Essays

Every ‘Simpsons’ ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Special Ranked

Celebrating the most iconic annual Halloween special on TV, 29 years and counting.
Treehouse Of Horror
Fox
By  · Published on October 31st, 2018

24. Treehouse of Horror III (Season 4, October 29, 1992)

This season marked the third Treehouse of Horror for The Simpsons, and while the tales in this episode feel fresh and scary, looking at all of the episodes together, they aren’t the strongest. I’m not the biggest fan of when the show goes full-on parody of a tale that changes the characters completely. Like Homer becoming a giant in reference to King Kong.


23. Treehouse of Horror XV (Season 16, November 7, 2004)

Many of these near the bottom have at least either one really good or one pretty good tale, and Season 16 has exactly that. Shrinking and sending the entire Simpsons family into Mr. Burns’ body so that Maggie isn’t digested is the kind of strangeness that I’d expect from a Halloween special. And besides, Mr. Burns is such a creepy character in general that adding him to a story can only enhance the episode’s weirdness.


22. Treehouse of Horror XVII (Season 18, November 6, 2005)

Even though this episode starts off a little weak with the “Married to the Blob” tale, which is essentially just 10 minutes of Homer eating everything and everyone in sight, it ends strong with a fun sketch that riffs on Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds radio drama. Up until this point, many Treehouse of Horror episodes have parodied things from the past but haven’t really taken place in the past. So, it’s a fun shake-up of scenery for a horror tale in addition to expanding on a known premise.


21. Treehouse of Horror X (Season 11, October 31, 1999)

It’s the 10th Treehouse of Horror special, premiering months before the ringing in of the new millennium. Of course, The Simpsons had to do something that referenced the frightening way technology and computers seem to be taking over. After Homer messes up at the power plant and spreads a computer virus, things immediately go awry. So much so, that everyone’s hopping on a rocket to leave Earth. There’s also a fun superhero tale before it, with Comic Book Guy as the villain. And probably the best out of the episode, the first tale where Marge kills Flanders and eventually the Simpsons are run out of their house only to later discover that Ned is a werewolf who ends up killing Homer.


20. Treehouse of Horror XXIV (Season 15, November 2, 2003)

Homer killing the Grim Reaper, creating a world without death, and becoming the Grim Reaper himself, is an extremely funny Simpsons tale in a super dark way. So, it’s perfect Treehouse of Horror material. Especially when his death assignment scroll reads “Marge,” to which he replies, “Anything but that!” causing the scroll to put up his own name to which he asks, “Uh, what was that first one again?” Plus Professor Frink’s recreation of his dad is an admirable Frankenstein parody that works well for the most part. It’s clear that Frink, being a scientist who sometimes dabbles in very far-out inventions, is the perfect character (other than Devil Flanders of course) to pull into the center of various Treehouse tales.


19. Treehouse of Horror XXVII (Season 28, October 16, 2016)

Not only is this episode The Simpsons‘ 27th Treehouse of Horror, but it’s the show’s 600th episode. So, of course, there are cool and creative incorporations of that at both the beginning and end of the show. More than just its anniversary status as its only merit, however, the tales are really good. Lisa narrates a Hunger Games-like story in a parody that’s hilarious and very self-aware in five parts, poking fun at how the real-life franchise chose to stretch itself out. And in another tale, Lisa’s imaginary friend plans to kill anyone who gets close to her, again showing that even 27 years later, while it feels like The Simpsons could have probably exhausted every simple horror premise out there, it hasn’t.


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