treehouse of horror time travel

The Simpsons Halloween recap: Treehouse of Horror V

By grant butler | oct 5, 2018.

On the 5th episode of Treehouse of Horror, the Simpsons act as winter caretakers at Mr. Burns’ hotel, Homer invents a time travel device, and something terrible is happening at Springfield Elementary.

Treehouse of Horror V opens with another attempt by Marge to warn the audience, but it’s inadvertently interrupted by Homer and Bart (in a parody of The Outer Limits). Then the credits begin in the Springfield cemetery which is filled with Moe hanging himself, Patty and Selma dressed as witches and being burned at the stake by Reverend Lovejoy, and Bart chopping off Principal Skinner’s head with a guillotine.

With that, the first segment of the 5th installment of Treehouse of Horror begins.

The Shinning

The Simpsons arrive at Mr. Burns’ massive hotel in order to be the winter caretakers. He takes away the TV and Beer and warns the Simpsons that the hotel was built on land that has hosted Satanic rituals, witch burnings, and several John Denver Christmas specials. As the title suggests, this a parody of the 1980 film  The Shining , complete with Willie warning Bart to use the right title if he doesn’t want to get sued. Willie also discovers he has a psychic connection to Bart and tells him to use the gift in case Homer goes insane.

Which comes in handy as Homer begins to go crazy from the lack of TV or Beer. When a ghost Moe tells Homer that he’ll give him a Beer if he kills his family, he springs into action. Marge eventually finds Homer has repeatedly written “No TV And No Beer Make Homer Go Crazy,” and is indeed doing just that

Marge manages to lock him in the pantry, but Moe, accompanied by movie monsters like Dracula, busts Homer out. He breaks through several doors with an axe before finding the right one and the rest of the Simpsons flee. When Chief Wiggum misinterprets Marge’s call for help, Bart reaches out to Willie for help. But when Willie arrives, he is surprised with an axe in the back from Homer.

With the Simpsons all fleeing out into the snow, Lisa finds a handhold TV and uses it to distract Homer. The ability to watch TV causes Homer’s murderous impulses to wane and the entire family gathers together to watch it. But they wind up frozen together and are unable to change the channel when something they hate comes on.

Time and Punishment

One morning during breakfast Homer gets his hand stuck in the toaster. Breaking it in order to get his hand out, he goes down to the basement to fix it and inadvertently turns it into a time travel machine. Landing in a prehistoric era, Homer remembers Grampa Simpson’s advice that in case of time traveling, don’t step on anything because the smallest change may significantly affect the future.

Homer tries to do this, but ends up killing a mosquito that’s bothering him. He returns to the present to find it a dystopian state run by Ned Flanders. He winds at the Re-Neducation center where he is forced to smile widely and dress like Flanders. Fleeing back to the toaster, Homer goes back in time to make things right. But this time, he accidentally squashes a fish walking out of the water. Going back to the present a second time, Homer finds Bart and Lisa are giants and he barely escapes being crushed by them.

Returning to a prehistoric era for a final time, Homer sneezes on a T-Rex and it wipes out all the dinosaurs. But this time, he returns to the present and finds it a good place where they have wealth and the kids are well-behaved. Homer is happy until he finds out that there are no donuts here. In response, he frantically going back in time over and over again to the amusement of Kang and Kodos. Eventually returning to a world where the Simpsons all have forked tongues, Homer nonchalantly deems it close enough and sits down to eat.

Nightmare Cafeteria

Detention at Springfield Elementary gets too crowded and budget cuts have left Lunchlady Doris using low quality meat. But when Jimbo accidentally gets covered in soup, it gives Principal Skinner an idea. He sends Jimbo to help in the kitchen and the next day the teachers are all eating an unexpectedly tasty lunch. Skinner tells Mrs. Krabappel the truth about eating students and it makes her laugh. He follows the pattern with other students including the German student Uter.

When only a handful of kids are left, Bart and Lisa try to fight back. While trying to break out of school, Lunchlady Doris and Principal Skinner chase them to a ledge above a giant food processor. Willy tries to help, but is killed by an axe just like in the first sketch.

Bart falls in, but he eventually wakes up in bed as it was all a nightmare. With the 5th episode of Treehouse of Horror coming to a close, the Simpsons get turned inside out by a green fog. Undeterred, the Simpsons all begin performing a musical number.

Related Story. Treehouse of Horror IV recap. light

Every ‘Treehouse Of Horror’ Episode From ‘The Simpsons,’ Ranked

It’s hard to imagine Halloween without the annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode of The Simpsons . There’s been one every year since 1990 (to put that into context: Taylor Swift, who as you might have heard was born in December 1989, has never experienced a Halloween without a “Treehouse”). This year’s installment, which includes riffs on The Exorcist and Coraline (it airs Sunday, October 22), is the show’s 28th overall. To honor the occasion, we ranked the first 27 “Treehouse of Horror” episodes from worst to best.

Related: The 21 Best Horror Movies On Netflix, Ranked

27. “Treehouse of Horror XXII” — October 30, 2011

From top to bottom, is this the lousiest “Treehouse of Horror”? Maybe not (“Dial D for Diddily” is fine ), but it does have the worst “Treehouse” segment. That would be “The Diving Bell and Butterball,” a belated parody of Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly , in which a paralyzed Homer communicates through farting. We’re a long way from “Clown Without Pity.”

26. “Treehouse of Horror XXIII” — October 7, 2012

“Treehouse of Horror XXIII” also scrapes the bottom because of an unfortunate segment. The Paranormal Activity movies are easy, potentially fruitful targets for mockery — but “Un-normal Activity” ends with Homer having a threesome with two demons. Oh yeah, and the sex is so rough that one of the demons uses his safe word, “cinnamon.” Even if the other two segments, “The Greatest Story Ever Holed” and “Bart and Homer’s Excellent Adventure,” were all-timers (they’re not), there’s no coming back from… that.

25. “Treehouse of Horror XVI” — November 6, 2005

With the obvious duds out of the way, the ranking can begin in earnest. “Treehouse of Horror XVI” contains tame parodies of A.I. Artificial Intelligence and The Most Dangerous Game , both of which feel like they came from the Simpsons ‘ writers throwing darts at a board covered with movies they hadn’t mocked yet, and a relatively amusing segment about Springfielders turning into their Halloween costumes. It’s not bad, but it could have been funnier.

24. “Treehouse of Horror XXVI” — October 25, 2015

He did it, he finally did it: Sideshow Bob killed Bart Simpson. But without Die Bart Die in his life, Krusty’s former sidekick (not Sideshow Raheem) has nothing to live for. So, he resurrects his arch-nemesis, so he can murder him again and again and again. It’s not a bad premise — it’s not like Sideshow Bob can kill Bart in a canonical episode — but the repeated deaths grow tiresome. That’s true of the rest of the episode, too. “Homerzilla” is no “King Homer,” and “Telepaths of Glory” is an unfortunately uninspired parody of Chronicle .

23. “Treehouse of Horror XVIII” — November 4, 2007

The most anonymous “Treehouse of Horror” of them all. It’s not terrible, it’s just… there. The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial parody, “E.T., Go Home,” goes through the motions of Steven Spielberg’s kid-friendly classic; “Mr. & Mrs. Simpson” is the Mr. & Mrs. Smith spoof that no one asked for; and “Heck House” doesn’t deliver on the potential of the church being turned into a sinful haunted house (although it’s always fun to see Devil Flanders).

22. “Treehouse of Horror XXVII” — October 16, 2016

The Simpsons went all-out for its 600th episode (“In Hell,” Frank Grimes’ ghost notes, “they make you watch all of them in a row”). “Dry Hard” spoofs Mad Max: Fury Road (Mr. Burns as Immortan Joe is inspired casting) and the Hunger Games movies, while “MoeFinger” is a parody of Kingsman: The Secret Service , while the segment itself is named after Goldfinger . (The middle segment sees Lisa’s imaginary friend Rachel killing anyone close to her.) There’s some good stuff in there — I’m fond of the rundown of Fox shows that have been canceled since The Simpsons premiered, including Allen Gregory and Woops! — but it’s too busy to come together as well as it could have.

21. “Treehouse of Horror XVII” — November 5, 2006

An anecdote: I saw “Treehouse of Horror XVII” in a public screening where Matt Groening was in attendance. During the trifling “Married to the Blob,” there was an uneasy feeling in the air, like people were nervously chuckling because they felt had to because the creator of the darn show was there. It got even more awkward in the Richard Lewis- and Fran Drescher-guest starring “You Gotta Know When to Golem.” Thankfully, things picked up with “The Day the Earth Looked Stupid,” which turns back the clock to the 1930s for Orson Welles’ infamous The War of the Worlds radio broadcast. It was the only time the laughs came naturally (although the segment itself is shockingly bleak). It’s also, by far, the best part of the episode.

20. “Treehouse of Horror XXI” — November 7, 2010

The best joke in “Treehouse of Horror XXI” isn’t Milhouse being lethally bad at Hangman in “War and Pieces,” or Maggie’s twisted imagination in “Master and Cadaver” — it’s Harry Potter ‘s Daniel Radcliffe as Edward Cullen. The Twilight riff “Tweenlight” smartly casts Lisa as Bella, but there are too many obvious jokes (Homer turns into an obese bat) for the segment to, um, fly.

19. “Treehouse of Horror XXV” — October 19, 2014

“Treehouse of Horror XXV” is best remembered for the final segment, “The Others,” where the current Simpsons encounter The Tracey Ullman Show -era Simpsons. There’s a lot of talk of frosty chocolate milkshakes. That’s a strong place to start; unfortunately, the warm, fuzzy nostalgia is blown to smithereens by now-Marge killing herself because now-Homer is more attracted to then-Marge. The other two segments, “School Is Hell” and “A Clockwork Yellow,” might not be as eventful, but they’re better, especially the spoof of A Clockwork Orange with Moe as Alex DeLarge. That checks out.

18. “Treehouse of Horror XXIV” — October 6, 2013

This is a largely ho-hum affair — there are decent but unspectacular lampoons of Dr. Seuss, The Thing with Two Heads , and Freaks — with one major exception. The opening couch gag was conceived by fantastical maestro Guillermo del Toro, who fills the sequence with dozens of movie references, including nods to his own Blade II , Hellboy , The Devil’s Backbone , and Pan’s Labyrinth . It’s worth watching this episode for the intro alone.

17. “Treehouse of Horror XX” — October 18, 2009

The Simpsons loves dipping into the zombie well, and they did it again in “Treehouse of Horror XX” with “Don’t Have a Cow, Mankind.” The undead take over Springfield after a virus spreads through Krusty Burgers. It’s one of the weaker zombie segments, but the bad taste is quickly washed out with “There’s No Business Like Moe Business,” a parody of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street where Moe’s beer becomes sweetened with Homer’s blood. It turns into a full-blown musical, and yet the thing I remember most about this episode is Bart repeatedly saying “criss cross” in “Dial ‘M’ for Murder or Press ‘#’ to Return to Main Menu.” It’s… CRISS CROSS .

16. “Treehouse of Horror XV” — November 7, 2004

Years before Mark Linn-Baker, playing Mark Linn-Baker, appeared on The Leftovers , The Simpsons co-opted the Perfect Strangers theme song. “Treehouse of Horror XV” begins with the TGIF-ready, Kang and Kodos-starring sitcom, Keepin’ It Kodos , in which the aliens adopt Bart after they feed his family to their boss. Cue the waterworks and “standing tall, on the wings of my dream.” The rest of the episode has its moments — Ned sees the deaths of people he touches in “The Ned Zone” (although Futurama ‘s “Parasites Lost” is a superior Fantastic Voyage parody than “In the Belly of the Boss”) — but nothing can top that opening, and nothing’s going to stop Kang and Kodos now.

