Halloween is one of those fun holidays that encourages marketers to get crafty, maybe get a bit silly and do a little thinking outside the box. At times, a dash of creativity is just the trick for interesting and innovative campaigns that leave audiences craving more. Other times, the results are so cringe-worthy that it makes you wonder if that box is there for a reason.

Below is a look at some campaigns that successfully walked that Halloween tightrope, and some that well, managed to get some seasonal “boos.” Just not the type of boos the marketing teams involved were hoping for.

Subway's 'costume season' mishap

Last year, Subway released an ill-advised YouTube clip based around letting women know eating at Subway will help them get in shape for "costume season" – a riff on "bathing suit season" marketing campaigns, which have taken heat for seemingly implying women have to be a certain (usually depicted as ultra-fit and skinny) body shape to slip into a bikini.

As an Adweek article from last year put it, “In a somewhat awkward spot built around the idea of modeling your 'sassy' and 'foxy' outfits for co-workers over lunch (as one does), the chain ends on the note, 'Whatever you're staying fit for, start at Subway.'"

The article noted in an update that Subway pulled the ad from YouTube after it began getting not-so-hot press from the media, including Time and TODAY.

But, as the internet never forgets, you can view still the ad in the segment below TODAY did about the controversial spot:

Wal-Mart’s ill-conceived on-site marketing

Also last year, on Wal-Mart's e-commerce site, you could find a brand new (and rather offensive) shopping category: "fat girl" costumes. It drew a lot of fire from customers and the media alike.

@KristinSecorsky This never should have been on our site. It is unacceptable, and we apologize. We worked quickly to remove this. -Jes

— Walmart (@Walmart) October 28, 2014

The on-site marketing snafu was first pointed out by Gawker media’s Jezebel vertical, and things also blew up on social media. Wal-Mart’s response? Tweeting an apology, “This never should have been on our site. It is unacceptable, and we apologize. We are working to remove it as soon as possible and ensure this never happens again,” multiple times to different Twitter users complaining about the misguided costume category.

And proving that the internet never forgets, there’s been a slew of tweets this year reminding everyone about Wal-Mart’s ill-conceived effort at marketing costumes last year. Meanwhile, this year, Wal-Mart found itself in another social media costume controversy for selling an “Israeli Soldier Costume for Kids” and a prosthetic “Sheik Fagin Nose." Both costumes have sinced been pulled, Retail Dive reports.

Little Ceasars haunts eaters' houses

Brands have often had fun with specialty URLs in an attempt to go viral with something that’s offbeat or fun. In 2012, Little Ceasars launched ForbiddenPizzaWebsite.com (yes, the site still exists but it appears to no longer be actively scaring anyone), a campaign built around the URL where visitors are admonished “THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING: Do not enter your address below,” located right above a form field with button copy of “Don’t click this.”

Visitors to the site when the campaign was active were greeted with an audio message, "Why have you come here? This is your final warning. Don't type your address below.” And those who braved the ominous message and went ahead and entered their address got another audio message, "Now you've done it. Your house is haunted."

To complete the effect, the site pulled up a Google Maps image of the house in question with cartoon ghosts “haunting” the house. All in all, the campaign was clever, but did not reach the levels of virality that Little Ceasers was perhaps hoping for.

And, a terrifying tour of the original 'Paranormal' house

Taking creepy up a notch, the makers of the horror-movie franchise invited potential homebuyers to tour the house where the original "Paranormal Activity" was filmed. The ad spot debuted this year ahead of the release last week of "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension," and features terrified homebuyers who fell for the haunted-house prank.

To be fair, the movie's creators pulled out all the stops to stage the terrifying tour, including shaking chandeliers, flickering lights, falling paintings and a rather dramatic shattering mirror. You can view the eerie ad, which has been seen over 380,000 times on YouTube, below:

Deadline reports that "Ghost Dimension" was the lowest-ever opening for the profitable franchise, and though it did not say whether its scare-tactic marketing made any impact, it says the low numbers were visible across a number of other titles that also tanked during the same weekend. Clearly, Halloween-themed marketing can be fun, but it’s also a tricky landscape that might end up giving marketers more frights than thrills. Just ask Wal-Mart.