Treehouse of Horror (series) | Halloween Specials Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Treehouse of Horror (series) Share Bart and Lisa tell scary stories to each other in " Treehouse of Horror ", which is the only episode to feature a treehouse as a setting. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes, also known as The Simpsons Halloween episodes, are a series of episodes in the animated series The Simpsons. They are Halloween specials, each consisting of three separate, self-contained segments. These segments usually involve the Simpson family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting. They take place outside the show's normal continuity and completely abandon any pretense of being realistic. The first, entitled " Treehouse of Horror ", aired on October 25, 1990, as part of the second season and was inspired by EC Comics horror tales. The episodes are known for being far more violent and much darker than an average Simpsons episode. As of 2012, there are 23 Treehouse of Horror episodes, with one airing every year.

Episodes contain several trademarks, including the alien characters Kang and Kodos , "scary names" in the credits, a special version of the opening sequence, and parodies of horror, science fiction and fantasy films. The show's staff regard the Treehouse of Horror as being particularly difficult to produce as the scripts often go through many rewrites, and the animators typically have to design new characters and backgrounds. Many of the episodes are popular among fans and critics of the show and have inspired a whole off-shoot of Simpsons merchandise, including action figures, playsets, video games, books, DVDs, comic books and a special version of Monopoly . Several of the episodes have won awards for animation and sound editing. In 1996, " Treehouse of Horror VI " was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award in the " Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) " category. Contents Edit Treehouse of Horror episodes typically consist of four parts: an opening and Halloween-themed version of the credits, followed by three segments. These segments usually have a horror, science fiction or fantasy theme and quite often are parodies of films, novels, plays, television shows, Twilight Zone episodes, or old issues of EC Comics.

Although they are sometimes connected by "wraparounds", the three segments rarely have any kind of continuing connection within the episode. The exception is " Treehouse of Horror V ", in which Groundskeeper Willie is killed by an axe in a similar fashion in all three segments. [1] The episodes are considered to be non-canon and always take place outside the normal continuity of the show. [2] From " Treehouse of Horror " to " Treehouse of Horror XIII ", all three segments were written by different writers. In some cases there was a fourth writer who wrote the opening and wraparound segments. [3] For the original "Treehouse of Horror", there were three different directors for the episode. [4] Starting with season 15's " Treehouse of Horror XIV ", however, only one writer has been credited with writing each Treehouse of Horror episode. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] On occasion, the episodes will be used to showcase special animation, such as the " Treehouse of Horror VI " segment "Homer3", in which a computer-animated Homer is shown in a non-animated setting.

At the time (1995), it was groundbreaking, as it was unusual for a television show to use such animation. The segment was executive producer Bill Oakley 's idea and included live action directed by David Mirkin. [10] " Treehouse of Horror XX " included the segment "There's No Business Like Moe Business", which was the first to be musically-themed. [11] Traditions Edit Three of the tombstones from the opening segment of " Treehouse of Horror " Every Treehouse of Horror episode opens with a special introductory segment. The first, second and fifth Treehouse of Horror episodes open with Marge standing on a stage and warning parents about the content of the episode, advising them to put their children to bed. The warning in the first episode was put in as a sincere effort to warn young viewers, as the producers felt it was somewhat scary. [12] The entire segment was a parody of the opening of the 1931 film Frankenstein. [13] Marge's warnings quickly became a burden to write and there was no warning for the fourth Treehouse of Horror.

The tradition was revived for "Treehouse of Horror V"; after that, they were permanently dropped [14] and the writers did not make any attempts at reviving them. [10] Other Treehouse of Horror episodes have opened with parodies; for example, "Treehouse of Horror III" had Homer introduce the episode in a manner similar to Alfred Hitchcock in Alfred Hitchcock Presents [15] and " Treehouse of Horror V " featured a parody of The Outer Limits. [16] The sixth and seventh episodes featured short clips with no lines because the episodes had run long and longer segments were cut. [10] Following "Treehouse of Horror VII", the opening has been upwards of a minute long and sometimes featured an introduction by a character, such as Mr. Burns in " Treehouse of Horror XVII " [8] or included over-the-top violence, such as " Treehouse of Horror VIII " (which showed a Fox Network censor being brutally murdered) and " Treehouse of Horror XIV " (which showed the Simpson family killing each other). [5] In the opening segment of the first five episodes, the camera zooms through a cemetery where tombstones with humorous epitaphs can be seen.

