Remember quite liking "The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul" when younger, although some of it was quite scary through the eyes of somebody at a single digit age. Also do remember though finding Scooby Dum annoying, a feeling felt whenever he appeared. What made me like this episode as a child though was the villain (though when younger other villains in the show stood out a little more), Shaggy and Scooby (who have never stopped being timeless regardless of what incarnation) and the setting.
"The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul" is not quite as good as "High Rise Hair Raiser" as far as the previous episodes go, which is classic Scooby Doo. Have always preferred it though over "The Fiesta Host is an Aztec Ghost", which was great most of the time but with a final quarter that wasn't as strong as the rest. For me though "The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul" is one of the better 'The Scooby Doo Show' episodes and one of the episodes that is better from an older perspective. Personally don't agree with it being the lowest rated episode featuring Scooby Dum (my least favourite of his episodes is "Chiller Diller Movie Thriller") and actually consider it the most interesting of his appearances, because we learn things about him, like him training to be a police dog, that we don't in his other three episodes, we do find out the significance of the magnifying glass.
Sure, his laugh gets on the nerves and is more silly than amusing and the overuse of his found a clue motif put me off the movement it comes from for a while when younger (especially considering it is so exposed and well known elsewhere too, the movement as an overall whole just to say is amazing actually). Actually though, on the most part he is very much tolerable here and he has grown on me, liked his bravery which he didn't show as much later. Not much wrong with the episode actually, but the Scooby and Scooby Dum introduction did go on for too long. And the perpetrator is not hard to figure out once the incriminating clue is found, in an episode where suspects are not that many (only one other but once more clues are found they become less guilty than initially appeared). Their plan and motive are not obvious though until quite a lot later on and are quite clever without being confusing.
Regardless of that, that doesn't stop the Gator Ghoul from being one of the freakiest villains of 'The Scooby Doo Show'. Not just the look and sound it makes, but also those eyes and the way it moves around, it genuinely intimidates. The creepiness is enhanced further by the setting, the swamp setting is really fantastic and one of the creepiest settings of the show by far. Good use of the showboat too, that was a setting used once or twice before and some others since for the franchise but seldom to this effective an extent.
It is not all non-stop creepiness though. There are many welcome moments of humour, especially everything revolving around food and Shaggy, Scooby and Scooby Dum's reactions to the heat of what they make to eat. Scooby Dum's is especially funny, and it's the visuals that make it so. The clues are intriguing, the little bit after all is revealed is cute and the final trap is one of the cleverest and most successful of the show. The mystery is very entertaining and atmospheric, even if other episodes are tauter in pace.
Furthermore, "The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul" is one of the better-looking episodes generally, especially the swamp setting, the use of colour and how the Gator Ghoul moves around. The music fits well and the theme song is one of the franchise's best. The writing intrigues and is endearingly goofy and the voice acting is strong. Despite continuing to love Don Messick and Casey Kasem and Daws Butler has fun as Scooby Dum, the sounds that Frank Welker made for the Gator Ghoul is what sticks most in the memory.
Summing up, great. 9/10
