The Best ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Segments From ‘The Simpsons’

It’s that time of the year again, where the leaves on trees start changing color, you can purchase Pumpkin spice lattes/candles/toilet paper and your favorite TV shows roll out their Halloween-themed episodes.

With the rise of superhero shows, fantasy epics and binge-worthy Netflix series, the yearly tradition has started to become a thing of the past, but leave it to The Simpsons to honor their tradition they started 27 years ago by giving their viewers an episode comprised of three different horror-themed vignettes.

Whether they were parodies of horror movies, interpretations of well-known horrific tales or just something with zombies, the “Treehouse of Horror” episodes allow the writers to explore stories without the constraints of any sort of narrative (which is saying a lot for a family whose baby seemingly hasn’t aged in almost 30 years).

In honor of this weekend’s airing of an all-new special, let’s look back at the 13 best, funniest and weirdest segments broadcast throughout the years, in chronological order.

‘Terror at 5 1/2 Feet’ – Treehouse of Horror IV

Based on the Richard Matheson short story Terror at 20,000 Feet and a William Shatner-starring episode of The Twilight Zone of the same name, this segment reimagines a man seeing a gremlin on an airplane wing as Bart seeing a gremlin on the side of a school bus.

In case you don’t remember, yes, we do get to see Hans Moleman driving a Gremlin alongside the bus, which is only one of many hilarious jokes in this segment. Bart descends into madness over trying to convince his fellow passengers that the creature really exists, a concept they find difficult to grasp even after seeing the damage caused to the bus.

From Martin wearing a shirt that says “WANG COMPUTERS” to Homer wearing a life vest and blasting an air horn because “It was just sitting in some guys boat!”, there are tons of great one-liners scattered amongst the segment that also pays homage to a fantastic story.

‘The Shinning’ – Treehouse of Horror V

Of all the segments on this list, “The Shinning” might have more all-time great jokes from the show’s entire run than any other.

In this parody of The Shining, the family finds themselves stranded at a mountain resort that has no TV and no beer, which, as you can imagine, Homer doesn’t like, causing him to become psychotic and hunt down his gamily.

This segment strikes the perfect balance of reinterpreting one of the most famous horror movies of all-time while also interjecting tons of humor. One joke, for example, completely circumvents audience’s expectations when Marge approaches a typewriter Homer has been using to see what he’s been typing. In The Shining, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) has been writing the same phrase over and over, thousands of times, but Marge discovers that Homer has merely written “Feelin’ fine.”

It’s those kinds of surprises that make this segment truly wonderful, with a personal favorite sequence being the reinterpretation of the famous “Here’s Johnny!” scene, with Homer introducing himself as David Letterman, to which a surprised Grandpa Simpsons replies, “Hi David, I’m Grandpa.”

 

‘Time and Punishment’ – Treehouse of Horror V

This segment opens with Homer calmly and lovingly reflecting on his life and how fortunate he feels to have such a caring family, only for Lisa to point out that he has his hand in a toaster. This immediately sets the stage for the absolute wackiness that ensues in this hilarious time travel adventure.

Understandably, Homer attempts to repair this toaster, accidentally creating a time machine. The device allows Homer to travel back to the age of the dinosaurs, each time accidentally causing a small change that results in complete alteration of the future. From a dystopia run by the demagogue Ned Flanders to a world in which there are no donuts, Homer never finds the correct reality but accepts one that’s close enough, with the exception that his family eats food like they’re insects.

The entire sequence is silly, but demonstrates a great collaboration between the writers and the animators to showcase all of their wacky ideas.

‘Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace’ – Treehouse of Horror VI

Given the popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, it’s surprising it took this long for The Simpsons to give their take on the horror franchise.

During a P.T.A. meeting to discuss an error in the school calendars, Groundskeeper Willie gets killed in the boiler room, but not before swearing to take vengeance on everyone’s children. The custodian terrorizes the dreams of the schoolchildren, with Bart and Lisa attempting to take on Willie while he injures and kills many of their classmates. Ultimately, Maggie comes to their rescue.

This segment has its fair share of laughs (most notably a joke about the misprinted calendars where Homer claims, “Lousy Smarch weather,”) but its true strength is the way in which it tackles the complicated mythology of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, proving that the best installments aren’t necessarily always the funniest.

‘The Thing and I’ – Treehouse of Horror VII

In a genuinely unsettling premise, the Simpson children think they hear something living in the attic. Their investigation reveals a villainous version of Bart, who is actually his formerly conjoined twin.

This is another sequence whose strengths are the inherent creepiness of the premise, but with enough silly surprises to keep the audience on their toes. Who could forget Dr. Hibbert offering the “evil” twin Hugo a chance to look in a mirror, only to expose it was just an empty picture frame, allowing him to punch Hugo in the face?

Additionally, the twist ending of this segment reveals that Bart is, in fact, the evil twin, relegating him to the attic and explaining why he was such a nuisance. Another standout moment involves Homer saying, “We’ll search out every place a sick twisted solitary misfit might run to,” to which Lisa responds, “I’ll start with Radio Shack.” Sadly, the demise of the electronics store might result in having to explain that joke to younger viewers.

 

‘The Homega Man’ – Treehouse of Horror VIII

Haven’t you always wondered what Homer would do with himself if the rest of humanity got wiped out in a nuclear war between France and the United States? Well, this segment answers that question!

The answer is that, of course, Homer would watch movies, dance naked to “War” in an empty church and punch drivers who slowed him down, causing their skulls to shatter as he announced, “Still got it!”

If you love Homer, he really gets to shine in this The Omega Man parody, and there’s also a pretty clever surprise ending to the segment in am impressive blend of humor and horror.

