100 Episodes Later, ‘Ghosts’ Is Officially Changing Its Supernatural Formula [Exclusive]

Ghosts fans are eagerly counting the days until the series returns for Season 6 with the show's first 1-hour Halloween special on October 29. New York Comic-Con audiences got their first glimpse of what's to come in the special during a delightfully frightful panel featuring stars Devan Chandler Long, Rebecca Wisocky, Sheila Carrasco, and Utkarsh Ambudkar​​​​​​, and co-showrunner Joe Wiseman. Collider's Rachel Leishman caught up with the cast on the press line at the event to get all the spooky details about what to expect from the upcoming premiere, as well as the show's imminent 100th episode, and how a major cast shake-up has put a new twist on the show.

Earlier this month, the first synopsis for the Halloween special revealed that we will finally meet Hetty's (Wisocky) mustachioed sister Margaret (Maria Thayer, Those Who Can't), when the estranged sisters are "unexpectedly reunited." Speaking with Collider about the introduction of Margaret, Wisocky said, "Well, we always get great guest stars, but Maria Thayer — who's delightful and such a lovely, kind person, and [has] such a wonderful sense of humor, and a really nice foil for Hetty — plays her moustachioed sister, Margaret." Wisocky admitted that she's "been needling the Joes since then," saying, "'We gotta see Margaret. We gotta see Mistachioed sister, Margaret.'"

Wisocky went on to tease that the show is going all out for its milestone season, teasing the biggest season premiere that Ghosts has ever had. She told Collider:

"They finally brought her in for the big Halloween episode, and some very unexpected things happen. We get to see a new form of ghost. There are more special effects in this one hour special than I believe we've done in the entire five seasons Ghosts. You think that's fair to say?"

Her co-stars heartily agreed as Ambudkar and Carrasco nodded while Long joked, "We spent our budget on the entire episode." Wisocky laughed, saying, "And now we're done!" But Ghosts is far from done for Season 6. When the show returns to weekly episodes in early 2027, Ghosts will hit its 100th episode with Season 6, Episode 6. The episode will see the ghosts' favorite reality series, "It's Getting Hot in Here," filming its own 100th episode at the mansion. When asked about how canonical fanboy Thor reacts to seeing how the sausage is made for his favorite series, Long teased, "He gets to meet his heroes. I mean, it's a big deal for Thor. This is huge. This is, like, you know, front-row seats of the All-Star game. [...] It's gonna be fun. It's a great episode; I'm very excited."

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Is Your Biggest Horror Nightmare? Elm Street · Chucky · Scream · The Conjuring

Four horror franchises. Four completely different ways of scaring you. One waits until you fall asleep. One makes sure nobody believes you. One is already in your group of friends. And one is in the house with your family. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually watch horror, and find out which nightmare was built for you.

😴Elm Street(Freddy Krueger)

🧸Chucky(Child's Play)

📞Scream(Ghostface)

🕯️The Conjuring(The Warren Files)

FIND YOUR NIGHTMARE →

01

Which horror scene makes you cover your eyes? Four classic images. One of them is worse than the others for you.

ASomebody falling asleep when they really should not. BA toy that has moved, and nobody touched it. CA phone ringing in an empty house. DA child talking to somebody who is not there.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

You are home alone and you hear a noise. First thought? Everybody has one. It arrives before you have decided anything.

AI am exhausted and my mind is playing tricks on me. BSomething in this room is not where I left it. CSomebody is in here with me. DThis house has never felt entirely right.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

Which horror movie rule would you break first? Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does.

ANever fall asleep. BNever leave it out of your sight. CNever answer the phone. DNever go down to the basement.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do? Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight.

AConvince myself I imagined the whole thing. BTell someone, and brace for them not believing me. CWork out which person I know could be behind it. DGet everybody in the house into one room.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

How do you actually watch a horror film? Be honest about this one. Nobody is checking.

