‘The View’ Hosts Show off Their Best Stephen King Characters in Halloween Show, and Social Media Is Shook

The View kicked off Halloween on Thursday by paying homage to the “King of Horror” himself, famed horror author Stephen King. During the Oct. 31 episode of the ABC morning talk show, the co-hosts not only starred in their own horror flick, but also channeled some fan-favorite characters from King’s novels for their costumes.

Alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Abby Hunstman, Joy Behar, and Meghan McCain, Thursday’s episode also brought in some special guests and included a performance from the cast of Broadway’s Beetlejuice.

Keep scrolling to see how the co-hosts from The View, as well as their special guests, got into the spirit of Halloween.

‘The View’ Horror Film

To kick off Thursday’s episode, the ABC talk show aired a mini film starring all of the hosts and channeling aspects of various King novels and their film adaptations. The three-minute-long video opens with Huntsman hopping into the vintage red car from King’s 1983 novel, Christine. Before Huntsman, at the studio, is attacked by Behar’s puppy Bernie, channeling Cujo.

Meanwhile, Behar acts out the plot of King’s 1987 novel Misery with guest Anthony Scaramucci, as Goldberg reads from a stack of the author’s books. McCain makes her entrance into the clip by smashing a hole through the door with an axe, a reference to The Shinning.

“Got it, we’re doing Stephen King,” she says. “Let’s start the show.”

Sunny Hostin as Pennywise

Hostin is hoping that you’ll float, too. For Halloween, the co-host swapped out her normal attire for the ragged garb forever linked with demonic clown Pennywise. Hostin, however, did not channel the clown from the original 1990 It miniseries, but rather the look of Bill Skarsgård’s character, which he portrayed in the 2017 and 2019 films.

Hostin’s costume drew plenty of praise, with one person aptly dubbing her “Sunnywise.”

“Sunny killed it as Pennywise,” one person wrote.

“Sunny, I’m blaming you for all my nightmares tonight,” a second joked.

Abby Huntsman as Carrie

Halloween saw Huntsman transforming into the ill-fated prom queen from King’s beloved novel Carrie, which was adapted for the screen in 1976 and again in 2013. As fans of horror know, Carrie possesses telekinetic powers, which are put on full throttle after a prank at prom finds her covered in pig’s blood. 

Hunstman’s costume had many fans applauding her.

“Abby looks great, but how could she stand having that gook dumped on her ? Ick !!!” one praised.

“Can we get Abby on broadway already?” another asked.

Joy Behar and Meghan McCain as the Grady Twins

They may be on different sides of aisle when it comes to their political views, something that oftentimes leads to some heated on-air arguments, but Behar and McCain stood as a united front when they donned the personas of the Grady twins, the spooky sisters that still haunt viewers of The Shining.

Their joint costumes gained plenty of praise, with some calling it their favorite!

“YOU ALL LOOK AWESOME. LOVE IT,” one viewer commented.

“You ladies killed it!! Best TV Hosts costumes EVER,” another praised.

Whoopi Goldberg as Church the Cat

As her co-hosts took on the personas of human characters, Goldberg decided to channel their feline counterpart, donning pointed ears, a tail, and furs to transform into Church the cat from Pet Sematary, the feline who comes back from the dead and sets off a terrifying chain of tragic events.

Goldberg’s costume didn’t go unnoticed by fans, many of whom flocked to social media to comment.

“You’re wearing my favorite costume of all,” one person tweeted. “You look amazing! Happy Halloween!”

“GREAT costumes ladies!!! Whoopi out did herself, love, love, love the cat,” a second added.

Jordin Sparks as Astrid

Not everything was so scary on Thursday’s episode. While the co-hosts donned their best Stephen King-inspired characters, guest Jordin Sparks went for a much more PG ensemble. The American Idol alum stepped out onto the stage as dragon rider Astrid from DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon, complete with an inflatable blue dragon!

Behind-the-Scenes

After the episode aired, McCain took to Twitter with a special behind-the-scenes photo of herself and co-hosts Behar and Hostin, all in-costume.

“You guys all look great!! I absolutely love Stephen King!” one fan praised the costumes.

“OMG you guys look amazing. It’s hard to keep topping yourselves but you do it every year,” another added. “Very impressive.”

“Excellent choice this year! Hats off to Joy and Meghan! Great thinking it of the box!” a third tweeted.