10 Times Horror Stars Showed Up in Sitcoms

We obviously know Robert Englund best for playing Freddy Krueger for decades. He has also appeared in a wide variety of other horror movies, making him one of the all-time biggest icons of the genre. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t down to appear in classic comedy sitcoms as well.

On the classic comedy series Married …with Children, Englund appears as Lucifer, the devil himself. Desperate to play for the Chicago Bears and win the Super Bowl, Al Bundy ends up selling his soul to Englund’s Lucifer to make this happen. Al comes to regret this and is even sent to Hell, which he finds to be not that much worse than his life on Earth. Still, he challenges Lucifer to a football match for a chance to return home.

One of our most favorite scream queens will always be the wonderful Danielle Harris. As a child, Harris first won our hearts in the role of Jamie Lloyd from the fourth and fifth Halloween movies. She would later return to the franchise by taking over the role of Annie Brackett to appear in four Halloween films overall. Additionally, Harris has become a beloved part of Adam Green’s Hatchet series as well.

Harris may be a legendary scream queen, but she also spent a lot of time working in television growing up. This includes having a run as a recurring character on Roseanne. On the sitcom, Harris played family neighbor Molly Tilden. The character would often squabble with Darlene over flirting with her boyfriend David.

We love Amelia Kinkade for her part in the Night of the Demons horror movie franchise. Starting with Kevin Tenney’s original film from 1988, Kinkade portrayed the demonic party girl Angela Franklin. She would reprise the role in the film’s two sequels as well, forever making her a beloved horror star in the process.

Before terrorizing teenagers at Hull House, however, Kinkade had appeared on an episode of The Golden Girls. In the Season 2 episode “Ladies of the Evening,” the girls visit a hotel bar with the hope of seeing Burt Reynolds there. They quickly realize the location also serves as a place of business for prostitutes, and are mistakenly arrested. Kinkade plays one of the real prostitutes in the scene, sharing a cell with the ladies. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being career-oriented!” she chimes in when Rose berates Blanche for only thinking about “sex and men.”

Related Article: Night of the Demons: The Party’s Still Going After 30 Years

Tony Todd is a veteran actor with dozens of film and TV roles under his belt. For horror fans, he will always be particularly loved for his work with several very memorable horror roles. Obviously, the Candyman series comes to mind right away, while we’re also quite fond of his roles in Tom Savini’s Night of the Living Dead and the Final Destination film franchise.

Here’s something random for you. Todd once appeared on the ’90s teen series Beverly Hills, 90210, in the episode “If I Had a Hammer.” In the episode, David throws a temper tantrum and accidentally cuts his hand on a glass. This leads to Todd appearing as a doctor, convincing Mel to let the hospital keep David under observation for 72 hours, diagnosing him with manic depression.

As a child actor, Miko Hughes has had the privilege of appearing in multiple horror movies forever preserved by cult followings. At the start of his career (and life, really), Hughes played little Gage Creed in Mary Lambert’s original Pet Sematary film adaptation. When he got a little older, Hughes played Heather Langenkamp’s fictional son Dylan in the meta-horror flick Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

Even with all of this horror experience, there’s another major role from Hughes’ childhood which certainly sticks out. Appearing in many episodes, Hughes was cast on Full House as Aaron Bailey, a classmate of Michelle Tanner. A typical schoolroom bully, Aaron was incredibly obnoxious and didn’t get along with most of the other kids. Eventually, however, he comes to be pretty good friends with Michelle.

Because we love Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning here at Horror Geek Life, it’s needless to say we’re big fans of Reggie the Reckless as well. Portrayed by Shavar Ross, the character is one of very few to survive the massacre at the Pinehurst Youth Development Center. In one of the film’s more awesome moments, Reggie even manages to (temporarily) debilitate the masked killer with a tractor.

A New Beginning was not the only place to spot Shavar Ross. While many fans know he appeared regularly on Diff’rent Strokes, Ross also popped up on Family Matters as well. On that series, he played Alex “Weasel” Parks in a handful of appearances between 1992 and 1994. The character was a bit of a troublemaker, known for “mooning meter-maids” and receiving an award at school for spending the most days in detention.

Related Article: The Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning Quiz!

As the original final girl of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Heather Langenkamp is another beloved scream queen and horror movie legend. After starring in the original film, she reprised the role of Nancy Thompson for Dream Warriors before later starring as herself in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. The three movies are widely considered to be among the best installments of the franchise.

Interestingly enough, Langenkamp has actually played two characters on Kirk Cameron’s sitcom Growing Pains, each of whom appeared in multiple episodes. First, she played Marie Lubbock, a part of Coach Lubbock’s family who visits the Seavers for dinner. She later appeared as Amy Boutilier in the three-parter “Let’s Go Europe,” meeting Cameron’s character Mike and traveling with him in Europe.

Friday the 13th series fans will always remember Amy Steel as her character Ginny Field from the second film in the series. Technically, she would become the first person to “defeat” Jason Voorhees by surviving the film as its final girl. Additionally, Steel led the cast in another popular ’80s horror movie based on the holiday called April Fool’s Day.

Following her stay at Packanack Lodge, Steel looked into taking on some new roles outside of the horror genre. Eventually, this led to an appearance on Tim Allen’s ’90s sitcom Home Improvement. In the Season 3 episode “It Was the Best of Tims, It Was the Worst of Tims,” Steel played the part of Eve, one of Jill’s co-workers. During a baby shower at the Taylor household, Eve compliments Tim by telling Jill, “I think Tim is even more handsome in person than he is on television.” Of course, Tim is all too eager to eat it up.

Related Article: The Friday the 13th Franchise’s One True Final Girl

The Walking Dead is not the gargantuan ratings powerhouse it used to be, but during its first six seasons, it seemed like everyone on the planet was watching. During this time, Steven Yeun starred as Glenn Rhee, one of the most popular characters on the show. He has since starred in the Joe Lynch horror flick Mayhem, becoming a fan favorite in the genre.

Here’s a fun factoid about Yeun. Before starring on The Walking Dead, Yeun appeared briefly in a Season 3 episode of The Big Bang Theory in a flashback scene as one of Sheldon’s former roommates. When a younger Leonard arrives looking to answer Sheldon’s new roommate ad, he bumps into Yeun, who warns him, “Run away, dude.”

Veteran actor Bruce Campbell has been in countless roles in film and television over the decades. For horror fans, he is obviously most-appreciated for playing the role of Ashley J. Williams in The Evil Dead, its sequels, and the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series. Of course, he’s been in many, many other horror and sci-fi films as well, and there’s never been a performance of his we didn’t like.

When it comes to sitcoms, Campbell is no stranger to popping up in those kinds of shows as well. One of his most memorable guest appearances came in the comedy sci-fi series Weird Science, a show about two slackers bringing a virtual woman named Lisa to life with a computer. In the episode “I Dream of Gene,” Campbell plays Gene the Genie. When Lisa gets lonely, she finds another genie in the form of Gene, who lives in a teapot. As you would expect, Campbell takes to the role perfectly.

Related Article: Bruce Campbell Says New Evil Dead Video Game Is Coming

Where else have you seen horror stars showing up in unexpected places? There are far more than the ten we’ve documented here, so tell us which ones we may have missed in the comments below.