Jay
Many years ago we featured a biiiiiggg list of our Top 25 Simpsons episodes but we excluded any Treehouse of Horror episodes from the list.
Today we right that wrong and feature our 10 fave short horror stories from the 32 episodes of the Treehouse of Horror anthology series.
Again all the episodes featured here are from the 90s which is truly the ‘golden age’ of The Simpsons. So, here are our favorites in no particular order!
You can see many more of our Simpsons posts by visiting here.
Clown Without Pity
Treehouse of Horror III – Season Four – First Aired 29 October 1992
This classic episode is a parody mashup of numerous films and TV including – Child’s Play, the “Living Doll” Twilight Zone episode, Gremlins, and Trilogy of Terror. In this story, Homer realizes he has forgotten to buy Bart’s Birthday present rushes out and visits the House of Evil, where he purchases a talking Krusty the Clown doll. Although the shopkeeper warns Homer that the doll is cursed he still proceeds to buy the doll. The doll of course turns out to be evil and tries to kill Homer but nobody believes him. The way the repairman helps out at the end is just genius!
The Devil and Homer Simpson
Treehouse of Horror IV – Season Five – First Aired 28th October 1993
This time a parody of The Devil and Daniel Webster. When Homer finds that there are no donuts left because Lenny and Carl have thrown them at Grandpa for a laugh Homers states that he would sell his soul for a donut. The devil appears as Ned Flanders and offers Homer a contract for one donut but there is a price to pay that if he eats all of the donut then the devil will own his soul.
The Shinning
Treehouse of Horror V – Season Six – First Aired 30th October 1994
This episode parodies ‘The Shining’ where the Simpsons are employed as caretakers of Mr. Burns Haunted Lodge. Burns cuts the power and takes away all the beer on-site and the deprivation of his two favorite things causes Homer to go crazy.
Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace
Treehouse of Horror VI – Season Seven – First Aired 29th October 1995
Based on the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Groundskeeper Willie terrorizes the kids of Springfield Elementary as a way of revenge on the parents when he is accidentally burnt to death at a PTA meeting. The scene where he rises from the sandpit as a giant bagpipe spider is totally terrifying.
Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores
Treehouse of Horror VI – Season Seven – First Aired 29th October 1995
Homer visits Lard Lad Donuts to get a “colossal doughnut”. When he realizes that the colossal doughnut is just the name of the doughnut that Lard Lad holds and doughnuts that size do not actually exist, he denounces the store and vows to get a colossal doughnut one way or another. He returns that night and steals the giant doughnut from the Lard Lad statue in front of the store. In the midst of a freak storm, Lard Lad and the other giant advertising statues come to life to terrorize Springfield.
Homer³
Treehouse of Horror VI – Season Seven – First Aired 29th October 1995
A really special episode with most of the scenes in 3D. Although it may look dated now, it was totally state of the art back in 1995 just before Toy Story set the standard and cost a lot of money to pull off. In this story, Patty and Selma come to visit the Simpsons, which drives Bart, Lisa, and even the pets to evade them and consequently leaves almost no place for Homer to hide. Desperate to avoid them he looks behind a bookcase and enters a mysterious new world in which everything is in the third dimension.
The Genesis Tub
Treehouse of Horror VII – Season Eight – First Aired 27th October 1996
Lisa performs an experiment in a petri dish to see if cola will dissolve her baby tooth for the school science fair. Bart gives Lisa a static electric shock, claiming it is part of his project to prove that “nerds conduct electricity”. The electric charge is then passed on to the tooth when Lisa tries to touch it, causing it to undergo an unusual reaction which creates a race of miniature beings. Bart ends up destroying some of the eco-system in Lisa’s tub universe with his finger, and the tub people retaliate by sending a squadron of space ships to attack him. The inhabitants of the tub then shrink Lisa to their size with a miniaturization ray and beam her down into the tub, where they explain that they regard her as God, and Bart as the Devil.
Time and Punishment
Treehouse of Horror V – Season Six – First Aired 30th October 1994
Homer breaks the toaster after getting his hand stuck in it twice. While trying to fix it, he accidentally turns it into a time machine. While testing the toaster, he transports himself to prehistoric times, where he remembers Grampa Simpson’s advice to be careful not to change anything should one travel back in time. Homer fails to heed this and swats a mosquito, turning the present into a dystopia where Ned Flanders rules the world.
Homer time-travels, again and again, to set things right, but he accidentally makes things change for the worse each time.
The Thing and I
Treehouse of Horror VII – Season Eight – First Aired 27th October 1996
Bart and Lisa hear strange noises coming from the attic. They investigate and discover that there is a monster. Homer and Marge realize that the creature has escaped, prompting Marge to call Dr. Hibbert. He explains that Bart has an evil twin named Hugo. The two were originally conjoined but were separated at birth.
Fly vs Fly
Treehouse of Horror VIII – Season Nine – First Aired 26th October 1997
In the ultimate parody of The Fly franchise, Homer buys a matter transporter from Professor Frink’s yard sale. Bart decides to put the family pets through the transporter together, resulting in a DNA mismatch. This gives him the idea to enter the teleporter with a fly, thinking that he will become a mutant superhero. However, the machine simply switches their heads around.
Bonus two extra stories…
The Bart Zone
Treehouse of Horror II – Season Three – First Aired 31st October 1991
We go right back to Treehouse of Horror II for the final two short stories. In the ‘Bart Zone’ which is based on the Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life” and which was also re-made for the 1980s Twilight Zone movie. The people of Springfield live in fear of their lives because Bart has special powers which allow him to read minds, move objects and turn people into grotesque forms. When Homer refuses to turn off a football game so Bart can watch The Krusty the Clown Show, Bart transports him to the football stadium in place of the ball for a field goal kick. As Homer creeps into the house trying to surprise him with a blow to the head, Bart transforms him into a jack-in-the-box.
The Monkey’s Paw
Treehouse of Horror II – Season Three – First Aired 31st October 1991
Based on W.W Jacobs short story of the same name and also another episode of the Twilight Zone “A Small Talent for War”. At a Moroccan street market, Homer purchases a cursed monkey’s paw that will grant its owner four wishes. While Homer, Bart and Lisa argue, Marge pleads with them to heed the vendor’s warning and not use it at all. Despite her efforts, Maggie is granted the first wish: a new pacifier. Bart wishes for the Simpsons to be rich and famous, but the public soon tires of the family’s antics and ubiquity. Horrified by the wasteful wishes, Lisa wishes for world peace, but aliens Kang and Kodos enslave the defenseless Earth.
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