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"Ghostworld" is the 123rd episode of The Real Ghostbusters, first aired on September 22, 1990, during the show's sixth season. It was written by Len Janson and Chuck Menville.1 When Janine, Ray, and Slimer visit a new amusement park called Ghost World, they are kidnapped by a demonic gatekeeper and possessed by his ghost companions. Winston and Peter are lured into the same trap, leaving a cold-stricken Egon and his over-nurturing mother to mount the rescue.2
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One evening at the firehouse, Slimer coaxes Janine Melnitz into making him a paper airplane. Despite its bulky design, Slimer's own plane flies and knocks over a vase, lamp, paper tray, and photo holder near the front desk, all of which he manages to catch. The two answer the door to a frightening creature, prompting Janine to strap on a proton pack and take aim. The creature turns out to be a man in a costume delivering a singing telegram: a new amusement park named Ghost World has opened in New York, and the owner invites the Ghostbusters for a sneak preview.
Ecto-1 returns to the firehouse covered in slime and the team piles out exhausted. Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore decline the invitation, and Egon Spengler, coming down with a cold, also passes. Only Ray Stantz is interested and goes with Slimer and Janine. At the park, owner Carl Sands greets them, snaps briefly when he learns the others did not come, then leads them on a drive as ghosts swarm the car. Carl hands out "Ghost Bopper" guns to deal with what he calls holograms. On a boat ride through a tunnel, Ray is slimed and the guns are destroyed by the ghosts. Carl then transforms into a demon and gloats as the three are pulled into a vortex.
Ray, Slimer, and Janine return that night and try to talk Peter and Winston into visiting the park. Winston takes a phone call and a case at a fish market, where a worker named Mr. Alexis warns that "it" hates fish. A tuna flies out and hits Peter in the head, and Winston traces the disturbance with a P.K.E. Meter to a mounted marlin. An odd fish ghost emerges, but Ray lets it escape, claiming his thrower jammed. Winston is skeptical, since he serviced the packs the day before. On the way home, the possessed Ray and Slimer push to visit Ghost World, and Peter changes his mind only when Ray mentions Carl wants the Ghostbusters to host a TV special.
At the park, Carl reveals his scheme: use the Ghostbusters as goodwill ambassadors so that thousands of ghosts can possess the Mayor, the City Council, and the public. Peter and Winston are neutralized before they can flee. Back at the firehouse, Egon is not alone. His mother has come to nurse him and blends a batch of the Spengler Family Remedy, which Egon drinks cautiously and is surprised to survive. He turns on the TV, sees the others hosting a Ghost World special, and suspects something is wrong.
Egon and his mother drive to the park through a rainstorm. Realizing the place is seething with spectral energy, Egon sends Mrs. Spengler back, only for her to follow with a pastrami sandwich. At the boat ride they meet Janine, who fails to recognize Mrs. Spengler. Egon coyly introduces her as "Aunt Hilda," and when Janine takes the bait he shines a light on her to reveal the possessor; Mrs. Spengler traps the ghost and covers Janine with a blanket. Egon runs "Carl Sands" through his pocket computer and finds it is an anagram of Karro Zans, a demonic gatekeeper proud of his cleverness. Karro appears, impressed that Egon knows his real name but unimpressed by Egon's opinion of his plan.
Egon leads Karro on a chase through the park using a series of radios while Mrs. Spengler and Janine free the others. When Egon finally reveals himself by a billboard, Karro grows huge to crush him, but the billboard falls to show the whole team armed and ready. Mrs. Spengler kills the lights to blind Karro, the others open fire to confine him, and Peter traps him. Ghost World fades away, having been a mental construct of Karro's. Egon recovers, but Winston, Slimer, Ray, and Peter all catch his cold, and Mrs. Spengler heads off to find a blender.
The episode's regular voice cast featured Dave Coulier, Frank Welker, Maurice LaMarche, Buster Jones, and Kath Soucie. Guest voices included Keith Anthony, Ron Gans as Karro Zans, and Rose Marie as Mrs. Spengler.
Featured characters include the five Ghostbusters, Slimer, Janine Melnitz, Mrs. Spengler, the villain Karro Zans (alias Carl Sands), Mr. Alexis (the fish market worker), the Ghost World Possessors, and the Fish Market Haunter.
