Hellah Horrah Presents: “Witch’s Night Out (1978)” – Glitter, Ghouls & the Grooviest Magic Hour

The seventies had a sound—you could hear the orange lighting. “Witch’s Night Out” captured that vibe in every flicker of its hand-drawn glow. The animation shimmered like it had been dipped in disco dust—thick black outlines, electric pinks and greens pulsing like they were plugged into a lava lamp. I swear even the shadows had glitter in them.

Our witch—voiced by the legendary Gilda Radner—wasn’t your broom-closet cliché. She was glamorous and weird and lonely in the best way, a woman out of step with her world until she finds two kids who just want to feel spooky. That’s when the magic hits—literally—and the animation bursts into a swirl of smoke, transformation, and love for misfits everywhere.

My big brother would sing along when the theme came on, making up words like, “Spooky nights and pumpkin lights, Hellah’s got the fright!” “Halloween, Witches and Maaagic!” Sounded like witchy maaagic. He’d dance across the living-room carpet with a pillowcase cape while I clutched my plastic wand from Woolworths. We didn’t have much, but that night felt like technicolor luxury.

And the candy? Mary Janes and those orange-wrapped peanut chews nobody liked but us. The witch told us that being different was its own kind of spell. And maybe that’s what the seventies were trying to teach: a little sparkle in the shadows never hurt nobody.