15. “Treehouse of Horror XIX” — November 2, 2008

I re-watched every “Treehouse of Horror” before writing this piece, and this episode was the biggest surprise. It’s much better than I remember. The Transformers parody “Untitled Robot Parody” is actually funny (“We’re missing Sex Toy Bot… Where have you been?” “Where haven’t I been?”), not unintentionally hilarious like the actual movies; and Homer is hired to kill celebrities (although, ironically, not Jon Hamm) so advertisers can use their likenesses for free in “How to Get Ahead in Dead-vertising.” But the real showcase is “It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse,” an exemplary spoof of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown . The Grand Pumpkin is right: it’s horrifying what humans do to pumpkins. It could be worse, though: at least he’s not a turkey .

14. “Treehouse of Horror XIII” — November 3, 2002

What’s funnier than one Homer? Dozens of Homers, all of whom share his fondness for beer, fatty foods (including humans), and innocent mischief. “Send in the Clones” is one of the more visually impressive “Treehouse” episodes, with a cascade of Homers falling into Springfield Gorge the comedic highlight. The other two segments don’t sustain the momentum — although “The Island of Dr. Hibbert,” where the titular doctor turns into Springfield’s finest into animals, is much better than the gun-heavy “The Island of Dr. Hibbert” — but all in all, “Treehouse of Horror XIII” is a solid episode.

13. “Treehouse of Horror XIV” — November 2, 2003

In a rare case of Simpsons Didn’t Do It, “Reaper Madness” covers the same territory — Homer becomes the Grim Reaper — as the “Death Is a Bitch” episode of Family Guy . Still, it’s a funny premise, and Homer makes the most of his time as Death by killing Patty instead of Marge. Despite a winking cameo from Jerry Lee Lewis, “Frinkenstein” pales in comparison to season three’s “If I Only Had a Brain.” Much better, however, is the third segment, “Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off,” where Bart and Milhouse freeze time using a pocket watch. They don’t go crazy Broadway style , but they do give The Pope a wedgie, which is basically the same thing.

12. “Treehouse of Horror IX” — October 25, 1998

Despite being the lowest ranked of the 1990s episodes, “Treehouse of Horror IX” still has some classic bits, particularly in the segment where Bart and Lisa get trapped in an Itchy and Scratchy short. The already-heightened violence of the Halloween specials is kicked up a notch — piranhas eat Bart’s flesh, Bart and Lisa fall into a pot of soup, etc. — but it works, because it’s within the parameters of a cartoon-within-a-cartoon. Extreme gore is fine, as long as it has a purpose. And that purpose is Itchy and Scratchy running over Poochie.

11. “Treehouse of Horror XII” — November 6, 2001

Maybe it’s because I was watching a lot of Fox around this time, or because the joke is that good, but I will never forget the promo for “Treehouse of Horror XII.” It aired seemingly every ad break. It was the scene where Homer drops a box of Lucky Charms into a pit to catch a leprechaun to reverse a gypsy’s curse (it makes sense in context), only for the hole to be filled with an imp, hobgoblin (not a goblin), and Katie Couric. The rest of this “Treehouse” is amusing — Pierce Brosnan as the voice of the house that tries to seduce Marge and kill Homer, and the Harry Potter parody with the puking frog — but that silly Lucky Charms joke is what I remember the most.

10. “Treehouse of Horror X” — October 31, 1999

“Treehouse of Horror X” gave us Tom Arnold getting blasted into the sun, so it definitely belongs in the top-10. There’s also a very funny spoof of I Know What You Did Last Summer , where Homer forgets to put the fog lights in and kills Ned, and “Desperately Xeeking Xena,” in which Comic Book Guy’s sarcastic sadness is transformed into the villainous Collector. Is it the Best. Treehouse. Ever.? Nope, but CBG should still be proud of his iconic death pose.

9. “Treehouse of Horror XI” – November 1, 2000

This was the first “Treehouse” to air in November, but it was worth the post-Halloween wait. Especially the third segment, “Night of the Dolphin,” where Lisa releases a captured dolphin back into the ocean. Naturally, it’s only a matter of time before Snorky and his fellow “clowns of the sea” go to war against the humans, and win. “Hey, you got to hand it to those dolphins,” Homer commiserates. “They just wanted it more.” The rest of the episode, including the Ghost Dad parody “G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad” and the Grimm’s Fairy Tales homage “Scary Tales Can Come True,” isn’t too shabby, either.

8. “Treehouse of Horror II” – October 31, 1991

This might seem low for a season three episode, but “Treehouse of Horror II” is more consistently clever than laugh-out-loud funny. “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Bart Zone” were the first of many Twilight Zone parodies (the former is technically a riff on The New Twilight Zone , but whatever), with memorable bits on the downfall of humanity (it involves a big board with a big nail) and father-son bonding, while the premise of the third segment, “If I Only Had a Brain,” was so good, it was used again in “Treehouse of Horror XXIV.” You can only go down the “two heads, one body” path so many times, though…

7. “Treehouse of Horror VIII” – October 26, 1997

The last truly great “Treehouse” episode, “VIII” begins with the French dropping a nuclear bomb on Springfield, leaving only Homer (and not Little Bart, Little Lisa, Little Marge, and… the rest) alive. From there, Homer makes the best thirty-five cent purchase in his life in “Fly vs. Fly,” and “Easy-Bake Coven” is a rare “Treehouse” showcase for Marge, who, as a witch, inadvertently helps invent Halloween by eating gingerbread men instead of actual humans. You may have wasted your life, to quote Comic Book Guy, but you won’t have wasted your time watching this episode.

6. “Treehouse of Horror” – October 25, 1990

Much like season two of The Simpsons overall, the original “Treehouse of Horror” is underrated. It might not be as daring as future installments, but it has a sentient house killing itself rather than live with the Simpsons, Lisa ruining the family’s chance at paradise, and James Earl Jones reciting the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem, “The Raven.” What more could you want?

5. “Treehouse of Horror VI” – October 29, 1995

The most famous segment, “Homer3” (a.k.a. the one with three dimensional computer animation and erotic cakes), is the weakest of the three, but only because “Attack of the 50 Foot Eyesores” and “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace” are so good. The former has Wiggum shooting the captain of the high school basketball team and Paul Anka imploring Springfield to “just don’t look” at the billboard monsters destroying their town, while the latter is a genuinely disturbing parody of A Nightmare on Elm Street . And to think, it all started on the thirteenth hour, of the thirteenth day, of the thirteenth month.

4. “Treehouse of Horror III” – October 29, 1992

“Treehouse of Horror III” contains a talking Krusty doll set to evil. That’s good. It also has Ape and Candy Apple islands. That’s good. And Zombie Flanders. That’s good. It also comes with a free Frogurt. That’s… still good. Can I go and watch now?

3. “Treehouse of Horror VII” – October 27, 1996

“Citizen Kang” shouldn’t have aged as well as it has. It’s about Bill Clinton and Bob Dole running for president, after all. But between “It makes no difference which one of us you vote for. Either way, your planet is doomed. DOOMED!” and “Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others,” this “Treehouse” contains some of the most trenchant satire in the history of The Simpsons . On top of Clinton “twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom,” there’s also Bart’s conjoined twin brother Hugo, who feasts on fish heads in the attic, and Lisa creating, then getting stuck in, her own universe. The only thing better than the science fair pay dirt that is mold? This episode.

2. “Treehouse of Horror IV” — October 28, 1993

Like many “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, the best segment is the first one: “The Devil and Homer Simpson.” But that’s not a knock on “Terror at 5½ Feet” or “Bart Simpson’s Dracula” — those are A’s where “Devil” is an A+. This episode introduces Devil Flanders, the Jury of the Damned (including Lizzie Borden, John Wilkes Booth, and the starting line of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers), Homer eating all the donuts in the world, one of the first Hans Moleman deaths (“There’s a gremlin on the side of the bus!”), and Marge as the head vampire. She does have a life outside the house, y’know.

1. “Treehouse of Horror V” — October 30, 1994

This isn’t just a great “Treehouse of Horror” — it’s a great episode of The Simpsons , period. “The Shinning” is an uproarious homage to The Shining , “Time and Punishment” is better than most time travel movies (“If you ever travel back in time, don’t step on anything. Because even the tiniest change can alter the future in ways you can’t imagine”), and “Nightmare Cafeteria” is a gory, cannibalistic conclusion to a classic episode. It’s even more entertaining than the 1947 classic Glenn Ford movie, 200 Miles to Oregon .

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Treehouse of Horror

• Episode aired Oct 25, 1990

The Simpsons move into a cursed house, then are abducted by aliens, before Homer is ensconced in a tale by Edgar Allen Poe. The Simpsons move into a cursed house, then are abducted by aliens, before Homer is ensconced in a tale by Edgar Allen Poe. The Simpsons move into a cursed house, then are abducted by aliens, before Homer is ensconced in a tale by Edgar Allen Poe.

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• Trivia Matt Groening was nervous about "The Raven" because it did not have many gags, and felt it would be "the worst, most pretentious thing [they had] ever done" on the show.
• Goofs The Krusty doll in Bart's bed at the end of the episode is very noticeably off-model.

[Homer calls the real estate agent in a rage after finding an Indian burial ground in the basement]

Homer : Mr. Pote, Homer Simpson here. When you sold me this house, you forgot to mention one little thing. You didn't tell me it was built on an Indian burial ground!

Homer : NO, YOU DIDN'T!

Homer : Well, that's not my recollection.

Homer : Yeah, well... all right. Good-bye.

[hangs up the phone and turns to Marge]

Homer : He says he mentioned it five or six times.