AFine during. Wide awake at two in the morning. BShouting at the screen that nobody is listening. CCalling the twist out loud before it lands. DThrough my fingers, holding on to something.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

Somebody offers you serious money. Which do you still refuse? The amount does not matter. There is one on this list you are not doing.

AFall asleep in a room I have never been in before. BKeep an old doll on the shelf facing my bed. CAnswer every unknown number that calls after midnight. DSpend one night alone in a house with a history.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

Which feeling stays with you a week after the film? Good horror does not stop when the credits do.

ANot wanting to turn the bedroom light off. BNot trusting one particular object in my house. CLooking twice at people I have known for years. DFeeling like something came home with me.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

Something wakes you at 3am. What is the worst possibility? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your nightmare.

AThat I am still asleep, and it knows it. BThat the thing nobody believed me about is here. CThat somebody with a key is downstairs. DThat something is in the doorway, watching us sleep.

REVEAL MY NIGHTMARE →

The Lights Just Went Out Your Nightmare Is…

Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what it would leave behind.

Elm Street

Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever won that particular argument.

• Freddy is horror's cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
• You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your own head is where this does its damage.
• These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
• You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.

Chucky

Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.

• Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
• You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You know that feeling from real life too.
• The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you have met those adults.
• By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.

Scream

Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.

• Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be somebody who was at the party.
• You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the same way you watch films.
• The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
• Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.

The Conjuring

Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.

• The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
• Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
• This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
• Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one standing in the hallway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'Ghosts' Is Officially Changing the Game With a Major Shift For Season 6

Series star Rose McIver recently revealed that fans will have to wait a little longer to see Sam back at Woodstone; while McIver is on maternity leave, Sam is away from the mansion for an extended period of time to film her "Polar Opposites" movie in Australia. When Leishman asked Ambudkar how Jay is adjusting to having Kyle (Ben Feldman) around full time in his wife's absence, Ambudkar was quick to say, "You know, it's a different show. Ben Feldman and I are now in a buddy comedy, whereas Rose and I were very much in a romantic comedy. Still supernatural, obviously, but Ben and I are having a lot of fun." While Ambudkar, Long, and Carrasco naturally took a beat to poke fun at their new co-star, Wisocky chimed in to say that Feldman "endures a lot of, obviously, good-natured ribbing from the rest of us. We love him, and we're so happy."

Also building off of Season 5's dangling threads, Carrasco was delighted to share some exciting details about what to expect for Flower in Season 6, telling Collider, "I think that Flower’s brain cells have woken up just a little bit. We're still navigating the in and out of her being lucid and the why. But she definitely is gonna have a lot more fun this season." She went on to tease that "we're gonna actually find out something pretty, pretty great about her backstory and revealing, and that's gonna be really enlightening as to why she is the way she is. But, yeah, it's just been really fun to experiment with a totally different side of her. And I think that what we're gonna find out is that it's always kind of been there, bubbling underneath the surface."

When Leishman compared Ghosts' success to the US remake of The Office, Carrasco admitted she got "goosebumps" over the question. Carrasco explained that while The Office is her comfort show, being part of the Ghosts ensemble is literally a dream come true. She explained:

"I have goosebumps right now that you ask that, because I almost stayed up way too late last night marathoning The Office on Comedy Central, because it is my comfort show. I moved to LA because I wanted to meet Alison Jones [Casting Director], because I wanted to be on a show that was an ensemble comedy, a UK reboot. Like, literally. And I wanted to just be somebody in the peanut gallery. And that is this show, like, tenfold, and so much better than I could have even imagined. And the fact that we get to keep doing it is just really truly a dream come true. And what's so special is to think about all the fans that maybe this is their comfort show, and that they'll want to watch marathons of in the future for years and years, is, like, it's just really great, because there's nothing better than your favorite TV show."

Ghosts returns with two 1-hour holiday specials on October 29 and December 10. Stay tuned at Collider for more updates and watch Leishman's full conversation with the cast at NYCC above.

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  Rose McIver

  Samantha Arondekar

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  Utkarsh Ambudkar

  Jay Arondekar