Michael Dougherty's Trick 'R Treat features several references to some of John Carpenter's most iconic movies. The Halloween classic horror movie has become a cult favorite over the years due to its inventive nature and ability to weave together stories. What fans may not know is that a few of its segments were influenced by iconic director, John Carpenter. Here's every reference to the horror legend in Dougherty's Trick 'R Treat explained.

Trick 'R Treat takes place on the night of Halloween as a footie pajama clad slasher character named Sam roams the streets watching mayhem unfold and causing some of it along the way. Each segment in the movie connects in intricate and clever ways. Whether it involved the principal's murder of a young boy by lacing candy with cyanide or a pack of werewolves transforming under moonlight, they are all related to make that year's All Hallows' Eve the most horrific yet. Michael Dougherty is well known for Trick 'R Treat, but his credentials also include Urban Legends: Bloody Mary and Krampus. He is a talented director who is adept at transforming something as seemingly innocent as holidays into horror stories. Sam even had his own set of short films that take mundane celebrations like Father's Day and make them as unsettling as possible.

Related: Why Trick ‘R Treat 2 Never Happened

Dougherty has been a vocal fan of John Carpenter, and is open about how influential he was on the creation of the feature-length movie featuring Sam, who was first created back in 1996. Because of this, Dougherty laced Trick 'R Treat not just with lethal candy, but Easter eggs to one of his favorite directors. Without further ado, here's every reference to John Carpenter's movies featured in Trick 'R Treat. 

Halloween

Michael Myers leans over a railing from Halloween

The most obvious reference is to Carpenter's iconic 1978 slasher movie, HalloweenWhile Sam is based on Samhain monsters that come out when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest, the fact that Trick 'R Treat takes place on Halloween is a nod to the night He—Halloween's Michael Myers—came home. The childlike creature carries a sharp lollipop in the shape of a Jack O' Lantern on top of the stick. He wields it like a knife, much like Michael Myers does with his own sharp weapon of choice. Both killers are also primarily active on Halloween eve, which makes them somewhat similar slasher icons — Sam's childlike persona can also be considered a nod to Michael Myers' first crime: the murder of his sister, Judith, when he was just a kid.

The Fog

Several figures coming out of The Fog 1980

In the "Halloween School Bus Massacre" segment, the ghosts of the children who died on the school bus emerge from a thick layer of fog to kill a group of kids who pull a prank on an innocent girl. This imagery is a direct reference to Carpenter's 1980 movie The Fog, which is about spirits that rise from the ocean waters on the 100th anniversary of their death in order to enact their revenge. The scene in Trick 'R Treat is almost an exact duplicate of the iconic fog scene in Carpenter's movie. Both sets of spirits seek revenge for the wrongs that were done to them which, in turn, caused their untimely demise.

Christine

Dougherty's final John Carpenter reference in Trick 'R Treat is also a Stephen King Easter egg. In 1983, the director adapted King's novel which released the same year, titled Christine, about a haunted 1958 Plymouth Fury. The bright red car appears to the left of the screen as the "Halloween School Bus Massacre" segment begins. It's used as an omen to foreshadow the vehicular accident that causes all of the passengers' deaths.

More: How Trick ’r Treat Twisted Classic Horror Cliches