Sam is back for Halloween, and this time the little guy is stepping outside the world of Trick ‘r Treat.
Filmmaker Michael Dougherty has launched Sam: The Soul of Halloween, a new home for the burlap-masked Halloween icon that will bring new animated shorts, artwork, collaborations and other original Sam creations throughout October. The project officially launches October 1, but a teaser released tonight offers the first look at what’s coming.
At the center of the project are new bite-size Sam films that return the character to his animated roots. Dougherty has invited artists and filmmakers from around the world to put their own spin on Sam, working across traditional and digital animation, illustration, sculpture, photography and stop-motion. October’s lineup includes work from Mike Baird, Breehn Burns, Sam Furst, Richard Garcia, Cyrus Haley, Austin Pardun, Alexander Ray, Steven Rhodes, Ryan Sawyer, Christopher Shy, Trent Shy, Christopher Waltemate and Michael Ballif, with more surprise collaborations planned throughout the month.
The timing brings Sam back to where his story actually began. Long before Trick ’r Treat, Dougherty created the character while studying animation at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Sam made his first appearance in the hand-drawn 1996 short Season’s Greetings, which followed a seemingly ordinary trick-or-treater through a dark Halloween encounter.
Thirty years later, Season’s Greetings has been restored in 4K from its original 16mm elements. The remaster has been screening throughout 2026, with more than 30 festival and independent theater screenings planned during October alone.
“Trick ’r Treat obviously became a huge part of Sam’s story, and I remain incredibly proud of that film,” Dougherty said. “But Trick ’r Treat wasn’t the first chapter in Sam’s story, and it won’t be the last.”
Dougherty said revisiting the original short for its anniversary gave him an opportunity to return to the handmade, independent approach that first created Sam and see where other artists might take the character.
That idea extends well beyond a collection of shorts. The newly launched Sam: The Soul of Halloween website establishes an expanded mythology for the character, describing Sam as the living embodiment of Halloween itself. He’s neither ghost nor demon, monster nor man. Sam appears each year as a guardian of Halloween’s traditions, making sure costumes are worn, candy is shared, jack o’lanterns are lit and the old rituals of the holiday aren’t forgotten. People who disrespect those traditions tend to discover why carrying a half-eaten candy bar around Sam is a bad idea.
The site also digs into Sam’s history from Season’s Greetings through Trick ’r Treat and the present day, while providing a year-round destination for new stories, artwork, animation, collectibles and other additions to his world. An official store has launched alongside it with limited-edition shirts, posters, pins, stickers and artwork, including pieces created by artists participating in the new project.
For Dougherty, the response to the restored Season’s Greetings suggested that Sam’s 30th anniversary could be the beginning of something rather than simply a look back at where the character started.
“What surprised me most was how alive Sam and his debut film still felt thirty years later,” Dougherty said. “People who grew up with Sam were bringing their kids. Artists were reaching out wanting to make things. Fans were showing up in costumes. It started feeling less like looking backward and more like opening a door into a new chapter.”
Sam has certainly traveled a long way from an NYU student film. Dougherty went on to write and direct Trick ’r Treat and Krampus, direct Godzilla: King of the Monsters and work as a writer on films including X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns and Godzilla vs. Kong. Through all of it, the tiny trick-or-treater he created in 1996 has become arguably his most recognizable creation.
Now Sam has a place of his own.
Sam: The Soul of Halloween launches October 1, with new shorts and other surprises rolling out throughout the month. The restored Season’s Greetings can also be watched through Sam’s official website, alongside the new October teaser.
Just remember the rules.