• Crazy credits Unlike later Halloween specials, there are no "funny" names for the cast members - everyone is just credited normally.
• Connections Featured in My Own Private Idaho (1991)

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• rebeccaajclarke
• Aug 19, 2023
• What does Bart Simpson write on the chalkboard in one of the classrooms at "Springfield Elementary School" at the beginning of this episode?
• What happends in the couch scene?
• What phone joke does Bart Simpson tell in this epiode?
• October 25, 1990 (United States)
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• Runtime 30 minutes

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• A moment in the literal sense: Homer's line "I'm the first non-Brazilian person to travel through time!" It's never explained, and has engendered much debate among Simpsons fans over the years. Some interpret it as a reference to writer/mystic Carlos Castaneda, but he was born in Peru and emigrated to the US. Word of God has it that the line was originally "non-fictional" instead, but nobody seems to know exactly how or why it was changed. It's generally assumed to be a Non Sequitur .
• When Maggie whacks Groundskeeper Willie in the back with the axe and says in James Earl Jones ' voice "This is indeed a disturbing universe".
• Groundskeeper Willie dying is turned into a Running Gag through the special. Willie : [on his third death] Ach, I'm bad at this.
• Skinner "joking" about having just eaten Uter. In fact, "Nightmare Cafeteria" in general derives a lot of its appeal from this trope—the teachers committing cannibalism is scary, the teachers committing cannibalism while staying 100% in character and treating it as just an extension of their existing disregard for the student body is hilarious.
• Ensemble Dark Horse : Already one in usual episodes, but Groundskeeper Willie is responsible for some of this episode's very best moments. You can tell the writers also appreciated his role in this one, given he gets to close out the episode alongside the show's titular family. It's no wonder he got a more central role the next year in " Treehouse of Horror VI ".
• Franchise Original Sin : "Time and Punishment" is arguably the earliest example (depending on if you count "King Homer" or not ) of a Treehouse segment that mostly avoids any kind of horror story or parody, instead focusing on broader Time Travel zaniness. It's less noticeable here because it's bookended by two genuinely creepy segments and it did still include a few unsettling moments like the lobotomy scene. However, future Treehouses would often focus on broader parodies of non-horror movies, taking away from the whole appeal of them being a Halloween Episode .
• In "Time and Punishment," one of the methods Alternate Ned uses to keep the citizens under his control is by having them wear clothes similar to his and his family's. One example is having Marge wear the same sweater and skirt that Maude usually wears . It was a good visual gag back then, but in the later episode " I'm Goin' to Praiseland ", Ned has such trouble moving on from Maude that he secretly styles his then-girlfriend's hair to look like hers.
• The opening credits show Moe being hanged and then popping his eyes open. Years later, Moe's suicidal thoughts would come to light — he would also attempt to hang himself (or at least allude to doing so) a few times.
• Turns out Ned Flanders surveilling society straight wasn't that far of a possibility .
• Groundskeeper Willie trying and failing to save the Simpson children gets funnier the next year as the "Treehouse Of Horror VI" segment "Nightmare On Evergreen Terrace" has Willie swearing vengeance against Springfield's adults and their children for their failure to save him .
• Nausea Fuel : The very end segment is rather nauseating. The whole family get turned inside out by a fog (after Bart wakes up from his dream of being cannibalized by the staff at Springfield Elementary) and begans singing and dancing about it. To add insult to injury, Santa's Little Helper comes out and grabs Bart by his intestines carrying him off , immediately after they sing that, "the family dog is eyeing Bart's intestine."
• One-Scene Wonder : Alternate-Timeline Maggie (voiced by James Earl Jones ) at the end of Time and Punishment . "This is indeed a disturbing universe..."
• Signature Scene : The "Give me the bat, Marge!" scene in The Shinning is widely considered one of the most iconic scenes in the Treehouse of Horror episodes.

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The Simpsons: 20 Best Treehouse Of Horror Episodes Ranked

• The Treehouse of Horror episodes of The Simpsons are among the best the show has produced, with innovative horror-movie parodies and satirical takes on pop culture's favorite scary stories.
• These episodes abandon the normal continuity of the show, killing off characters and breaking the fourth wall with introductions and warnings.
• While the later Halloween specials are consistently high-quality, the earliest ones are still considered the best, standing out with their clever satire and fresh perspective on horror tropes.

Since its second season, The Simpsons has released it's annual Halloween special Treehouse of Horror , and the best of these horror-movie-parodying anthologies rank among the best episodes the show has produced. Each episode involves three tales of satirical terror inspired by horror, science fiction, and the supernatural. Over the decades, the residents of Springfield have morphed into recognizable monsters, been tempted by the devil, and parodied pop culture's favorite scary stories. Beyond mere homage, these segments innovate within the genres they mimic, providing fans with a fresh yet frighteningly fun perspective on the tropes the world knows and fears.

The Treehouse of Horror segments gleefully abandon all the normal continuity in The Simpsons , killing off characters left and right. In many, the characters also break the fourth wall with introductions and warnings, which pays homage to classic anthology series like The Twilight Zone . This narrative device serves as both a tribute and a technique for the writers to be as creative as they like without worrying about having to adhere to the show's verisimilitude. However, over thirty specials later, the earliest Halloween specials are still considered the better ones, and the best Treehouse of Horror episodes stand out despite the specials being consistently high-quality.

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Treehouse Of Horror XXI (2010)

The simpsons takes on jumanji and twilight.

"Treehouse of Horror XXI" delivers a triad of tales that blend horror and humor with The Simpsons' signature style. The episode parodies the movie Jumanji with a cursed board game that unleashes real perils, while the second segment humorously tackles Twilight , introducing a lovelorn vampire. The final act is an homage to Dead Calm , where the Simpsons face off against a mariner with murderous intent. Its pop culture riffing is sharp, and the Twilight parody stands out for cleverly lampooning the vampire craze of the 2000s, capturing the essence of what makes these episodes fan favorites- satire with a Simpsons twist.

Treehouse Of Horror XVI (2005)

Mr burn's goes hunting and bart's replaced by a.i..

In "Treehouse of Horror XVI," the show presents a brilliant blend of classic and contemporary. The episode opens with a "B.I.: Bartificial Intelligence" segment, exploring artificial intelligence with a Simpsonian spin. This is followed by "Survival of the Fattest," a macabre take on reality television where Mr. Burns hunts Springfield's men for sport . "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face" displays the show's whimsical side as a witch turns everyone into their Halloween costumes. Its standout feature is the clever satire on the then-emerging reality TV phenomenon, offering both a critique of society and a plethora of laughs.

RELATED: 10 Scariest Simpsons Episodes That Aren't Treehouse Of Horror

Treehouse Of Horror XXIII (2012)

Black holes and time travel make for a great simpsons halloween episode.

The 23rd installment in the "Treehouse of Horror" series makes a remarkable splash with its segments. The episode kicks off with an apocalyptic vision in "The Greatest Story Ever Holed," which sees Springfield succumbing to a black hole. "UNnormal Activity" parodies the found-footage horror genre, and the final story, "Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure," riffs on time-travel tropes. What makes this episode great is its contemporary take on modern fears - from black holes to surveillance - while maintaining the show's characteristic levity and irreverence . The episode is a testament to the series' ability to remain topical and engaging even after two decades.

Treehouse Of Horror XIX (2008)

A heavy dose of social commentary makes this halloween special stand out.

"Treehouse of Horror XIX" strikes with its usual wit and a touch of the macabre. The episode takes a stab at the Transformers movie series with "Untitled Robot Parody." The episode becomes more insightful with "How to Get Ahead in Dead-vertising," skewering the world of advertising by killing celebrities to use their likenesses for free, which is an eerily prescient segment given current concerns about studios using A.I. Lastly, "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" satirizes the classic Peanuts Halloween special, giving it a dark twist. The keen social commentary wrapped in fantastical horror-comedy makes "Treehouse of Horror XIX" particularly memorable .

Treehouse Of Horror XX (2009)

The 20th treehouse of horror marks an important milestone.

Marking the 20th Anniversary of the "Treehouse of Horror" specials, this episode combines homage with innovation. The opening act, "Dial 'M' for Murder or Press '#' to Return to Main Menu," takes a swing at Hitchcockian tropes with a twist-filled black-and-white segment. In "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind," a spoof of zombie films, Krusty Burger's new burger turns the town into a horde of zombies . The final tale, There's No Business Like Moe Business," is a musical that cleverly unfolds on stage. What makes this episode stand out is the theatrical flair and classic horror homage, encapsulating the creativity that has kept the series fresh over the years.

RELATED: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Simpsons: Treehouse Of Horror

Treehouse of Horror XV (2004)

Ned flanders gains prescience and lisa stalks a killer across 19th century london.

One of many Stephen King adaptations on the show, The Simpsons tackles The Dead Zone in season 16. The hilarious story finds Ned Flanders experiencing visions of the future , including one in which Homer causes a devastating disaster — which is not very surprising. One of the episode's other stories includes a murder mystery set in the early 1900s with Lisa as a detective tracking a Jack the Ripper-like killer through the streets of London. There is also a fun sci-fi adventure in which Maggie is shrunk down and accidentally swallowed by Mr. Burns.

Treehouse of Horror XII (2001)

Pierce brosnan's cameo as a homicidal a.i. home.

Another great Simpsons guest star playing themselves is Pierce Brosnan, who appears in a segment as the celebrity A.I. voice for the family's smart home . However, things get weird when the supercomputer develops a fixation on Marge. Other stories include Homer getting a curse put on him that punishes those around him, as well as a Harry Potter -inspired adventure with Lisa and Bart at a magic school where Bart takes extreme measures to beat his top-student sister.

Treehouse of Horror XIV (2003)

Home becomes the grim reaper.

While Homer Simpson has had a number of jobs over the course of the series, this episode finds Homer taking up the mantle of the Grim Reaper himself. As with all of his responsibilities, Homer doesn't take the position as seriously as he should. There is also a fun misadventure with Bart and Millhouse as they get their hands on a watch that can stop time. Professor Frink takes center stage in another story as he seeks to raise his father from the dead. In a fun bit of The Simpsons casting, Frink's father is voiced by Jerry Lewis, who the animated character is based on.

RELATED: 15 Jokes From The Simpsons: Treehouse Of Horror That Have Already Aged Poorly

Treehouse of Horror XI (2000)

Humanity is ousted by dolphins.

Homer has met a grisly end in many of these episodes, but season 12 sees him having to contend with the afterlife. After dying from eating broccoli, Homer is told he must complete one good deed in order to get into heaven — but it is not as easy for him as it sounds. There is also a retelling of Hansel and Gretel in which Bart and Lisa are confronted with a witch living in a gingerbread house. But the episode's highlight is a hilarious spoof of animal attack horror movies with super-intelligent dolphins taking revenge on humanity .

Treehouse of Horror XIII (2002)

The simpsons unleashes multiple homers.

Homer Simpson can be destructive enough on his own, and this Simpsons Halloween special imagines the trouble that is caused when there are endless duplicates of him. That is the dilemma in the first segment of this season 14 episode, as Homer clones himself using a magic hammock, and it's expectedly hilarious . There is also a story in which the people of Springfield decide to give up their firearms with unexpected consequences as an army of gun-toting zombies descends on the town. Lastly, there is a creepy tale of Dr. Hibbert owning an island where he turns people into animals.

Treehouse Of Horror X (1999)

Y2k and movie parodies make the 1990s final treehouse of horror a classic.

The 11th season Halloween episode is when Treehouse Of Horror reached some of its greatest movie-parodying moments . It starts with "I Know What You Diddily-Iddly-Did," a spoof of the 90s teen slasher, I Know What You Did Last Summer . Like the film, the Simpsons accidentally run over Ned Flanders with their car on a foggy night, only to discover he may not be dead after all. The second segment, "Desperately Xeeking Xena," follows Bart and Lisa as they develop superpowers. Finally, in "Life's a Glitch, Then You Die," Y2K comes to Springfield. This is a classic special that introduced the world to the superhero parody of Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl .

Treehouse Of Horror VIII (1997)

The simpsons explores the apocalypse and cronenberg.

For season 9, The Simpsons brought the scares with witches, humanoid flies, and apocalyptic mutants. In "The HΩmega Man," inspired by Richard Matheson's book The Omega Man , Homer ventures into a Springfield destroyed by a neutron bomb . "Fly Vs. Fly" is a take on David Cronenberg's The Fly , starring Bart as a half-boy/half-bug. The third part, "Easy-Bake Coven," goes way to colonial Springfield, where Marge and her sisters live as a coven of broom-riding witches.

Treehouse Of Horror IX (1998)

Maggie loses her baby legs.

The highlight of season 10's Treehouse of Horror is the segment "Starship Poopers," where Homer and Marge discover their darling baby Maggie is actually an alien. The title is a spoof of the Paul Verhoeven monster movie, Starship Troopers . "Starship Poopers" is preceded by "The Terror of Tiny Toon," a parody of the film Stay Tuned , which sees Bart and Lisa sucked into their TV during an episode of The Itchy and Scratchy Show . Another one of the best Treehouse of Horror segments, "Hell Toupée," involves Homer donning a possessed wig and going on a killing spree.

