Genius" (and, later, "Amazing Human Slash Genius"). There are doppelgangers and choreographed pizza delivery guys and costumes and fake teeth and decoys galore — and every year is funnier than the last, proving that sometimes tricks can be treats, too.

• ANGIE BARRY is a page designer and columnist for The Times. To suggest future topics for The B-List, which covers pop culture, history and literature, contact her at abarry@shawmedia.com.