Return the Slab: The Scariest Episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog Ever

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In this article:

• “Return the slab!” is a memorable line from what is likely Courage the Cowardly Dog‘s most terrifying episode.
• The episode, which features King Ramses haunting Courage, revolves around the unforeseen consequences of Courage finding a slab of stone in his backyard.
• Turns out, a lot of Courage fans were terrified of CGI King Ramses which begs the question: What made it so scary?

As a kid, I used to steal away into my basement in the middle of the night to watch Courage the Cowardly Dog on Cartoon Network. The show was purportedly for children, but upon rewatching it as an adult, I find it hard to believe that any parent would allow their kid to watch the show in good conscience. Still, I would creep down my stairs, turn the TV on low volume, and sit there for hours soaking up every surreal, terrifying scene of Courage the Cowardly Dog. 

Everything about the show is undeniably creepy. I’m not entirely sure why I enjoyed it so much when I was younger, perhaps it was the same dark curiosity that compels me to love horror movies today. My young heart would race as Courage did everything in his power to protect his owners, Muriel and Eustace, from life-threatening danger brought about by supernatural forces. And although I knew that they would always make it out unscathed, the suspenseful action and occult animation style would keep my eyes glued to the TV screen. 

There was one particular episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog that really sticks out in my mind, however. And after doing some research on the internet, it seems like that same episode holds a lot of mental real estate with many fans of the show. The episode I’m talking about, of course, is “King Ramses’ Curse”, known colloquially as “Return the Slab”. This episode kept me wide awake on several nights, even penetrated my dreams on more than one occasion. While almost every episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog is terrifying in its own right, “King Ramses’ Curse” really kicked it up a notch. 

Before we look at that episode in-depth, let’s examine the things about Courage the Cowardly Dog that made the entire series so damn scary. 

What Made Courage the Cowardly Dog so Scary?

It’s fairly clear that the creators of Courage the Cowardly Dog were heavily inspired by the horror genre, and possibly by a heavy dose of psychedelic drugs, because this show is as jarring and anxiety-inducing as you could possibly make a cartoon about a pink dog. It was no accident that Courage the Cowardly Dog was as scary as it was. In the creation of the show, the animation style, directing, and soundtrack all came together to form one pretty terrifying end product. 

In designing the backgrounds of the cartoon, the animators deliberately avoided using scale or definition. The best example is their house, around which there appear to be endless expanses of nothing whatsoever, leaving it to the imagination of the viewer what could possibly be lurking behind the slow-rolling clouds. The inside of the house is no less sinister. Hallways that appear to be only a few feet long soon appear infinite once Courage turns a corner and starts running through it in fear. Every corner of the house could be hiding a nefarious demon, ghost, creeper, or even computer. There is a constant aura of fear, as the settings never offer a visible escape from imminent danger. 

In the sound design for the show, John R. Dilworth, the mastermind behind this blood-curdling cartoon, wanted to use mostly original music. Most of the original compositions featured in the show were written by John Gray and Andy Ezrin, who wanted to create suspense and mystery with their music. The show also features some well-known classic compositions, such as Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. And, as we all know, classical music can be extremely creepy in the right contexts. 

Courage, who was voiced by Martin Grabstein, rarely speaks throughout the show, but rather communicates with a series of whimpers and groans, which serves to heighten the viewers’ anxiety and fear. As we can’t help but sympathize with our lovable protagonist, viewers are given no choice but to share in the unease and franticness that Courage experiences in every episode. 

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The character design in Courage the Cowardly Dog is also a big contributor to the show’s overall creepiness. Villains like Fred from the “Freaky Fred” episode or The King of Flan from the episode of the same name wear haunting grins filled with crooked teeth that are nothing short of nightmare fuel. 

While episodes like “Demon in the Mattress” and “Evil Weevil” were enough to make you keep your nightlight on, there’s one episode that stands out from the rest as the scariest Courage the Cowardly Dog episode of all time.

King Ramses’ Curse

Airing on January 21, 2000, “King Ramses’ Curse” was the first part of the seventh episode of the debut season of Courage the Cowardly Dog. The episode begins with two cat-like characters driving at high speed away from the police. It appears that they’ve stolen an ancient slab from a pharaoh’s tomb. Fearing that they’ll be caught with the stolen relic, they bury it in the ground near a water fountain. The two cats are then confronted by an unseen figure who tells them, “Return the slab or suffer my curse.” The cats are then engulfed in a swarm of insects, and the camera pans over to Courage’s house. 

The next morning, like the good dog he is, Courage digs up the slab and brings it to his owners. After first dismissing the slab as a piece of garbage, Eustace sees a news report on the TV claiming that the slab is worth one million dollars and immediately goes to retrieve it (and says that he plans to spend the money on new lawn chairs). Despite Muriel and Courage’s insistent warnings, Eustace refuses to give up the slab, dreaming of all the new things he could buy with the money. 

Enter the ghost of King Ramses, who appears outside of their house, and again commands, “Return the slab or suffer my curse.” Ramses appears in a 3D animation style, in contrast to the 2D style of the other characters, with tattered garments flowing in the nighttime breeze and strange tentacle-like things coming out of his ears. He warns that if the slab is not returned, they will be visited by three plagues, but Eustace, being the hard-headed curmudgeon that he is, refuses to concede. 

First, the house floods, and Courage is forced to save the family by uncorking the drain in the basement of the house. Next, a gramophone appears and begins playing a song called The Man in Gauze, which is apparently unbearable to the ears of Courage and his keepers. Courage runs around the property to find the gramophone until he finally locates it and smashes it with a baseball bat. For the third plague, a swarm of locusts attacks the house and begins devouring the walls. Courage wrestles the slab away from Eustace and then hurls it out the window, and the locusts stop momentarily. 

Eustace, who cannot give up his slab, goes and retrieves it, only for the locusts to return once he does. The episode ends with Muriel and Courage watching a news story about how the slab has been returned to the grave of King Ramses. All seems well, until Muriel asks about Eustace’s whereabouts. As the episode fades to black, the camera zooms in on King Ramses’ grave, which has an inscription of a picture of Eustace, implying that Eustace has been trapped inside the grave. 

Why Is Return the Slab the Scariest Episode?

What really made the “King Ramses’ Curse” episode so scary was the way King Ramses was animated. The contrasting 3D style in which they animated him gave the impression that he did not belong in that world at all. Pair that with the distant monotone voice and it was enough to make any kid’s skin crawl. 

That being said, King Ramses was slightly lovable. When his first plague is easily thwarted by Courage, he seems disappointed, like an upset child who just wanted a turn on the monkey bars. And is he really the bad guy in this episode? After all, his sole purpose in visiting Courage’s house was to retrieve stolen property. I think that’s perfectly reasonable. Maybe we shouldn’t judge King Ramses solely on his appearance or spine-chilling voice. He might be a decent guy if you got to know him.