‘Easy Bake Coven’ – Treehouse of Horror VIII

Rather than parodying a specific film or story, this segment is a Simpson-ized interpretation of the Salem witch trials.

When Marge is accused of being a witch, tossing her off a cliff appears to be the only way to prove her devotion to witchcraft, forcing her to either fall to her death or use her powers to fly to safety. As it turns out, Marge is actually a witch, flying away to join her sisters Patty and Selma in their coven before returning to town demanding to eat children. Instead, they are offered cookies and candy, giving us a fictional history of Halloween.

This is yet another example of just how well the episode’s writers can craft a story and aren’t relegated to merely packing in as many jokes as possible. This segment’s biggest strengths are its charm, its ability to showcase the town’s huge ensemble and Bart calling himself a “son of a witch.”

‘Night of the Dolphin’ – Treehouse of Horror XI

When Lisa gets upset at seeing dolphins in captivity at an aquarium, the activist in her takes charge to free the creature, resulting in a self-satisfied feeling. Unfortunately, the dolphin she freed was the leader of the rest of the ocean’s dolphins, allowing them to spark a revolution to come up on land and push humans back into the ocean.

By making Lisa, the more straight-laced Simpson, the protagonist, the rest of the cast was allowed to just pop in with one-liners, like Mayor Quimby proclaiming at a town meeting, “I know we’re all frightened and horny.”

This segment also reminded audiences how you can never predict which direction an episode of the show will go based on the opening scenes/moments, giving the writers a chance to showcase a unique, original idea. As parodies of popular movies began to be incorporated more regularly, this segment helped break out of that monotony.

 

‘Reaper Madness’ – Treehouse of Horror XIV

The Grim Reaper sets his sights on killing Bart, but Homer, the loving father that he is, just won’t have it! He kills the Grim Reaper, but with the collector of souls out of the picture, no one can seem to die, forcing Homer to take on the responsibility.

The “Treehouse of Horror” series has never shied away from killing off beloved characters, but this segment was both silly and macabre in how it handles death. For example, one scene features Grim Reaper Homer wanting a better seat at a stadium so he kills everyone in his way to get through the line faster, while we also see Moe not being able to adequately kill himself during the brief time where there was no Grim Reaper.

Although seeing Moe attempt suicide is incredibly dark, the showrunners somehow found a way to make it funny, showing how The Simpsons can make the most taboo subject matters hilarious.

‘You Gotta Know When to Golem’ – Treehouse of Horror XVII

For those unfamiliar, a Golem is a creature in Jewish folklore that’s made of clay and can be brought to life by magic to carry out evil deeds.

When Bart discovers Krusty has a Golem doing his bidding, he intervenes to free the monster and grants him the ability to speak. Voiced by Richard Lewis, we get to enjoy the Golem express remorse for his terrible actions, attempt to adapt to modern life and ultimately fall in love with a female Golem, voiced by Fran Drescher.

This segment is another instance of how enjoyable it is to see the show tackle and reinterpret a familiar fable, proving the creators’ storytelling abilities. One of the segment’s cleverer bits featured a pretty hilarious dig at how HD TVs show you someone’s blemishes in definition that’s almost repulsive, reminding people that TVs haven’t always been 70″ 4K behemoths.

‘E.T. Go Home’ – Treehouse of Horror XVIII

Would you believe that this segment is just a parody of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but featuring Kodos as the lost alien? Well that’s what it is!

In addition to hitting all the major beats of the film, including actual John Williams music, we get to see the dark places the story would go if E.T. himself had nefarious intentions. Highlights include the use of the phrase “space doggy” and a scene of Homer entering the shower with who he assumes is Marge, only to actually be Kodos, causing hilarity to ensue.

In ways both good and bad, this also marked a time in which the series began parodying properties that weren’t inherently horror-related, but anything that was rich with elements familiar to the average viewer.

‘It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse’ – Treehouse of Horror XIX

On Halloween night, Milhouse heads to a pumpkin patch to wait for the “Grand Pumpkin,” and when he fails to show up, Milhouse starts crying. Those tears awaken the Grand Pumpkin, who becomes horrified when he is offered a variety of food products that use the flesh of his brethren and sees the joy Homer gets from carving up his fellow pumpkins.

Given the legacy of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, seeing the Simpsons take on it could have been disappointing, but the show managed to not only pay their respects to the animated classic but also give it a dark spin. 

This segment paid homage to the original special by recreating its animation style, music and sounds of an adult’s voice (it was merely Marge practicing her trombone). Also, we got to see an enraged giant pumpkin monster wreak havoc on the town, only to be stopped by “Tom Turkey,” a Thanksgiving deity, in a battle of epic proportions. Mocking Great Pumpkin might have seemed to be low-hanging fruit, but The Simpsons pulled off a loving tribute.

 

‘Dial ‘M’ for Murder or Press ‘#’ to Return to Main Menu’ – Treehouse of Horror XX

As both Bart and Lisa Simpson are experiencing difficulties with their teachers, they both agree to help one another “take care” of the other’s teacher. This results in Bart killing Ms. Hoover while Lisa merely ding-dong-ditches Mrs. Krabappel. Knowing that she won’t be able to return the favor of killing his teacher, Lisa instead aims to kill Bart, who she feels deserves to die.

Although the title of this segment is a reference to Dial “M” for Murder and not Strangers on a Train (which is where this plot came from), the segment ended up being a catch-all Alfred Hitchcock parody, making references to various of the filmmaker’s movies.

From the animation being black and white to musical cues from Psycho, this whole story showed the strength of Hitchcock’s films and, after 20 years of ‘Treehouse of Horror’ installments, the series finally paid tribute to a master of horror.