In "The Haunted House" Sheriff Andy Taylor's (Andy Griffith) son Opie (Ronnie Howard) and his friend Arnold (Ronnie Dapo) are playing with a baseball when it goes through the window of the deserted Rimshaw House on the edge of Mayberry. The boys are reticent to retrieve their ball as the old Rimshaw House is reputed to be haunted. When Opie tells Andy about the incident, Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) argues that Andy should have made the boys retrieve the ball, even though he is hesitant when Andy makes the suggestion that Barney gets the ball for the boys. It is then that Andy, Barney, and gas station attendant Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) go to the Rimshaw House to get the ball. As it turns out Barney and Gomer are even more superstitious than Opie and Arnold, a situation made all the worse by strange sounds, a painting with eyes that seems to watch one's every move, and other strange goings on. Of course, while Barney and Gomer think the old Rimshaw House could be haunted, Andy suspects there is a rational explanation for everything.
It should come as no surprise that The Andy Griffith Show would feature a "haunted house" episode, as haunted houses have a long history on stage, in film, and television going back to the play The Cat and the Canary. Prior to The Andy Griffith Show, Leave It to Beaver, Dennis the Menace, My Three Sons, and The Donna Reed Show had all done "haunted house" episodes. The Dick Van Dyke Show did one the same season as The Andy Griffith Show, "The Ghost of a A. Chantz," which aired only a few days before "The Haunted House," on September 30 1963.
"The Haunted House" was written by Harvey Bullock, who had written for such shows as Top Cat, The Real McCoys, and Make Room for Daddy. He had been writing for The Andy Griffith Show since the second season, and had already written several episodes of the show before "The Haunted House," including "Mr. McBeevee," "Andy's English Valet," and "The Big House." "The Haunted House" marked the first episode ever directed by Earl Belllamy, who would go onto direct several more episodes of the show. He had directed many episodes of The Lone Ranger, Tales of Wells Fargo, and Bachelor Father, among other shows.
Of course, among the stars of "The Haunted House' was the old Rimshaw House itself, which was located on the Desilu backlot where The Andy Griffith Show was filmed. It was in 1957 that Desilu had bought RKO's production facilities, which included RKO Forty Acres, the Hollywood studio's rather extensive backlot. Among the many films shot, at least in part, at RKO Forty Acres was Gone with the Wind (1939). The Rimshaw House in "The Haunted House" was Aunt Pittypat's House in Gone with the Wind and appeared in several other RKO movies. Although portrayed as being on the edge of Mayberry in "The Haunted House," "the Rimshaw House" was actually located not far from Andy Taylor's house on the lot. On The Andy Griffith Show it also served as the home of Mayor Stoner (Parley Bear), Clara Edwards (Hope Summers), and Mayberry's pastor called both Reverend Tucker and Reverend Martin ( (William Keene).
Aside from being considered by many to be the only Halloween episode of The Andy Griffith Show, "The Haunted House" is also notable for inspiring a movie. It was at the end of the fifth season that Don Knotts left the show to pursue a movie career. He signed a contract with Universal Pictures to make five films. It should not be surprising that Don Knotts's first movie under his contract to Universal was largely patterned after Mayberry. Indeed, it seems obvious that The Ghost and Mr. Chicken could have been inspired by "The Haunted House." In The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Don Knotts played a typesetter, Luther Heggs, for the Rachel Courier Express in the small town of Rachel City, Kansas. After making a report of a murder near the old Simmons Mansion, reputed to be haunted, that turns out to be nothing more the town crunk being knocked out by his wife, he is mocked by people around town. Ultimately, Luther finds himself assigned by his editor to spend the night at the Simmons Mansion, which Luther initially thinks to be haunted. Of course, as in "The Haunted House," there is a rational explanation for everything. The small town of Rachel City is a small town much like Mayberry, filled with eccentric characters. What is more, some of those characters are played by veterans of The Andy Griffith Show, including Hal Smith, Hope Summers, and Burt Muslin. Furthermore, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was written by two veteran writers of The Andy Griffith Show, Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. The pair wrote some of the best known episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, including "The Bank Job," "Man in a Hurry," and "Citizen's Arrest." Everett Greenbaum's voice can even be heard in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken every time someone shouts, "Attaboy, Luther!." The movie was directed by Alan Rafkin, who had directed several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.
"The Haunted House" remains one of the favourite episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. Much of this is due to the fact that the entire cast is in top form, from Andy Griffith to Don Knotts to Jim Nabors to Hal Smith. The script by Harvey Bullock is also excellent, and like any good horror comedy contains some genuine scares. Whether it was meant to be a Halloween episode is perhaps besides the point. It is perfect viewing for the holiday.
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