Treehouse Of Horror (1990)

The first simpsons halloween special starts the tradition strongly.

The very first "Treehouse of Horror" begins with a spoof on The Amityville Horror : "Bad Dream House." It then gives fans the first appearance of Kang and Kodos in "Hungry are the Damned," wherein a backyard barbeque for the Simpsons turns into a ride on an alien spaceship . The episode ends on a gothic and literary note with an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." Bart plays the titular bird, while Homer plays the neurotic narrator taunted by the raven that keeps chanting, "Eat my shorts!"

RELATED: The Simpsons: 15 Quotes From Treehouse Of Horror That Are Still Hilarious Today

Treehouse Of Horror II (1991)

Bart becomes god in this series of disturbing tales.

The second Treehouse of Horror is still one of the best and full of classic The Simpsons moments . After overindulging in Halloween candy, Lisa, Bart, and Homer are each haunted by disturbing nightmares. Lisa's dream, based on the classic short story "The Monkey's Paw," explores what happens when the Simpsons obtain a magic monkey's paw that grants them three wishes. Bart's dream, "The Bart Zone," transpires in an alternate Springfield, where everyone must obey Bart or suffer severe consequences. Finally, Homer dreams Mr. Burns uses his brain to create the ultimate sentient robot a la Frankenstein in "If I Only Had a Brain."

Treehouse Of Horror III (1992)

The simpsons take on king kong, child's play, and night of the living dead.

The third Simpsons Halloween special remains one of its most heavily rooted in movie parody. A killer Krusty doll torments Homer like Chucky from Child's Play in "Clown Without Pity". The segment is followed by "King Homer," a hilarious Homer-filled parody of King Kong . Zombies take up the final third of the episode with "Dial 'Z' for Zombies." Thanks to Bart, a horde of zombies terrorizes Springfield , turning its residents into the undead. The episode's genius lies in its ability to seamlessly blend iconic horror elements with the quirky Simpson universe, delivering a balance of spine-tingling thrills and taking the idea of an anthology episode to its limits with the black-and-white King Kong parody.

Treehouse Of Horror VII (1996)

Bart meets his evil twin and homer votes for kodos.

The Simpsons tackles the bizarre cult horror film Basket Case in season 8's Halloween special with its first segment, "The Thing and I." In the bit, Bart discovers he has a deformed twin living in the attic, and it gets much more gruesome from there. "The Genesis Tub" follows Lisa's journey from science fair winner to an egotistical god-like deity. For "Citizen Kang," the show's beloved alien odd couple Kang and Kodos plot to conquer planet Earth by infiltrating the US political system. The episode excels by offering a mix of horror, sci-fi, and political satire, ensuring its place in the pantheon of the best "Treehouse of Horror" episodes .

Treehouse Of Horror VI (1995)

Groundskeeper willie becomes freddy kreuger and the simpson's goes cgi.

Groundskeeper Willie makes one convincing Freddy Krueger for season 7's Treehouse of Horror . In "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace," Willie haunts all of Springfield's school children in their dreams, competing with some of Freddy Krueger's most memorable kills . The Simpsons parody the old B-horror movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman with "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores," which involves a giant statue of Lard Lad Donuts mascot coming to life. Lastly, Bart follows Homer into a 3-dimensional world in "Homer³." The episode's sharp parody is some of the most absurd The Simpsons has ever gotten , providing a perfect example of how the series pushed the boundaries of animation and storytelling.

Treehouse Of Horror IV (1993)

Ned flanders is the devil.

Homer sells his soul for a donut in "The Devil and Homer Simpson, " but a legal dispute about his contract with Flanders the Devil saves him from eternal damnation. The fourth installment also includes another parody of one of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone with "Terror at 5½ Feet." In the segment, a terrified Bart tries to convince everyone else on his school bus there's a gremlin clinging to the side of it. The episode ends with "Bart Simpson's Dracula," which harkens back to Bram Stoker's novel about an ancient bloodsucking vampire.

Treehouse Of Horror V (1994)

The halloween special the raised the bar for movie parody.

The best Treehouse of Horror episode begins on a high note with a take on The Shining . Homer gets a devastating case of cabin fever while spending the summer taking care of Mr. Burns's summer estate. The second segment, "Time and Punishment," is based on the Ray Bradbury story "A Sound of Thunder." It ends with "Nightmare Cafeteria," where Bart discovers people are being served up in the Springfield Elementary kitchen – a tribute to the Charlton Heston sci-fi film Soylent Green . The episode is hailed as a masterpiece for its exquisite fusion of literary and cinematic references , masterfully reinterpreted through the lens of The Simpsons' humor and horror.

The Simpsons

Release Date 1989-12-17

Cast Pamela Hayden, Dan Castellaneta, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, Tress MacNeille, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Nancy Cartwright

Genres Animation, Comedy

Story By Matt Groening and James L. Brooks

Writers James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Sam Simon

Network FOX

Franchise(s) The Simpsons

Directors Mark Kirkland, Jim Reardon, David Silverman

Showrunner Al Jean

10 Best 'The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror Episodes Before the 2000s, Ranked

"The frogurt is also cursed."

Read update

With the ongoing 34th season of the beloved long-running animated sitcom, The Simpsons , delivering an instant classic through "Treehouse of Horror XXXIII," it's the perfect time to look back at some of the best Treehouse of Horror episodes from the show's golden era.

Since debuting in 1989, The Simpsons has become a cultural icon. More than just a TV show, The Simpsons has infiltrated every form of media. Video games, comic books, albums, and even a feature film have all been produced, proving the Springfield family's influence stretches far and wide. In recent years it has been crowned the longest-running primetime American scripted series, and it has shown no signs of stopping.

RELATED: Great 'The Simpsons' Episodes That Were Surprisingly Deep

One of The Simpson 's most popular traditions is its annual "Treehouse of Horror" special. Each season a Halloween episode is released, usually featuring three short stories that parody popular horror movies and tales. With the news that this year's incarnation will be two episodes, with one devoted entirely to parodying Stephen King 's IT , the time seemed right to look back on the highlights of this Halloween favorite. All seasons of The Simpsons can be streamed on Disney+.

Updated on January 18th, 2023, by Hannah Saab:

10 "treehouse of horror x", season 11, episode 4 (1999).

Releasing almost a decade after the show's debut episode, "Treehouse of Horror X," and coming in at the turn of the century, the episode's final story, "Life's a Glitch, Then You Die," pokes fun at the Y2K hysteria that was engulfing the world at the time, with Homer being responsible for society's collapse.

The first segment, "I Know What You Diddily--Iddily-did," is an homage to '90s slasher favorite I Know What You Did Last Summer . After accidentally running over Ned Flanders, the family is haunted by a hooked figure who resembles the movie's famous killer, resulting in a fun and spooky story.

9 "Treehouse of Horror IX"

Season 10, episode 4 (1998).

Kicking off a great couch gag featuring Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, "Treehouse of Horror IX" is a blast. When hairless Homer receives his dream hair transplant in "Hell Toupee," he receives a new sense of self-confidence. Unfortunately, the hair belonged to the recently executed Snake, and the toupee forces Homer to murder the witnesses that put him in jail.

The second episode, "The Terror of Tiny Toon," finds Bart and Lisa sucked into the TV, where they are hunted across several channels by the homicidal Itchy and Scratchy. Things wrap up with "Starship Poopers," which features an intergalactic custody battle that even Jerry Springer can't resolve.

8 "Treehouse of Horror"

Season 2, episode 3 (1990).

The first take on the format, "Treehouse of Horror," debuted in the show's second season. Beginning with a standard haunted house story, "Bad Dream House" is reminiscent of classic movies Poltergeist and The Amityville Horror , albeit with The Simpsons ' comedic twist.

"Hungry Are the Damned" is a great alien invasion story that features the first-ever appearance of Kang and Kodos, who would go on to feature regularly over the years. "The Raven" is one of the best adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe 's famous short story , and this segment drew particular praise from critics at the time.

7 "Treehouse of Horror II"

Season 3, episode 7 (1991).

Portraying the stories as nightmares that Lisa, Bart, and Homer suffer after eating too much Halloween candy, "Treehouse of Horror II" lampoons a few segments from The Twilight Zone . The first finds the family discovering a gift-giving monkey's paw in Morocco. The wishes granted are as corrupted as expected, ranging from world peace luring in alien invaders to dry turkey sandwiches.

Bart's nightmare finds him possessing supernatural abilities, tormenting anyone who doesn't let him get his way. The final segment is an ode to Frankenstein , as Mr. Burns abducts Homer for an experiment. The heartless boss places Homer's brain inside a giant robot, resulting in a mechanical worker just as useless as he is.

6 "Treehouse of Horror VIII"

Season 9, episode 4 (1997).

Beginning with Springfield being bombed by a nuclear missile, a chance bomb shelter inspection saves Homer's life. Realizing he's the last human alive and can do anything he wants, he runs amok in town before being confronted by a pack of mutants who survived the blast.

"Fly vs. Fly" follows Bart as he accidentally swaps places with a fly in an experiment gone wrong, featuring some gross body horror that would make David Cronenberg proud. Finale, "Easy-Bake Coven," is an ode to the Salem witch trials and offers The Simpsons ' take on the origins of Halloween.

5 "Treehouse of Horror VII"

Season 8, episode 1 (1996).

The season premiere for the show's eighth season, "Treehouse of Horror VII," features evil twins, miniature societies, and alien presidents. "The Thing and I" begins with Bart and Lisa discovering a creature that lives in their attic, which is revealed to have a striking resemblance to Bart.

"The Genesis Tub" finds Lisa worshiped as the god of a small community after a science experiment creates human life, albeit in a tiny form. "Citizen Kang" is a satirical take on the 1996 U.S. election, where Bill Clinton and Bob Dole are replaced by Kang and Kodos so that they can enslave the human race.

4 "Treehouse of Horror III"

Season 4, episode 5 (1992).

An all-around great episode, "Treehouse of Horror III" features three memorable shorts. "Clown Without Pity" is a riff on Child's Play , with Chucky replaced with a killer Krusty the Clown doll. It gifted us some of the show's most quoted lines, from "someone set this thing to evil" to Homer's exchange with the storekeeper who sold him the doll.

"King Homer" apes King Kong , with Homer portraying the gigantic primate that falls in love with Marge after she joins Mr. Burns' voyage to Skull Island. "Dial Z for Zombies" is a take on the classic zombie story, with Bart and Lisa casting a black magic spell that wakes the dead from their graves so that they can feast on the townspeople.

3 "Treehouse of Horror VI"

Season 7, episode 6 (1995).

The sixth "Treehouse of Horror" episode takes aim at one of the most iconic horror villains , with "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace" casting Groundskeeper Willie in the role of Freddy Krueger. After negligence causes the school employee to burn to death, he promises to take revenge on the schoolchildren in their dreams.

"Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores" finds giant advertising mascots brought to life after a freak storm, and the towering characters harass Springfield. "Homer Cubed" sees Homer sucked into a new dimension, where everything is rendered in 3D. The animation in this segment is completely different from how the show normally operates and was revolutionary for television back in 1995.

2 "Treehouse of Horror IV"

Season 5, episode 5 (1993).