These messages include the names of canceled shows from the previous season, deceased celebrities such as Walt Disney and Jim Morrison [17] and a tombstone with an inscription that read "TV violence" that was riddled with bullets as the camera panned on it. [3] They were last used in " Treehouse of Horror V ", which included a solitary tombstone with the words "Amusing Tombstones" to signal this. [16] The tombstone gags were easy for the writers in the first episode, but like Marge's warnings, they eventually got more difficult to write, so they were abandoned. [13] Another reason they were dropped was that the tombstones would list television shows that had been canceled the previous season; after a few years, several of the shows that were canceled were produced by former Simpsons writers. [18] While the early Treehouse of Horror episodes featured a Halloween themed opening sequence, the later ones only included the title and the "created by" and "developed by" credits.

Every episode between "Treehouse of Horror II" and " Treehouse of Horror X " featured a couch gag with a Halloween theme, including the Simpson family dressed as skeletons, [17] zombies [3] and characters from previous Halloween episodes. [19] Wraparounds Edit The first four Treehouse of Horror episodes had brief wraparounds that occurred before each segment and loosely tied together all three stories. "Treehouse of Horror" was the only one that actually included a treehouse as a setting. [2] In that episode, Bart and Lisa sat in it telling stories to each other. [2] [4] " Treehouse of Horror II " presented all of the segments as being nightmares of Lisa, Bart and Homer; [17] " Treehouse of Horror III " had Lisa, Bart and Grampa telling stories at a Halloween party; [15] and " Treehouse of Horror IV " is presented by Bart in a parody of Rod Serling's Night Gallery. [3] After a few years, the amount of broadcast time for an episode was shortened, allowing less time to tell a proper story.

[14] There were no wraparounds for "Treehouse of Horror V" because they had been cut to make more time for the segments. Following that, the writers permanently dropped them. [20] Kang and Kodos Main article: Kang and Kodos Two characters that are virtually exclusive to the Treehouse of Horror series are Kang and Kodos , a pair of large green space aliens who were introduced in the "Hungry are the Damned" segment of " Treehouse of Horror ". Kang and Kodos have since appeared in every Treehouse of Horror episode, sometimes as important parts of a story, but often just for brief cameos. In some episodes, they only appear in the opening segment, [5] [19] but often they will make a cameo appearance in the middle of a different story. For example, a story about zombies attacking the town briefly cuts to them in their space ship, watching the events and laughing maniacally at the Earthlings' suffering. The action then switches back to the actual story. [15] The unofficial rule is that they must be in every episode, [12] although quite often they will be forgotten and are added at the last moment, resulting in only a brief appearance.

[2] Their scene in " Treehouse of Horror VIII " nearly did not make the final cut of the episode, but David X. Cohen managed to persuade the producers to leave the scene in. [21] The "scary names" for the writers in " Treehouse of Horror IV ". Scary names Edit Starting with " Treehouse of Horror II ", the producers decided to give the cast and crew of the show "scary names" in the opening and closing credits. Although the names quickly became more silly than scary, there have been a wide variety of special credits, from simple names like " Bat Groening " to complex ones like "David²+S.²=Cohen²". [22] Sam Simon, who left the show during the fourth season but still receives "developed by" and "executive producer" credits, has ever since been listed in Treehouse of Horror episodes as "Sam 'Sayonara' Simon". The idea for "scary names" came from executive producer Al Jean, who was inspired by EC Comics because some of the issues also used "scary" alternate names.

[12] The "scary names" became such a burden to write that they were cut for "Treehouse of Horror XII" and "Treehouse of Horror XIII", but after hearing complaints from the fans, Jean decided to bring them back. [23] Matt Groening's rule for the "scary names" is that they cannot be longer than a person's real name, but this is rarely followed by anyone else. [24] Cultural references Edit References to films, novels, plays, television shows and other media are commonly featured, and many segments have been parodies of a specific work in the horror, science fiction or fantasy genre. Many segments are spoofs of episodes of The Twilight Zone and entire segments will be based on a single episode. [25] Some of the Twilight Zone episodes parodied include "A Kind of a Stopwatch", "To Serve Man", [26] "A Small Talent for War", [27] "Living Doll", [28] "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", [29] " Little Girl Lost ", [30] and " The Little People ".

