Death and resurrection is old hat for both viewers of Days of Our Lives and the residents of Salem. The graveyard is more of a temporary vacation spot than a final resting place. With that said, not everyone returns, no matter how much they may be mentioned! Abigail, for instance, has been talked about almost non-stop lately and she hadn’t come back — at least not until today!

The Undead, a Homicidal Maniac, and a Territorial Girlfriend Terrorize Salem on Halloween

We mentioned last week that all this talk of Abigail might just be the show letting Chad grieve, rather than the usual precursor to bringing a character back. But then in the show’s Halloween episode, they went ahead and brought Abigail back after all. Kind of.

Days of Our Lives‘ Halloween episodes tend to be standalones that usually aren’t completely devoid of connection to the rest of the show, but aren’t really needed for the plot. This year’s got to the root of a number of characters’ fears with a series of nightmares based on horror movies. They were tied in, but it’s not clear just how much. Were we getting a preview of Sloan’s eventual confession about what she’d done to Eric and Nicole? A look at how far Holly might go to get Johnny and how that could blow up in her face?

For Chad, his nightmare was a spin on Pet Semetary, where he, Stephanie and Kayla (“Kayla, you’re a doctor. You don’t seriously believe in any of this?”) perform a ritual to bring Abigail back from the dead, only for it to actually be a spell that brings people back as murderous undead just like in the Stephen King story. Abigail killed Steve and Kayla (how sweet was it that they died holding hands?!), then when Stephanie couldn’t put an end to Chad’s ex, she decided to just kill Chad.

And with that, the nightmare ended… without us ever actually seeing Abigail return. The characters just told us they saw her and that she was back. And that kind of feels like what the show’s been doing.

They’re keeping Abigail around so much she’s practically still a character, but she’s one we no longer get to see. Maybe it’s time to move on from the half measures. Either stop hammering Abigail home and let Chad move on (though not necessarily with Stephanie — the damage might be done already with them) or bring Abigail back.

The character can be respected and mentioned from time to time without leaving viewers in a constant state of anticipation as if something is going to happen. Or the show can make sure that the anticipation builds to something. We loved both Kate Mansi (who’s currently General Hospital‘s Kristina) and Marci Miller in the role, but if lightning struck twice, maybe it can a third time, as well?

If neither actress is able to return — which may or may not have been why we got Abigail’s resurrection story without, you know, Abigail — then surely they’d understand if someone else picked up the role next.

Letting Chad have time in his grief is a worthy story to tell (and also, he and Stephanie haven’t been together all that long. Do they really need to rush into marriage??), but it may soon be time to move on, one way or another.

What do you think? Were you disappointed we didn’t get to see Abigail, even if it was just a dream? Do you want to see her make an actual return, or do you feel like it’s time to let her go?

Abigail’s murder left us with a mystery that was months in the solving. Gabi may be next, so check out our photo gallery of potential suspects below!