Bart introduces each story in "Treehouse of Horror IV," using a backdrop of art as inspiration. The first, "The Devil and Homer Simpson," sees Homer sell his soul to the devil for a donut. When the devil comes to collect, the family hires Lionel Hutz (in one of his best appearances) to save Homer's soul in a hellish trial.

"Terror at 5 1/2 Feet" parodies one of The Twilight Zone 's most famous stories, with Bart being tormented by a monster on the side of the school bus. The last segment, "Bart Simpson's Dracula," is a tribute to the famous bloodsucker, with Mr. Burns taking on the role of history's most famous vampire.

1 "Treehouse of Horror V"

Season 6, episode 6 (1994).

Not just the best Treehouse of Horror episode, "Treehouse of Horror V" is one of the best Simpsons episodes in general, arriving right in the sweet spot of the show's golden years. "The Shinning," a re-telling of Stephen King 's The Shining , sees Homer taking on the role of Jack Torrance as he chases his family around a snowed-in hotel.

"Time and Punishment" sees Homer traveling through the multiverse thanks to a time-traveling toaster. It results in one of the best time travel episodes on television as Homer experiences many "disturbing universes." The episode wraps up with "Nightmare Cafeteria," a dark tale about the teachers of Springfield Elementary feasting on the children under their care.

NEXT: Top Seasons of 'The Simpsons', According to IMDb

'The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror' Has Been Delighting (and Spooking) Fans for Decades

Oct. 27 2022, Published 3:37 p.m. ET

There's nothing that gets fans of The Simpsons quite as excited as its yearly Treehouse of Horror episodes. The spooky Halloween-themed episodes of the longest-running animated show on television have delighted fans for decades and show no sign of stopping anytime soon.

With that being said, here's a complete list of The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror , including its segments. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's get to it!

1.) 'Treehouse of Horror I'

The first episode of Treehouse of Horror aired on Oct. 25, 1990. It contains the segments "Bad Dream House," which is a parody of Poltergeist and The Amityville Horror , "Hungry are the Damned," which is a parody of To Serve Man , and "The Raven," which is a parody of the film of the same name.

2.) 'Treehouse of Horror II'

Treehouse of Horror II aired on Oct. 31, 1991. It contains the segments "The Monkey's Paw," which is a parody of the film of the same name, "The Bart Zone," which is a parody of It's a Good Life , and "If I Only Had a Brain," which is a parody of Frankenstein .

3.) 'Treehouse of Horror III'

Treehouse of Horror III aired on Oct. 29, 1992. It contains the segments "Clowns Without Pity," which is a parody of Child's Play , "King Homer," which is a parody of King Kong , and "Dial 'Z' for Zombies," which is a parody of Night of the Living Dead .

4.) 'Treehouse of Horror IV'

Treehouse of Horror IV aired on Oct. 28, 1993. It contains the segments "Wraparounds," which is a parody of Night Gallery , "The Devil and Homer Simpson," which is a parody of The Devil and Daniel Webster , "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet," which is a parody of Nightmare at 20,000 Feet , and "Bart Simpson's Dracula," which is a parody of Bram Stoker's Dracula .

5.) 'Treehouse of Horror V'

Treehouse of Horror V aired on Oct. 30, 1994. It contains the segments "The Shinning," which is a parody of The Shining , "Time and Punishment," which is a parody of A Sound of Thunder , and "Nightmare Cafeteria," which is a parody of Soylent Green .

6.) 'Treehouse of Horror VI'

Treehouse of Horror VI aired on Oct. 29, 1995. It contains the segments "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores," which is a parody of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman , "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace," which is a parody of A Nightmare on Elm Street , and "Homer3," which is a parody of Little Girl Lost .

7.) 'Treehouse of Horror VII'

Treehouse of Horror VII aired on Oct. 27, 1996. It contains the segments "The Thing and I," "The Genesis Tub," which is a parody of The Little People , and "Citizen Kang," which parodies the 1996 U.S. presidential election.

8.) 'Treehouse of Horror VIII'

Treehouse of Horror VIII aired on Oct. 26, 1997. It contains the segments "The HΩmega Man," which is a parody of The Omega Man , "Fly vs. Fly," which is a parody of The Fly , and "Easy Bake Coven."

9.) 'Treehouse of Horror IX'

Treehouse of Horror IX aired on Oct. 25, 1998. It contains the segments "Hell Toupée," which is a parody of Amazing Stories , "The Terror of Tiny Toon," which is a parody of Stay Tuned , and "Starship Poopers."

10.) 'Treehouse of Horror X'

Treehouse of Horror X aired on Oct. 21, 1999. It contains the segments "I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did," which is a parody of I Know What You Did Last Summer , "Desperately Xeeking Xena," which is a parody of Fantastic Four , and "Life's a Glitch, Then You Die," which is a parody of the "Year 2000 Problem."

11.) 'Treehouse of Horror XI'

Treehouse of Horror XI aired on Nov. 1, 2000. It contains the segments "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad," which is a parody of Ghost Dad , "Scary Tales Can Come True," which is a parody of Grimms' Fairy Tales , and "Night of the Dolphin," which is a parody of The Day of the Dolphin .

12.) 'Treehouse of Horror XII'

Treehouse of Horror XII aired on Nov. 6, 2001. It contains the segments "Hex and the City," "House of Whacks," which is a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey , and "Wiz Kids," which is a parody of Harry Potter .

13.) 'Treehouse of Horror XIII'

Treehouse of Horror XIII aired on Nov. 3, 2002. It contains the segments "Send in the Clones," which is a parody of Multiplicity , "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms," and "The Island of Dr. Hibbert," which is a parody of The Island of Doctor Moreau .

14.) 'Treehouse of Horror XIV'

Treehouse of Horror XIV aired on Nov. 2, 2003. It contains the segments "Reaper Madness," "Frinkenstein," which is a parody of Frankenstein , and "Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off," which is a parody of A Kind of a Stopwatch .

15.) 'Treehouse of Horror XV'

Treehouse of Horror XV aired on Nov. 7, 2004. It contains the segments "The Ned Zone," which is a parody of The Dead Zone , "Four Beheadings and a Funeral," which is a parody of From Hell , and "In the Belly of the Boss," which is a parody of Fantastic Voyage .

16.) 'Treehouse of Horror XVI'

Treehouse of Horror XVI aired on Nov. 6, 2005. It contains the segments "B.I. Bartificial Intelligence," which is a parody of A.I. Artificial Intelligence , "Survival of the Fattest," which is a parody of The Most Dangerous Game , and "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face," which is a parody of The Masks .

17.) 'Treehouse of Horror XVII'

Treehouse of Horror XVII aired on Nov. 5, 2006. It contains the segments "Married to the Blob," which is a parody of The Blob , "You Gotta Know When to Golem," which is a parody of The Golem , and "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid," which is a parody of The War of the Worlds .

18.) 'Treehouse of Horror XVIII'

Treehouse of Horror XVIII aired on Nov. 4, 2007. It contains the segments "E.T., Go Home," which is a parody of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , "Mr. & Mrs. Simpson," which is a parody of Mr. and Mrs. Smith , and "Heck House."

19.) 'Treehouse of Horror XIX'

Treehouse of Horror XIX aired on Nov. 2, 2008. It contains the segments "Untitled Robot Parody," which is a parody of Transformers , "How to Get Ahead in Dead-vertising," and "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse," which is a parody of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown .

20.) 'Treehouse of Horror XX'

Treehouse of Horror XX aired on Oct. 18, 2009. It contains the segments "Dial 'M' for Murder or Press '#' to Return to Main Menu," which is a parody of Strangers on a Train , "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind," which is a parody of 28 Days Later , and "There's No Business Like Moe Business," which is a parody of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street .

21.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXI'

Treehouse of Horror XXI aired on Nov. 7, 2010. It contains the segments "War and Pieces," which is a parody of Jumanji , "Master and Cadaver," which is a parody of Dead Calm , and "Tweenlight," which is a parody of Twilight .

22.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXII'

Treehouse of Horror XXII aired on Oct. 30, 2011. It contains the segments "The Diving Bell and Butterball," which is a parody of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly , "Dial D for Diddly," which is a parody of Dexter , and "In the Na'Vi," which is a parody of Avatar .

23.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXIII'

Treehouse of Horror XXIII aired on Oct. 7, 2012. It contains the segments "The Greatest Story Ever Holed," "Un-normal Activity," which is a parody of Paranormal Activity , and "Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure," which is a parody of Back to the Future .

24.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXIV'

Treehouse of Horror XXIV aired on Oct. 6, 2013. It contains the segments "Oh the Places You'll D'oh," which is a parody of The Cat in the Hat , "Dead and Shoulders," which is a parody of The Thing with Two Heads , and "Freaks no Geeks," which is a parody of Freaks .

25.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXV'

Treehouse of Horror XXV aired on Oct. 19, 2014. It contains the segments "School Is Hell," "A Clockwork Yellow," which is a parody of A Clockwork Orange , and "The Others," which is a parody of the film of the same name.

26.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXVI'

Treehouse of Horror XXVI aired on Oct. 25, 2015. It contains the segments "Wanted: Dead, Then Alive," "Homerzilla," which is a parody of Godzilla , and "Telepaths of Glory," which is a parody of Chronicle .

27.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXVII'

Treehouse of Horror XXVII aired on Oct. 16, 2016. It contains the segments "Dry Hard," which is a parody of The Hunger Games , "BFF R.I.P," and "Moefinger," which is a parody of Goldfinger .

28.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXVIII'

Treehouse of Horror XXVIII aired on Oct. 22, 2017. It contains the segments "The Exor-Sis," which is a parody of The Exorcist , "Coralisa," which is a parody of Coraline , and "Mmm ... Homer," which is a parody of Survivor Type .

29.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXIX'

Treehouse of Horror XXIX aired on Oct. 21, 2018. It contains the segments "Intrusion of the Pod-Y Switchers," which is a parody of Invasion of the Body Snatchers , "Multiplisa-ty," which is a parody of Split , and "Geriatric Park," which is a parody of Jurassic Park .

30.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXX'

Treehouse of Horror XXX aired on Oct. 20, 2019. It contains the segments "Prologue," which is a parody of The Omen , "Danger Things," which is a parody of Stranger Things , "Heaven Swipes Right," which is a parody of Heaven Can Wait , and "When Hairy Met Slimy," which is a parody of The Shape of Water .

31.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXXI'

Treehouse of Horror XXXI aired on Nov. 1, 2020. It contains the segments "Toy Gory," which is a parody of Toy Story , "Into the Homerverse," which is a parody of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , and "Be Nine, Rewind," which is a parody of Russian Doll .

32.) 'Treehouse of Horror XXXII'

Treehouse of Horror XXXII aired on Oct. 10, 2021. It contains the segments "Barti," which is a parody of Bambi , "Bong Joon Ho’s 'This Side of Parasite'," which is a parody of Parasite , "Nightmare on Elm Tree," "Poetic Interlude" (aka "The Telltale Bart"), which is a parody of the artwork of Edward Gorey, and "Dead Ringer," which is a parody of The Ring .

33.) 'Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It' + 'Treehouse of Horror XXXIII'

As a special bonus, Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It aired on Oct. 23, 2022, which is a parody of It.

Treehouse of Horror XXXIII airs on Oct. 30, 2022. It contains the segments "The Pookadook," which is a parody of The Babadook , "Death Tome," which is a parody of Death Note , and "Simpsonworld," which is a parody of Westworld .

'Family Guy' Has Some of the Best and Worst Moments to Grace Our TVs

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Treehouse of Horror XXIII

• View history

" Treehouse of Horror XXIII " is the second episode of Season 24 .

• 2.2 The Greatest Story Ever Holed
• 2.3 Unnormal Activity
• 2.4 Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure
• 4 The Simpsons: Tapped Out
• 5 Citations

Synopsis [ ]

Opening - The Simp-Mayans witness a prediction that the world will end in 2012.

The Greatest Story Ever Holed - The Springfield's Subatomic Supercollider creates a miniature black hole that endangers the town.

Unnormal Activity - In a spoof of Paranormal Activity , a collection of video clips shows demonic activity in the Simpsons' house late at night – which may have something to do with Marge's deal with the Devil she made 30 years ago.

Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure - In a spoof of Back to the Future , when Bart 's trip back to 1974 to buy a comic book when it first comes out has some unintended side effects - Bart tells 1974 Marge not to go out with Homer , and when Bart and 1974 Homer return to the present, Marge is married to Artie Ziff . [2]

Full Story [ ]

In Mayan times, at Chichen Itza , some if the Mayans check their calendar, which says the world will end after the 13th Baktun . To prevent this event, a human sacrifice is about to take place. Meanwhile, Glutton has been fattening up, preparing himself to be sacrificed. His wife tells him, that she will be lonely once he is sacrificed, but Glutton says that he never said anything about sacrificing himself. When a Mayan priest enters, Glutton's wife reveals that she has a plan and asks the priest if he's interested in women. The Priest replies: "What priest isn't?" and is told by Glutton's wife to put a sack over his head and to go into the room of pleasure, which is actually the balcony where Glutton would have been executed; instead the Priest gets executed and his head bounces onto the ground, where kids start kicking him as a ball.

The logo for this episode

After the wrong person is sacrificed, one Mayan realizes that the world really will end after 13th Baktun and asks the Mayan wiseacre to explain. It is revealed that the world will end in 2012 and few people say that it will be Obama's fault. In the present, Homer asks Marge which Baktun it is and Marge answers: the 13th. He opens door for Q'uq'umatz and his two friends (J'wuu'pawwzer and Natt'putter), while one of them is crushing Homer, Q'uq'umatz crushes the Flanders house. Soon, they start to destroy the world, it blows up, and "TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXIII" comes out of what is left of the world.

The Greatest Story Ever Holed [ ]

The Greatest Story Ever Holed title card

In a parody of The Greatest Story Ever Told , the Springfield citizens go to see the activation of Springfield's Subatomic Supercollider , which was built instead of a new baseball stadium, due to lobbying of Lisa . Professor Frink activates the machine and it works, but nothing exciting happens, and everyone blames Lisa for her suggestion. After everyone leaves, two particles collide with each other and create a small black hole which floats off. Lisa cries on the ground, but then notices that her tears are floating towards a black hole. Lisa realizes that she must move the black hole, otherwise it will continue to absorb other people, as it sucked up Ralph and Nelson . The Simpsons put it in the basement and Lisa tries to convince them not to throw any matter in black hole, otherwise it'll expand and may destroy Earth. But Marge, Homer and Bart secretly throw junk at the black hole - Marge puts their grease (because it attracts raccoons) and Bart tries to put his math homework in, but the black hole doesn't accept it, so he puts Edna Krabappel in the black hole.

Black hole attacks the Simpsons

The next morning, the black hole grows bigger and sucks up almost all of the Simpson's stuff. Lisa asks the family if anyone threw anything in it and family denies. Then Lisa spots Snowball V is missing and Santa's Little Helper shrugs too. Other citizens of Springfield gather to put their trash to the black hole, because Homer opened his own business - Magic Craphole Waste Removal. The Simpsons house is sucked into the black hole too, and the other Springfield citizens continue to throw their junk at the black hole - Comic Book Guy throws Disney's Black Hole in and Horatio McAllister attempts to put a big fish skeleton in. Lisa tells everyone that if one more thing gets sucked into the hole, it could reach critical mass. Meanwhile, Milhouse is playing baseball and hits a home run. Suddenly, the ball gets sucked up into the black hole and it grows very intense, sucking up Springfielders, except Maggie . The black hole sucks up Maggie's pacifier and sucks it, going off into the distance and leaving Maggie knowing she stopped the black hole.

Meanwhile, the black hole acts a gate to inter-dimensional travel, so the Springfield citizens end up on a distant alien planet, where their junk is treated as 'treasures', the aliens having built their society around it. The aliens' favorite magazine is the Presidents' Day mattress blowout sale insert and their favorite food is banana peels. The aliens say that they listen to music on the most wonderful device ever created - The Zune. Homer tries to tell them that this is only old junk, rather than treasures, but Marge covers his mouth and tells to aliens to enjoy it.

Unnormal Activity [ ]

Unnormal Activity title card

In a parody of Paranormal Activity , Homer sets up a camera at 11:15 AM near the mirror filming himself, and says that strange things happen in the house. He says, "that if anyone finds this footage, after we're missing or dead they should remember him as a hero". Bart and Lisa suddenly come up, because Homer forgot to pick Bart up from Little League & he threw the car keys in Lisa's bean plant, with Ned claiming that the camera is his. At 10:22 PM, Homer sets up the camera in his and Marge's bedroom, and asks Marge if she wants to snuggle. Marge says that she won't snuggle with the camera on, yet Homer tries convinces her that the camera is off, albeit unsuccessfully. At around 3:08 AM, the bedroom door opens and the duvet is lifted off the bed and onto the floor. Also, the cupboard is lifted and a golf club is lifted up in the air, which hits Homer four times and is dropped on the ground.

Around 4:42 AM, the two are woken up by a loud noise downstairs. Marge heads downstairs while Homer takes the camera, although he tumbles down the stairs. Homer and Marge find the family room destroyed and Lisa wants to know why this is happening to them. Marge claims that she doesn't know anything and Homer tells Lisa that every night a mysterious invisible-being from hell waits for a family to go to sleep, then kills them. In the living room at 1:15 PM the next day, Raphael fits more cameras in the Simpson house, and ensures Homer that if anything strange happens, the cameras will pick it up. At around 11:14 PM, Milhouse is asleep in Bart's room, and in Lisa's room two seconds later. In Homer and Marge's bedroom, Marge wakes up, walks around and watches Homer for 4 hours. Homer wakes up, says "hello" to Marge, hears her growling and tries to take her to have sex with him. At around 4:09 AM, Homer pees in the bathroom, but Marge comes, watching him for over 20 minutes. Both of them remain where they are for another ¾ of an hour.

The devil captures Patty and Selma

At about 2:07 PM, Chief Wiggum tests fire in the Simpsons' family room and says that it's hell fire. He also says that someone made a deal with the devil and the devil wants his due. But he gets scared of the cuckoo-clock, and after that he enters back in the family room now as a skeleton and says that the devil feeds on more than fear before collapsing. On Night 15, at 1:23 AM Maggie's blocks and door vibrate. Maggie levitates, is put into a baby carrier, and a bag is placed on the baby carrier, which a bottle has been put into. And then Marge comes to take Maggie back, but someone says that they had a deal. Homer and Lisa come into room, and Bart runs to the room, throwing baby powder on the "mysterious" creature, which is a devil resembling Moe . Marge cries and tells the family that when she was an 8-year-old girl, she saw her 15-year-old sisters Patty and Selma in the attic hailing Satan . They tell Marge that they're doing so because there is nothing good on TV, they have no boyfriends (although Patty has since come out as a lesbian, it can be assumed that she was in the closet about her homosexuality in her teen years and dated boys because she felt she was obligated to do so), and they are bored.

It worked, but the devil wants to take Selma and Patty. Marge asks the devil to come back for her sisters later, and the devil agrees, telling Marge she bought herself 30 years but after that, he will come back to take her favorite child. Lisa says that she is supposed to be Marge's favorite, but after devil grabs her, she denies that she's the favorite. Homer asks the devil if there is another deal he can accept. The deal is a three-way, and Homer asks if it's between Satan, him and Marge, but Satan says that it's between Homer, him, and another devil. At around 3:30 AM, Homer asks the devils for the safety word, which is cinnamon. Homer wants that they should try something new, and throws his dressing gown at the camera, and the devil shouts "Cinnamon" repeatedly.

Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure [ ]

Bart and Homer's Excellent Adventure title card

In parodies of the movies Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back to the Future , at Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop , Bart complains about the price of Radioactive Man comic price to Comic Book Guy. Bart tells Comic Book Guy that it's not fair that he's charging $200 for a comic that says 25¢ on the cover. Comic Book Guy tells Bart that the only way to purchase the comic at the cover price is to go back in time to 1974. Bart adds that it's impossible, but when he looks at a Fantastic Foreshadowing comic (it was written "The Boy Who Went Back to 1974", showing Bart in a red car on the cover), he stepped outside, where suddenly he saw a red car come out of nowhere and Professor Frink stepping out of it, telling Bart that is a time machine. Frink asks Bart to hold his keys while he grabs some lunch, but Bart gets in the car and travels back to 1974.

Bart then goes to the Android's Dungeon and Baseball Card Shop's grand opening and buys the Radioactive Man comic while humming, but throws it the trash later, as it is "too preachy" to him. He walks by the window outside the boys bathroom at Springfield High School, while Principal Dondelinger is telling off a teenage Homer Simpson and a teenage Barney Gumble for smoking. Bart gets shocked and walks into Springfield High School. In the detention hall, Homer meets Bart, who explains to Homer that he's his unwanted son from the future who killed all his fun. The young Homer then gets angry and strangles Bart. Then, young Marge Bouvier enters the room and sits down, while young Homer is still strangling Bart. Young Marge gets disgusted by young Homer's behavior, but young Homer asks her to go to prom with him anyway, but she refuses and walks to the rear.

Homer tells off Bart because it was love at first sight and he ruined it. Marge then says that it wasn't love at first sight, and Homer says "What do you know?" Marge says that she knows who she's in love with, and Homer says that she's looking at him. Marge calls Homer an idiot, and Homer returns the favor - shocking Marge. Homer tells Marge to not act like it's the first time someone mentioned that to her - but that backfires, because it is the first time someone has said that to her. Young Homer harshly tells young Marge to shut up and go to the prom with him. Bart wonders, what will happen with him in the future, after he distracted young Homer from young Marge. He grabs his myPhone to check his future. At first, his normal future picture disappears, making Bart think he won't exist anymore, but after that, a picture of him appears, standing near fancy house, which Bart claims is "a hell of a better life". Then, he convinces young Marge to not marry young Homer, which she agrees to. Bart gets back to present, and young Homer jumps in the time machine's trunk. While young Homer is in the present, he claims his life is ruined, but after that, he sees a poster for Ken and Harry's Cookie Dough Ice-Cream. Then, he sees a shop window, where Itchy and Scratchy is played on huge screen TV's, and gets shocked, when sees an ad for Thursday Night Football. He also comments that the globe is so warm and that he is in awe at the future. Chief Wiggum then passes the street, asleep on a Segway. Homer says that that's not so great. Bart then goes to his fancy house, where Marge is making a smoothie for Artie Ziff . Bart is shocked that his mother is married to Artie Ziff (the man who molested her on prom night), which makes Bart Bartie Ziff . Bart lifts his cap and instead of spiky hair, he has curly hair. Bart yells "Oy, caramba!" and sees his sisters Lisa and Maggie having curly hair too. Artie greets Bartie and tells him to enjoy his luxurious life - and his own bully butler - Nelson Muntz. Bart tells Nelson to give himself a wedgie. Young Homer watches them from the window.

United Federation of Homers Through History

Then, present Homer tells off young Homer, because it was his peeping tree but then realizes that the teenager on the other branch is actually young him. Homer asks why he is in the present. Young Homer says that he traveled through space and time to make Marge settle for him because she doesn't know better. Homer tells Young Homer that if they put their heads together they can think of a plan. Young Homer then questions Homer about what happened and how he lost all his and is extremely obese. Meanwhile, Bart is using a whip to make petals fall off a daisy - which is in Nelson the butler's mouth, saying "I love my life" and "I love it not", similar to "Love me - Love me not" game, while Artie watches. Artie tells Bartie that he's just like Indiana Jones, a role played by Richard Dreyfuss in their universe. The doorbell rings and at the door is Homer, who has come to take his life back. Artie says that he knew this would happen, so he mastered Brazilian jujitsu. Homer then invites the United Federation of Homers Through History and Artie and Bartie roll their sleeves up and clench their fists. Five minutes later, they manage to beat all the Homers. Present Homer tells the guys to regroup - even though he's in a tree. Their plan is to come back with more Homers and start fresh in the morning. Then, Marge comes and is startled. She looks at all the Homers and the Opera Homer asks Marge what she is doing there. Marge says that she realizes that she married the wrong man, and comforts the 'poor, sweet, simple Homers'. She says that she was supposed to be with all of them. Caveman Homer then grunts while trying to speak normally, and Marge says that she meant him as well. Marge tells Homer that she wished that twenty years ago, she should've chosen love. Marge and Homer kiss while the other Homers look on. In normal Simpson house, all the Homers are watching TV, when Marge comes in and ask why none of them had time to take out the garbage. Opera Homer says that Egyptian Slave Homer should do it. The Egyptian Slave Homer grumbles, because it's always him and the other Homers laugh.

However, in the alternate ending of Bart and Homer's Excellent Adventure seen in a video on YouTube a week after the episode, it shows that the other Homers are wiped from existence and everything is back to normal. Before Artie Ziff is wiped from existence too, seeing Homer and Marge kiss, he sadly begs Marge if he could kiss one last time, seconds before he disappears. As Homer and Marge finished their kiss, Marge is glad that it's back to the status quo, before a small second head pops up from Homer, telling him to ask Marge if she has a little sister.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out [ ]

Treehouse of Horror XXIII Event was a halloween-themed event released on October 12, 2012. The event contained several new limited time Treehouse of Horror characters, decorations, tasks, and buildings. Along with the update came several new standard buildings, decorations, and characters such as Edna Krabappel and Otto Mann . There was a different way to vandalize other players' Springfield during the event. It ended on November 8, 2012.

The Treehouse of Horror XXIII Event also included a social element - players could visit their friends Springfields and vandalize buildings with Toilet Paper and Eggs . When the player vandalized homes, they would receive one treat ; if a player cleaned the toilet paper or eggs from a building they could collect a treat as well. There will possibly be a 2013 " Treehouse of Horror XXIV " Event.

In it, you could buy a cemetery, another pet, shop House of Evil, the Bad Dream House, etc.. There was also a set called as the chapter that were Kang, Burns Monster, Mayan God, Mayan Talking Homer, The Raven, Krusty Doll, etc.

Citations [ ]

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://twitpic.com/7xgczx
• ↑ http://www.snpp.com/episodeguide/season24.html
• 1 Season 35
• 2 Homer Simpson
• 3 Bart's prank calls

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

First look at The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror IT special

October 5, 2022 by EJ Moreno

The Simpsons are getting scary twice this year, and for a treat, we’re finally getting Krusty as Pennywise.

The Simpsons will offer two Halloween-inspired episodes this year, with their traditional Treehouse of Horror airing closer to the spooky holiday. In a first for the series, we’ll see them focus an entire episode on a horror parody, diving into the world of Stephen King’s It .

On Sunday, October 23rd, we see the debut of Not It ., while Treehouse of Horror XXXIII airs the following week and includes parodies of Westworld , Death Note , and more.

While this choice to do an It -inspired episode seems obvious to many, it wasn’t till episode writer Cesar Mazariegos pitched it that things began moving.

“We all looked at each other and were like, ‘How did we not ever do It?’” he recalls. “There are [fans] who have tattoos of Krusty as Pennywise. Some people have been wanting this for years.”

In “ Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It ,” when a supernatural clown starts slaying the children of Kingfield, young Homer Simpson teams up with other middle school misfits to face their fears and defeat the mysterious monster. But years later, the evil clown returns, and Homer’s friends must confront the tragedy of their adult lives to destroy Krusto once and for all.

Check out the first images for the Not It below…

The Simpsons air Not It on Sunday, October 23th, and Treehouse of Horror XXXIII airs on October 30th.

About EJ Moreno

EJ Moreno is a film and television critic and entertainment writer who joined the pop culture website Flickering Myth in 2018 and now serves as the executive producer of Flickering Myth TV, a YouTube channel with over 27,000 subscribers. With over a decade of experience, he is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic who is also part of the Critics Choice Association and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.

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" Treehouse of Horror XXIII " is the second episode of season 24 of The Simpsons and the five-hundred and tenth episode overall. It is also the twenty-third installment in the Treehouse of Horror series and consists of three parts. It originally aired on October 7, 2012 . The episode was written by David Mandel and Brian Kelley and directed by Steven Dean Moore . It guest stars Jon Lovitz as Artie Ziff .

• 2.1 Opening sequence
• 2.2 The Greatest Story Ever Holed
• 2.3 UNnormal Activity
• 2.4 Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure
• 3 Production
• 4 Reception
• 5 In other languages
• 6 International airdates
• 8 References
• 9 External links

Synopsis [ edit ]

Plot [ edit ], opening sequence [ edit ].

In Chichen Itza , during Mayan times, the high priests look at the Mayan calendar and work out that the world will be destroyed at the end of the 13th baktun. They decide that they must appease the gods with a human sacrifice, and decide on Mayan Homer as the sacrifice. Mayan Marge comes up with a plan to get Homer out of it and seduces the Mayan priest in charge of the execution and sends him to be executed instead. when Professor Frink realizes that they sacrificed the wrong person, he says that the world will indeed end on the 13th baktun, which he then works out to be the year 2012, which leaves the Mayans relieved. In the present day, the doorbell of the Simpson house rings, and it's one of the Mayan gods . The Mayan gods then proceed to destroy Springfield , then the rest of the world. The planet explodes, leaving behind the "Treehouse of Horror XXIII" logo.

The Greatest Story Ever Holed [ edit ]

At the newly built Springfield Subatomic Supercollider , citizens of the town have arrived to watch it get turned on. Professor Frink turns on the collider and nothing happens, with Frink saying that the accelerator is too small to tell them anything important. Everyone gets disappointed and leaves the building as the particles are shot around the accelerator until two of them collide. This creates a miniature black hole which escapes the accelerator and starts to suck in objects and people. Lisa decides to take it home to keep people safe from the black hole and puts it in the basement. The family confronts Lisa about the black hole and Homer tries to pat the black hole, making his fingers get longer as a result. Lisa and Marge tell everyone not to put stuff into the black hole to stop it becoming bigger and more dangerous. However, the family disposes of things within the black hole anyway.

The black hole gets bigger and starts sucking in objects from all around the house. The doorbell then rings and people of Springfield have gathered to dispose of objects in the black hole due to Homer's new business, Magic Craphole Waste Removal . The black hole then destroys the house and starts to suck in more objects. Lisa tells everyone to stop before the black hole hits critical mass. Meanwhile, Milhouse is at a ball game and hits his first home run, with the ball ending up in the black hole. The black hole starts to suck in everyone and everything in Springfield until it sucks up Maggie 's pacifier, which calms the black hole and stops it. Maggie is then left in Springfield alone.

The rest of the family, along with everyone else who got sucked in, get transported to an unknown rocky planet where they meet the Ethereal Beings . The beings are gracious for all the gifts they received through the black hole and built their society around everything that got sent through. Homer tries to correct them, saying it was all trash, but Marge stops him.

UNnormal Activity [ edit ]

Homer is filming himself in the mirror with a camcorder which he got because strange things have been happening in the house at night. That night, Homer sets the camera up in the bedroom and he and Marge go to sleep. Later that night, the door opens and an invisible entity removes the bed covers before hitting Homer repeatedly with a golf club. A loud noise then comes from downstairs, waking up the family. They head downstairs to find that the living room is destroyed. The next day, Homer gets more cameras installed around the house. That night, Marge gets out of bed and just stares at Homer whilst he's sleeping, and later whilst Homer is going to the toilet.

The next day, Chief Wiggum arrives at the house and identifies that the fire is indeed hellfire. He then says that someone made a deal with a devil. A cuckoo clock then goes off and Wiggum runs out of the room, only to get eaten by the demon. That night, the demon goes to take Maggie from her room, but is stopped by Marge. Bart throws talcum powder over the demon , revealing him to the family. Marge then admits that years ago, she made a deal with the devil to stop him from taking Patty and Selma when they tried to summon him. In return, Marge would give away her favorite child. Homer talks to him to get a new deal, and the devil suggests a three-way with him, Homer, and another demon. When they go to have the three-way, Homer does something that the devil doesn't like and he repeatedly says the safe word.

Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure [ edit ]

Bart is in The Android's Dungeon and complains about the price of a Radioactive Man comic to Comic Book Guy , as the cover says 25¢ but he was selling it for $200. Comic Book Guy tells Bart that the only way he could get it for the cover price would be to go back in time to 1974. Bart thinks that's impossible, but then sees a comic book called Fantastic Foreshadowing , with him on the cover in a time traveling car. Bart leaves and runs into Professor Frink, who arrives in the present in the same time traveling car from the cover of the comic. He tells Bart to hold the keys while he grabs some lunch. Bart then gets in the car and goes to 1974, with several posters of James Bond films passing by in the time stream.

Bart arrives in 1974 and goes to buy the comic, which he throws in the trash after reading. He then passes Springfield High School and hears Principal Dondelinger giving Homer and Barney detention for smoking. Bart goes into detention with them and tells Homer that he's Homer's kid from the future who ruins Homer's life. Homer strangles Bart as Marge enters the classroom. This leads to Marge becoming horrified at Homer for strangling a child and she refuses to date him. Bart realizes that this means he won't exist, but checks his phone to see the picture of him in front of the house changed to one of him in front of a mansion . Bart thinks that his life will be better in the future so he goes to the future again, with Homer following him and getting into the trunk of the car.

Back in the present, Bart goes home and finds that he is now Barty Ziff , the son of Artie Ziff and Marge Ziff . Meanwhile, the teenage Homer spies on them from a tree, with the present Homer doing the same. The two Homers decide to bring an army of Homers from throughout history to fight Artie Ziff. Artie and Barty easily defeat the army, but Marge comes out to find the defeated Homers and realizes she got with the wrong person. Marge gets together with all the Homers, but gets annoyed when none of them took the trash out.

Production [ edit ]

A sneak peek of the segment "The Greatest Story Every Holed" was screened at San Diego Comic-Con International on July 14, 2012 . [1]

They planned to start the episode with the presidential elections again but changed it to the Maya Indians. The Black hole part was initially an idea for a regular episode. The idea of Bart travelling back in time came from James L. Brooks and the idea originally was Marge should fall in love with Bart. [2] Storyboards for the segment "The Greatest Story Ever Holed" were posted on PinInterest . One of the cut scenes in the episode was when the black hole sucked up Christmas decorations in the Simpsons' basement and the family "oooh"ed.

"Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure" had a few changes prior to airing. The original had Frink get arrested for his time travel experiment instead of going to lunch, the James Bond posters were not colored in and there was less instrumental scene setting music. Also, two other songs were in the sequence, " The Power of Love " by Huey Lewis and the News and the " It's About Time theme ". [3]

Reception [ edit ]

This episode gathered 6.52 million viewers on its premiere, making it the lowest-watched Treehouse of Horror episode on record - hardly a surprise given this is also the furthest a Treehouse of Horror episode has aired out from Halloween. [4] A Facebook poll was set up by the show's Facebook account, TheSimpsons, asking what segment was the voters' favorite. And so, on October 15, 2012, Fox's YouTube account dedicated to animation, ANIMATIONONFOX, uploaded the segment, but several scenes are different. This new version of the segment can be viewed here .

"Treehouse of Horror XXIII" was nominated for a 2013 Writers Guild of America award in Animation, but it lost to " Ned 'n Edna's Blend Agenda ". [5] It was also nominated for a 2012 Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement, Music in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production , but it lost to "How to Pick Your Dragon" from DreamWorks Dragons . [6] The episode also got nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards . However, it lost to " Raising the Bar " from South Park . [7]

Animator Paul Wee won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in the 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for the episode. [8]

In other languages [ edit ]

International airdates [ edit ], gallery [ edit ].

References [ edit ]

• ↑ THE SIMPSONS at Comic-Con
• ↑ Commentary track

• ↑ SimpsonsChannel.com - Ratings: Treehouse of Horror XXIII
• ↑ IMDb - "Writers Guild of America, USA 2013 Awards"
• ↑ The Annie Awards - "40th Annie Awards" (archived on Wayback Machine )
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'The Simpsons' visited their 'Treehouse of Horror' for the 1st time on this day in 1990

Here's the inside story on how the show's halloween tradition began..

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On This Day: Oct. 25, 1990

October 1990 was an eventful month on good ol' planet Earth. On Oct. 3, East Germany and West Germany became one Germany after the Berlin Wall fell. On Oct. 17, Jeremy Irons started his run towards a Best Actor statue with the release of Reversal of Fortune . On Oct. 22, a recently-formed Seattle band named Pearl Jam played its very first show. And on Oct. 25, Springfield's own Marge Simpson emerged from behind a curtain to introduce that evening’s episode of The Simpsons , the hit Fox animated series chronicling the misadventures of her cartoon family — Homer, Bart, Lisa and little Maggie.

It was one of the first times in the history of the still-young series that a member of the Simpsons clan had directly addressed the audience. And Marge came with an especially important message to impart six days before Halloween began.

"You know, Halloween is a very strange holiday," the blue-haired matriarch mused in her signature gravelly voice (provided, both then and now, by Julie Kavner). "[There are] things on TV that are completely inappropriate for younger viewers. Things like the following half hour. Nothing seems to bother my kids, but tonight’s show — which I totally wash my hands of! — is really scary. So if you have sensitive children, maybe you should tuck them into bed early tonight, instead of writing us angry letters tomorrow."

Now, you may not have been one of those "sensitive kids" who switched off the TV a half-hour later slightly spooked out. (Full disclosure: I was.) But if you were watching that night, there’s no way you’ve forgotten the episode Marge warned you about. After all, that was the very first "Treehouse of Horror," the annual triptych of horror-themed tales that continues to be a staple of every Simpsons season to this day.

And over the decades, the "Treehouse of Horror" installments have been responsible for — as Comic Book Guy might say — some of the Best. Simpsons . Episodes. Ever. Think of Homer entering the 3D dimension in "Treehouse of Horror VI" or the entire clan coming face-to-face with their Tracey Ullman Show selves "Treehouse of Horror XXV."

"It’s the most popular episode every year," longtime Simpsons executive producer Al Jean confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment in 2015, one of several veterans of that very first "Treehouse" episode we spoke with at the time. "There’s no question that it’s the one people look forward to the most."

Even when placed alongside its many descendants, there’s something special about our original trip to the "Treehouse." And that goes back to the aforementioned creepiness factor. "We thought we were doing a scary Halloween episode," former Simpsons staff writer Jay Kogen said. "We weren’t writing the show for kids, ever. So when we did a show that was going to be scary, we didn’t mind."

In fact, the inspiration for “Treehouse” came directly from a previous generation’s source for childhood terrors: the horror comics published in the early 1950s by EC Comics, which boasted gruesome cover art resting beneath chilling titles like Tales From the Crypt , The Vault of Horror and Shock SuspenStories . That’s what Simpsons creator Matt Groening had in mind when he first pitched the idea of a horror anthology to the writers’ room.

"It was Matt’s baby," Kogen recalled, adding that the staff didn’t immediately embrace the suggestion. "It took a while for the idea to ferment with the writers. Eventually our showrunner, Sam Simon, said 'That’s a great idea, let’s do it.'" (One of the founding creative voices on The Simpsons , Simon stayed with the series until 1993; he passed away from cancer in March 2015.)

Part of the writers’ initial hesitance may have been that a horror anthology would upset the more grounded, emotional and funny stories they had been focused on telling up to that point. "The rule was, ‘We’re not a cartoon, we’re a sitcom,’ so we couldn’t be too fantastical," Kogen recalled. Once "Treehouse" got the greenlight, though, the writers and directors alike began to embrace the creative possibilities afforded by departing from the show’s previously established reality.

"It let you do all the visual jokes you wanted to do," said Jean, whose history with The Simpsons dates back to its 1989 premiere. "We always wanted Homer to be a real human being and the family to have real emotions, but we realized that you could have a lot happen in the world of dreams and fantasies."

By 2015, the "Treehouse" creative process began with Simpsons writers submitting hundreds of potential ideas for segments, with Jean steadily winnowing them down to three. But in 1990, the trio of stories that comprise the first episode — “Bad Dream House,” “Hungry Are the Damned” and “The Raven” — came together in the room. The decision was also made to split the segments up among three of the show’s regular directors: Wes Archer, Rich Moore and David Silverman, respectively.

"They wanted to showcase what we all would do differently," Silverman said. "Sam specifically told me, 'I want you to do "The Raven" because of your visual inventiveness.' Apparently, I had managed to con him into thinking I had visual inventiveness!” (That three-director approach is another element that’s unique to the first "Treehouse." Starting with the second installment in 1991, one director would oversee all three stories, a change that was primarily made to accommodate the show’s demanding production schedule.)

Jean points to the John Swartzwelder-written “Bad Dream House,” in which the Simpsons move into a possessed home that’s part The Shining and part Poltergeist , as being the most overtly horrific of the inaugural trio of "Treehouse" tales. And that makes sense considering that the segment features such creepy moments as the kitchen walls running red with blood and four out of the five Simpsons (even baby Maggie!) following each other around in a circle, sharp weapons in hand and murder on their minds.

"Balancing humor and horror is tricky," Wes Archer, who directed "House," told Yahoo Entertainment via email. "In retrospect I think I missed a couple of opportunities for more humorous staging with Homer and the kids. I think it could have been snappier. A lot of my time was still spent trying to get the artists to just draw the characters right."

To be fair, Swartzwelder’s script contains a number of great one-liners like, "I’m not going to live in a house of evil just to save a few dollars." It also ends on a very funny note, with the house choosing to consume itself rather than continue to live with the Simpson family. "You can’t help but feel a little rejected," Lisa says, putting the perfect button on the proceedings.

"Bad Dream House" may hold the honor of being the first-ever "Treehouse" segment, but the Rich Moore-directed "Hungry Are the Damned" boasts the debuts of two Hall of Fame members of The Simpsons ’ extended cast: tentacled extraterrestrials Kang and Kodos. The Rigel VII-dwelling aliens kidnap the Simpsons with the intention of transporting them back to their home world for a feast that they’ll attend as guests… or possibly as the main course.

Kang and Kodos have since become regular comic foils in the “Treehouse” universe, but in this first appearance, they’re considerably more menacing — all sharp teeth and mouths filled overflowing with slimy drool. "Are they scary? Yeah, they’re supposed to be scary," says Kogen, who penned "Hungry" with his writing partner, Wally Wolodarsky. "They’re aliens who eat humans!"

The writers took their inspiration from the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man," and their script described Kang and Kodos as resembling octopi in a deep diver’s helmet. "The artists had no idea what we were talking about," Kogen recalled. "So that’s the only character I got to sketch on The Simpsons . And I’m proud that the aliens in the finished episode look kind of like the drawing I made."

The characters’ Shakespearean-esque voices, meanwhile, were the invention of cast members Dan Castellaneta and Harry Shearer, with James Earl Jones voicing their rarely-seen-since compatriot, Serak the Preparer. (Fun fact: The names of all three characters are borrowed from the original Star Trek .) The incongruity between the aliens’ voices and their appearance may be the segment’s best joke, though Kogen also champions a sight gag involving the ever-changing title of a How to Cook Humans cookbook that Lisa finds aboard the ship.

Asked to pick his favorite segment from the first "Treehouse," Jean didn't hesitate. "It’s 'Hungry Are the Damned.' That’s the one I remember watching an early cut of and going, 'Wow, that’s really funny.' It set the tone for what followed.”

On the other hand, Jean pointed to "The Raven" as an example of a segment that wouldn’t make the cut on a modern-day "Treehouse" episode. Adapting the Edgar Allan Poe poem was a pet project of Simon’s, and he took the assignment seriously. Perhaps too seriously. Silverman recalls being told that the first cut was light on humor.

"[Executive producer] James L. Brooks was like, 'You need more jokes in this,'" the director said. "So he threw out the idea of Bart as the Raven saying, 'Eat my shorts.' And I tried to find other places where humor could be added. I had a lot of fun coming up with interesting shots; one of my favorites is the Raven’s point-of-view of Homer as it’s flying around the room." (You can see some of Silverman’s early sketches for "The Raven" on the Tumblr fan page Best. Episode. Ever.)

But the segment’s most reliable source of comedy is Castellaneta, who manages to be faithful to both Homer and Poe in his eccentric, yet strangely emotional line readings, which play nicely off of Jones’s terrific narration. "Dan was incredible," Silverman raved. "It wasn’t just him doing a goofy voice; his acting had such gravitas and honesty." That honesty may be the reason "The Raven" endures with fans despite its muted humor. "People go, 'Oh, I know that [poem] — it’s from The Simpsons ,'" Jean said. "And I’m like, 'No, it’s Edgar Allan Poe. But thanks!'"

In the midst of making the first "Treehouse of Horror," none of the writers or directors suspected it would become an annual tradition. Once it was completed, though, the decision to do it again — and again, and again, and again — proved a no-brainer. Over the years, "Treehouse" has moved past its horror roots, embracing science-fiction and fantasy, and even anime . This year's edition airs Nov. 5 and will reportedly feature stories about Bart becoming an NFT, Lisa seeking advice from a Hannibal Lecter-style killer and the outbreak of viral oafishness in Springfield.

What hasn’t changed from year to year and "Treehouse" to "Treehouse" is the fun the staff has in coming up with new stories and settings. "We get to do three totally different styles and live in new animated worlds for 10 minutes at a time," Jean said. "It’s really amazing."

— This story was originally published on Oct. 22, 2015. It has been updated to reflect recent events.

The Simpsons is currently streaming on Disney+.

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