Peanuts Halloween 1966: the year of the Great Pumpkin

1966 was the biggest year ever for the Great Pumpkin.  The TV special, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" premiered on October 27, 1966.

 Peanuts fans were treated to a solid 18 Halloween-themed comics that year.  In June 1966, while at summer camp, Linus again brought up the GP during a campfire to the uninitiated.  Unlike his election speech fiasco, this time, he was elected camp president.

The actual Halloween-themed strips ran from October 17 to November 2, 1966. After so many years of trying to convince others about the Great Pumpkin, Linus not only succeeded in doing it at summer camp, but Peppermint Patty believed it enough to wait for him in a pumpkin patch.

Peanuts Halloween 1965: Separated by denominational differences

Linus went back on his own rule for two years in a row: never discuss politics, religion, or the Great Pumpkin.  In 1965, he and Charlie Brown had a brief falling out after an argument over the Great Pumpkin and Santa Claus.

Peanuts Halloween 1964: Never mix politics and the Great Pumpkin

Even though it's not technically a "Halloween" Peanuts comic, this strip from October 4, 1964, made it into "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" almost unchanged.

The Great Pumpkin returned to Peanuts on October 21, 1964, when Linus mentioned him during his campaign speech to be class President.  Poor Charlie Brown was to be his Vice President...

By October 27, the election fiasco had blown over, and Linus was back to the business of waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

Linus, although disappointed when the Great Pumpkin didn't show up, never gave up hope of seeing him in 1965...

Peanuts Halloween 1963: Linus wonders if he's cracking up

Poor Linus.  It's not easy for him to have faith in the Great Pumpkin, when he gets such mixed messages from everyone else.  One moment, they seem to sympathize and encourage him, and the next, they ridicule him and make him question his own beliefs and sanity.  In the end, after another disappointment, he is nearly ready to give up on the Great Pumpkin.

Peanuts Halloween 1962: Sally wants restitution

Despite Linus' disappointment the year before, he still has faith in the Great Pumpkin.  Lucy briefly toys with the idea of going along with the idea, but only if there's a way to profit from it.  Linus manages to talk Sally into sitting in the pumpkin patch with him, which leads to an epic, three-day-long tirade by Sally.