The Internet has been totally and completely normal about Mindy Kaling’s Velma, so surely the news that the animated series is dropping a Halloween special will be met in the same spirit. Speaking of spirits, Velma is—spoiler alert if you haven’t watched the second season—dead, and now haunting her friends from the beyond. But apparently there’s some time left to save Velma with magic, so the Mystery Inc. gang needs to get their shit together to revive their deceased comrade in Velma: This Halloween Needs To Be More Special!, which premieres October 3 on Max.
Per the very special episode synopsis, “With just 24 hours to bring Velma back, the friends search for a dark spellbook while trying to avoid the wrath of a vengeful spirit. But as the annual Sexy Halloween party nears, Velma and the gang must face their biggest fears… if they all want to make it out alive.”
“It’s sexy Halloween… and everyone is dying to look hot,” goes the tagline for the special, but unfortunately Velma’s sexy Halloween plans with Daphne (Constance Wu) are on pause on account of Velma being incorporeal. Which is a shame, because Daphne even got Saweetie—yep, that’s a real Saweetie cameo—to perform at the party. Other guest appearances include Richard Kind and Nicholas Braun, who appears to be playing another murderous (but somewhat ineffectual) ghost.
Velma stars Kaling, Wu, Glenn Howerton, and Sam Richardson. The show has been a little controversial in part because it’s a Mystery Inc. show with no Scooby-Doo, but last season explored the conspiratorial brain-swapping “Project S.C.O.O.B.I.” It also introduced the villainous Scrappy (Jason Mantzoukas), one of Project S.C.O.O.B.I.’s test subjects who ultimately murders Velma. Even in the afterlife, there are still mysteries to be solved and villains to be unmasked, so it’s a lucky thing Velma is still on the case.