The V/H/S horror anthology has always had a draw for adopting different themes each year, as the films debut during the Halloween season. It was inevitable that the series would use Halloween itself as a theme and there is some allure to concept of V/H/S/Halloween, presenting itself as if the Halloween slasher franchise became less The Curse of Michael Meyers and more Season of the Witch. And while there are some pretty tasty morsels of retro gore and terrifying ideas, there are a few Milk Duds in this trick-or-treat bag of horror shorts.

The connecting device for this anthology is not all that enthralling, with “Diet Phantasma” being a mere series of kills as a company tests a ghost-infused soda. There’s not much to it beyond the test subjects suffering the most brutal of tortures that spew from the pop can. That said, I’ve endured many of these framing devices that end up building too little. The frankness of these mini episodes, declaring they’ll be little more than soda testing gone awry, made it mildly satisfying for its low expectations and decent showcase of varied deaths.

The best part of these shorts is the ideas behind them. The opening segment, “Coochie Coochie Coo,” feels like a haunted house created by someone creeped out by the mommy and diaper fetish. Two teenagers venture into a house controlled by a grotesque, milking mother with leaky nipples, driven mad by her pregnancy and compelled to baby any adult who enters her domain. The setting is creepy enough as the teens traverse the dark hallways of adults in diapers and filthy milking machines, but the idea that this monster wants to expand her nursery rather than fill a graveyard makes its frights a little more unique.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is “Ut Supra Sic Infra,” a segment more compelling for its atmosphere than the idea. The non-linear investigative format engrosses, but the ultimate reveal of a spooky phone call that makes somebody pull out eyeballs is scarier in delivery than explanation. “Home Haunt” is the same way, presenting a haunted house that comes to life and brutalizes those who enter its cursed rooms. I like the fast pace of varied kills, where vampires rip apart limbs and witches that boil off skin, but it’s so manically presented that it comes more like a ride than a horror short.

The most frustrating of these segments is easily “Fun Size,” where unwitting young adults are chopped up into candy for taking one piece too many from a bowl. It’s not a bad idea, and there’s clearly a lot of production values placed in the creepy antagonist and body parts turned into candy. However, the victims are annoying in everything from a pointless subplot of a loveless engagement to the meta nature of found-footage horror. It’s the type of horror short that has a great idea, but spends much time obnoxiously pointing at all the theatrics while shouting, “Look, look, it’s a machine that chops up your body parts and turns them into candy! Isn’t that messed up?”

The best segment, “Kidprint,” is the only one that doesn’t involve a supernatural or paranormal concept, perhaps making it the most refreshing. A serial killer is on the loose in a suburban community of 1992, leading to parents requesting video records of their children to be used in missing person cases should they go missing around Halloween. The electronics store owner, Tim Kaplan (Stephen Gurewitz), takes great pride in his work and constantly films everything for a chance to catch the killer and feel safe. Without giving too much away, it turns out the adults helming the video project are the least trustworthy in a story that frames the obsession over child safety might be more dangerous for those with a say in it. The conclusion is also deeply chilling for the killer who gets away, even when filming a wealth of evidence.

V/H/S/Halloween is a mixed trick-or-treat bag, highlighting the tasty highs and sour lows of Halloween-themed horror shorts. I mostly enjoyed the selection this year, but a few of the shorts ever touched on something greater than mildly clever ideas with stronger production values in the bloody staging. This horror series hasn’t run out of steam, but with this eighth installment, there’s not as much vigor when exploring the most popular of holidays, more interested in the decor than the rituals.