Karro Zans is a demonic gatekeeper and the episode's sole antagonist. He operates under the human alias Carl Sands and is listed in Egon's computerized version of Tobin's Spirit Guide; the entry is what tips Egon to his true identity via the anagram. Karro's defining trait is extreme pride in his own cleverness, and it is that pride that makes him easy to bait: Egon's taunts fracture his concentration and allow the rescue operation to succeed. Karro's abilities include creating and sustaining a large-scale mental construct (the Ghost World amusement park), shooting purple bolts of lightning from his fingertips and eyes, telekinesis capable of toppling structures, and the ability to sense the location of anyone inside his park. He also possesses a large demonic form and can grow to crushing scale. He is voiced by Ron Gans.
Ghost World is not a real amusement park but a mental construct created and maintained by Karro Zans. In appearance it resembles a horror-themed park with a haunted house, castle, graveyard, mausoleum, and the tunnel boat ride that serves as the main entry point for his possession scheme. Because the park exists only as long as Karro can concentrate on sustaining it, trapping him causes the entire construct to disappear instantly.
The Ghost World Possessors are the unnamed swarm of ghosts who carry out Karro's plan. They inhabit the park as his workforce, including taking control of Ray, Janine, Slimer, Peter, and Winston. The possessors are displaced by direct light (as Egon demonstrates on Janine) and can be captured by ghost trap once exposed.
The Ghost Bopper guns are prop laser pistols that Carl Sands hands to Ray, Janine, and Slimer during their tour. They appear to work against the park's "holograms" but are fake: the ghosts are deliberately allowing the blasts to dissipate to sell the ruse. Real ghosts in the boat tunnel destroy the guns outright.
The Fish Market Haunter is a minor one-off ghost that appears at the fish market where Winston and Peter respond to a call. It has an odd fish-like appearance and a hatred of fish. Ray allows it to escape, a first sign that his possession is affecting his judgment.
The team uses standard gear: the proton pack, particle thrower, ghost trap, and P.K.E. Meter. Egon consults the mobile computerized version of Tobin's Spirit Guide, which had not appeared since "The Devil in the Deep." Episode-specific items include the Ghost Bopper guns Carl hands out at the park and the Spengler Family Remedy that Mrs. Spengler blends for Egon.
Vehicles appearing in the episode are Ecto-1, Janine's personal car (used to drive the possessed group back from Ghost World), Carl Sands' park vehicle used for the tour, and Mrs. Spengler's car, which she drives to follow Egon to the park.
The production number for the episode was 140-509, and it was recorded on May 2, 1990.1 The booklet for The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection summarizes the story as Janine, Ray, and Slimer being kidnapped at the new Ghostworld amusement park and possessed, with Egon and his mother left to rescue the team.2
Slimer uses trash to make smoothies; when he goes to take out the garbage, Peter remarks that he uses it for smoothies. Slimer also delivers a variation on the Ghostbusters' "We ain't afraid of no ghost" motto, saying "We're not afraid of no ghost."
When the captives are ambushed by Karro Zans, Winston sarcastically agrees that the last time he had this much fun was at boot camp. Peter changes his mind about visiting Ghost World when the possessed Ray mentions a TV special; the last time the team did a TV special, Al Capone attacked them.
Egon tests Janine by referring to his mother as his "Aunt Hilda." Whether Egon actually had an aunt named Hilda or invented the name on the spot is left unstated. Mrs. Spengler, getting into the spirit of the rescue, says it is going to be more fun than her karate lesson.
Slimer is among those who catch Egon's cold at the end of the episode, confirming he is capable of contracting pathogens. Peter's line "We must have caught Egon's cold" includes Slimer in the count.
One animation error appears in a shot of the captives held in Ghost World: one of the figures is drawn as Egon when it should be Peter, since Egon is about to arrive in his raincoat to rescue them.
In air-date order, "Ghostworld" follows "You Can't Teach an Old Demon New Tricks" and precedes "The Haunting of Heck House." In DVD order, it follows "Very Beast Friends" and precedes "Afterlife in the Fast Lane." The episode appears on The Real Ghostbusters Box Set Volume 4, Disc 5.