4. Fear, Itself

Complete story — includes the ending

The gang are carving Halloween pumpkins, but worry about Buffy who is too depressed to join in. Buffy goes to Giles' house to discuss patrolling that evening, but is dismayed to find him in costume, with a giant sombrero, and giddily enjoying the spooky season. Reluctantly Buffy agrees to join her friends in dressing up for Halloween, but the gang find themselves in a real-life house of horrors at the student party, after the hosts accidentally invoke a fear demon which feeds on their individual fears. Arriving late, Anya is unable to enter the house and realizing something is amiss enlists Giles's help to save Xander. Buffy decides to destroy the incantation symbol before Giles is able to explain that doing so will actually summon the terrifying demon named Gachnar, with an unexpectedly hilarious result.