Tom Hanks Revives David S. Pumpkins on SNL Halloween

The Lowdown

SNL only gets a show on Halloween night every few years, so it called in the most Halloween guy it has. Tom Hanks suited up as David S. Pumpkins again, and the sketch’s scariest guest turned out to be a Trump impression (NBC Insider; TheWrap).

Key Takeaways

Tom Hanks made a surprise cameo as David S. Pumpkins in the October 31 cold open, his third time playing the character on the show (NBC Insider).
Mikey Day and returning alum Bobby Moynihan played the dancing skeletons, just as they did in the original 2016 sketch (NBC Insider; TheWrap).
James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump stopped the ride to deliver one of his freeze-frame monologues, aimed at the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3 (NBC Insider; USA Today).
The cold open opened an episode hosted by Inde Navarrette (NBC Insider).

history’s most heinous, homicidal haunts pic.twitter.com/udeRgaZLhw
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) November 1, 2026

Saturday Night Live on X · October 31, 2026

The Story

The sketch began as a theme-park haunted ride. Jeremy Culhane and Grace Reiter played the two riders, and the first scare was a Lizzie Borden scene featuring Jane Wickline and Sarah Sherman. Then a curtain parted on a man in a black suit printed with jack-o’-lanterns (NBC Insider; NBC).

“What’s good? I’m David Pumpkins,” Hanks announced, adding, “And I am going to freak you out!” Mikey Day and Bobby Moynihan launched into the skeleton dance, and the riders asked the same baffled questions their counterparts did nearly a decade ago (NBC Insider).

Then the ride froze

When Hanks started to explain why he was there, James Austin Johnson walked into the frame as Trump and finished his sentence with “Midterms.” The rest of the cast went still while Johnson worked the room (NBC Insider).

His Trump compared himself to the pumpkin man: “We both appeared in 2016. We’re both very loud, very orange, and very, frankly, annoying.” Then he turned to the frozen alum behind him. “Look at poor Bobby Moynihan back there. He flew in for this,” he said, before calling out “Riblet!”, a nod to one of Moynihan’s old Weekend Update characters (NBC Insider).

Newer featured player Saidah Belo-Osagie also turned up in the sketch as Nicki Minaj (NBC Insider). Moynihan stayed for the rest of the night and later brought back Drunk Uncle on Weekend Update (NBC Insider).

The Background

David S. Pumpkins first appeared in the 2016 “Haunted Elevator” sketch during one of Hanks’ hosting turns. The joke that nobody can explain who he is turned the character into an annual Halloween meme (NBC Insider; TheWrap).

Saturday Night Live airs live on a Halloween night only when the calendar lines up. The last time was in 2020, with John Mulaney hosting (NBC Insider). Moynihan, an SNL cast member from 2008 to 2017, now co-stars on NBC’s The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, whose second season returns on Monday, November 2 (NBC Insider).