The characters in the special are a group of children (Charlie Brown, his younger sister Sally, Lucy van Pelt, her younger brother Linus, Schroeder, Violet, Patty, "Pig-Pen", Frieda and Shermy) and Charlie Brown's pet dog Snoopy. The action takes place on Halloween, the days preceding it and the day following it. The majority of the child characters look forward to Halloween as a time to go trick-or-treating and to have a party. For Linus van Pelt, however, Halloween is particularly special time. Linus is convinced that on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of a pumpkin patch and then travels around the world bringing presents to all the good boys and girls. Linus plans to spend Halloween sitting in a pumpkin patch and waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear.