Even if the times have changed and the world doesn’t love the new episodes of The Simpsons like the old days, one thing remains true. Every Halloween season, they will trudge out a new “Treehouse of Horror” episode that seeks to poke fun at genre tropes while creating these elaborate, crazy stories full of dark humor. These segments have gone on to be some of The Springfield Family’s most remembered bits and launching dozens of catchphrases. As another year turns over, one has to wonder what memorable bits they’ll bring to the table, expanding FXX’s Every Simpsons Ever marathon for another half hour and making Halloween feel that more substantial.
As a lifelong fan, it’s one of the things that I have watched religiously, eagerly anticipating next week’s episode with curiosity. While the series has shifted more towards comedic bits than direct horror pastiche, there’s still something fun about seeing them flex their creative muscles, making something of contemporary trends that is wild and new. While it doesn’t all work, there’s something to seeing how durable this franchise has been throughout the decades, managing to have everything from a homicidal groundskeeper who haunts your dreams to a paralyzed Spiderman who shoots webs from flatulence. It’s not all great (and maybe one day I’ll do a Top 5 worst), but there is something to be said for when they land on a great idea.
While my Top 5 favorite “Treehouse of Horror” segments may not be the wildest or out of left field, I think that they represent what the show does best. From the moment it was born, it was a chance to satirize horror with slapstick humor and these intriguing observations that they couldn’t do in a regular episode. In some ways, that’s what makes even the lesser entries all the more special. These are the ones that are bound to make me smile every time that they come on, being thankful that there’s someone out there who raised the bar for Halloween-based comedy and never stopped us from dreaming of our own family in peril. Whether you’re a veteran wanting a quick fix or a newcomer who wants to know why I love this show, here are five reasons to get started today.
1. “The Shinning” (Episode V)
Where to even begin with this one? It’s the epitome of what these segments should be. Starting with a parody that finds Homer Simpson delaying their trip with such banal mistakes as “when you locked the front door, did you make sure to lock the back door?” the series slowly lays on references to the Stanley Kubrick film, delivering gags about blood getting off at the wrong floor and a remake of the Jack Nicholson “give me the bat” scene that outdoes the original in the amount of craziness. It’s astounding how well the show not only captures the dreary tone underneath with moments of gallows humor that includes a recurring gag where Groundskeeper Willie (in the role of Scatman Caruthers) keeps getting axed in the back.
What makes this the pinnacle of “Treehouse of Horror”? Plain and simple, it’s a parody that doesn’t call enough attention to The Shining (1980) that it distracts from the story. You can arguably watch this episode blindly and find the gags fun, growing organically from characters. Even the central idea of the episode, this telepathic power cleverly given a knock-off name, is a funny recognition of how parodies skid by lawsuits by being vaguely original enough to not draw attention to itself. The Shinning is The Shining basically, and yet it’s not. It mostly exists to streamline the plot, making several jokes in the final minutes work a lot cleaner.
It’s a brisk short that turns one of the greatest lingering dreads in cinematic history into a trapdoor of jokes, including such random cutaways as “Hi David, I’m Grampa.” It’s funny before you know that he’s referencing late-night TV show hosts, and then it goes off the rails. It’s a dive into the madness that recognizes the build needed to make the jokes work. Sometimes it’ll take a second of frustration to lead to some of the series’ greatest gags. One has to wonder if the series will follow it up with a Doctor Sleep (2019) parody in a few years. Given that they already did something similar for the “Kamp Krusty” episode, I doubt they would be above that idea.
2. “The Devil and Homer Simpson” (Episode IV)
One can argue that this could be redesigned as a regular episode of The Simpsons, just fused through a nightmare scenario. There’s a familiar morality lesson at the end, having this sweet reminder of Homer and Marge’s marriage underneath his flawed nature. The plot is simple, where Homer sells his soul for a donut. For the first time, we see Ned Flanders as Satan himself (always the one you least suspect) and watch a man crumble, not aware of the horror that lies beneath the ground. All he has to do is not finish a donut, and yet it becomes too much for him.
In some ways, this is among the most morose segments from the early run. What follows is a vision of Hell that is designed to be unpleasant, finding Homer being dismembered and sent through a state of madness that is borderline surrealist. Even then, nothing will prepare you for a segment where Homer is allowed to eat all of the donuts in the world. Where it turned lesser men crazy in 15 minutes, he ends up eating dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? It’s unclear. All that we know is that as a story where The Simpsons enter Hell, it’s great to see that even The Devil isn’t enough to break their spirits.
Of course, it’s the finale that is especially touching, mixing some of its penchant for random humor with a heartwarming ending. At one point you have Blackbeard saying “This chair be high says I, yar.” Another you have a not-so-subtle jab at Richard Nixon (whom creator Matt Groening has been vocally against). Overall, it’s a finale that fits more in line with a regular episode, providing a clever twist on Homer’s soul that adds a sweetness to this strange collage of gallows humor. You wouldn’t think that an episode this soporific would make everything work, and yet it does flawlessly, setting a bar so high that very few have come close to even matching it.
3. “Bart Simpson’s Dracula” (Episode IV)
If anything, it has one of the best openings (“they're dogs, and they’re playing poker!”) that parodies The Night Gallery and sets you up for a world of confusion. What is this episode going to be about? In the broad sense, it’s a parody of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) which includes Mr. Burns dressed up as The Count, whose shadow is a beast of his own, flaunting a yo-yo and going about his own business. Everything about him as the eccentric energy, but more importantly lands more on the side of peril.
The Simpsons have continually returned to the vampire well, and none of them are really that good. Here we have a plot with genuine stakes, landing closer to a mystery that unravels as the viewer is carried along into crypts. Even then, it’s not above featuring some of the series’ best lines (“Kill my boss? Do I dare live the American dream?” “Uh dad, that’s his crotch”). It knows just when to go berserk, tearing apart a century of vampire iconography in just a few minutes. While some may consider the ending anticlimactic and abrupt, it’s the perfect way to end the episode, proving that life will go on and the next holidays will be upon us very soon.
4. “Clown Without Pity” (Episode III)
You’d almost have to dock The Simpsons a few points if they didn’t do a Child’s Play (1988) parody with Krusty the Klown. After all, he slaps his face onto everything in sight. That’s partially why this episode is brilliant, finding a pseudo-Gremlins (1984) parody pave the way for a homicidal clown doll that takes the viewer through some of the series’ most ribald gags. Also, it’s never not funny to see a doll attacking Homer, watching him scream for help by saying “The doll’s trying to kill me and the toaster’s been laughing at me.” How do you defeat something that seems unkillable?
Not only that, but Krusty eventually begins living in a Malibu Stacy house, pretending to be a working husband. There’s a small sitcom inside of this short that is entertaining on its own, making one wonder what world exists just outside of our view. Somehow it’s all empathetic even as it’s all horrifying and bizarre. Of course, in perfect Simpsons fashion, the answer is so blatantly simple that you’re almost impressed by how well it worked. Still, who would have an “evil” switch in the first place? What negligent town is Springfield? Still, for a segment that begins with one of the series’ best bits (“That’s good! That’s bad!”), it’s amazing that it manages to hold onto that energy and keep building from there.
5. “Citizen Kang” (Episode VII)
I am confident that of every segment that I personally love, this may be the more divisive choice. For starters, it’s unlikely that people have as much affection for political campaign history as I do. The idea of making a short where Bill Clinton and Bob Dole are controlled by aliens will strike many as confusing. However, it’s one that I undeniably love because of how novel the premise is. These are figures that we trust, so what happens when they become embodied by something that we don’t? It’s a conspiracy theorist’s dream and the perfect deconstruction of campaign politics (“Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others!”) that builds on the show’s best instincts.
Not only that, but it serves as the best outing featuring alien duo Kang and Kodos, asking Homer to take them to their leader. Without any clear idea who that is, they abduct Clinton and Dole. Among the clever gags is a crane reaching into The White House as Clinton says “What’s going on? Is it noon already?” By the end, there’s a fatalist quality that even has time to poke fun and the third party system before Homer gives one of the most underrated lines in the show’s history “Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.” As far as political advice goes, it’s a sound one to take.
Bonus
“Hungry Are the Damned” (Episode I)
Of my controversial opinions on The Simpsons, one that I think is likely to get me booted is my belief that the early run was a bit dull. While occasionally you had great episodes like “Bart the Daredevil,” the show needed to find a balance in animation and narrative/comedy groove that didn’t really come until the third season. I’m not a big fan of the original “Treehouse of Horror” because of its pacing, even though I do like how it tried to find its voice by creating segments based around classic literature. Still, I’d argue that everything since was a vast improvement.
Though if the inaugural episode did one thing right, it was the introduction of Kang and Kodos. From setting up the recurring gag of creative abductions to the famous dusty book cover gag (“How to Cook for Forty Humans”), everything about this is a perfect way to introduce the supernatural element to the series, allowing for a compelling mix of ideas and the suggestion that maybe humans aren’t the most civilized of creatures. Paranoia eventually destroys The Simpsons’ chance at intergalactic peace, and really the only way to respond to that is with a hearty “D’oh!” Of the few things that hold up from the early seasons, this is one of the high points, giving you plenty of intriguing ideas to work off of for the next 30 years.
What are your favorite segments from “Treehouse of Horror”?
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