[31] The "Bart's Nightmare" segment of " Treehouse of Horror II " parodies the episode " It's a Good Life " and is even presented in a format similar to an episode of The Twilight Zone. [27] The Halloween episodes also regularly parody horror and thriller films such as The Exorcist , The Amityville Horror , [26] King Kong , Night of the Living Dead , [28] The Shining , [32] A Nightmare on Elm Street, [30] The Fly , [33] Psycho , [11] and Dead Calm . [34] Robert Englund , who portrays Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, had a cameo appearance in " Treehouse of Horror IX " as the character. [35] Science fiction films have also occasionally been used as inspiration for segments, and in later episodes many of the segments were based more on science fiction than horror. Science fiction works parodied include The Omega Man , [36] the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , [32] E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial [37] and Orson Welles's The War of the Worlds radio broadcast.

[38] In "Treehouse of Horror", Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" is read by James Earl Jones while the parts are acted by various characters. [26] Recent parodies have included films and television specials in more varied genres, including Mr. & Mrs. Smith, [37] It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown , Transformers , [39] Sweeney Todd, [40] the Twilight film series , [41] and Jumanji. [34] Production Edit David Mirkin believes the episodes should be both scary and funny and has been responsible for some of the more gruesome moments. The first Treehouse of Horror episode aired in 1990 as part of the second season, and its on-screen title was "The Simpsons Halloween Special." It was inspired by EC Comics Horror tales. [12] Although every episode is entitled "Treehouse of Horror", the first one was the only episode that actually used the treehouse motif.

[2] During production of the first episode, Matt Groening was nervous about "The Raven" segment, and felt it would be "the worst, most pretentious thing [they had] ever done." [2] The Treehouse of Horror episodes are difficult for both the writers and the animators. [13] The episodes were originally written at the beginning of the production run, but in later seasons they were written at the end and aired at the beginning of the next season as holdovers, giving the animators more time to work. [12] Part of the difficulty for the animators is that the episodes always involve many complex backgrounds, new characters, and new designs. [12] They are difficult for the writers because they must produce three stories, an opening and, in the early episodes, a wraparound. They would have to try to fit all of this into a 20–22 minute episode. [42] The episodes often go through many last minute changes, with rewrites requiring new lines to be recorded.

[43] "Treehouse of Horror III" in particular underwent somewhere between 80 and 100 line changes in the six-week period between the arrival of the animation from Korea and the airing of the episode. [23] By the fourth season, executive producers Al Jean and Mike Reiss were less enamored of Treehouse of Horror episodes and considered dropping them, but the other writers insisted that they be kept. [23] Bill Oakley (along with Josh Weinstein ) executive produced two episodes and wrote one segment. Part of the attraction for the writers is that they are able to break the rules and include violence that would not make a regular episode. [2] In some cases, the writers will have an idea that is too violent and far-fetched or too short for a normal episode, but can be used as a segment in the seasonal special. [12] Several of the writers, former executive producer David Mirkin among them, believe that the episodes should be scary and not just funny. [42] "Treehouse of Horror V" has been described by Mirkin as being one of "the most intense, disturbing Halloween show ever" as it was filled with violence and gore in response to new censorship rules.

[1] Although gruesome for the most part, some segments, such as "Citizen Kang" in " Treehouse of Horror VII ", satirize political issues. The opening segment of " Treehouse of Horror XIX " featured Homer attempting to vote for Barack Obama but a rigged electronic voting machine instead registers a vote for John McCain. [44] Rather than taking sides in the election, Al Jean says it is "mostly a comment on what many people to believe to be the irregularities in our voting system.[sic]" [45] In " Treehouse of Horror XVII ", a segment called "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid" ends with Kang and Kodos taking over Springfield as part of a mission called "Operation: Enduring occupation". The script originally called for Kodos and Kang to look over the smoking ruins of Springfield and say "This sure is a lot like Iraq will be." The Fox network did not have any objection to the line, but it was rejected by some of the writers as too obvious and was cut from broadcast. While cut from the aired version, the line does appear in the "review" version sent to newspapers and magazines.

[38] Al Jean has been executive producer for more Treehouse of Horror episodes than any other EP. The first "Treehouse of Horror" episode was the first time that an alternate version of the theme that airs over the end credits was used. Originally it was supposed to use a theremin, but one could not be found that could hit all the necessary notes. [2] Usually when the producers submit an episode for the Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)", they submit a Treehouse of Horror episode, [12] and to date, seven episodes have been nominated. [46] The closing of "Treehouse of Horror IV" features a version of the theme that is a combination of the instruments used in The Munsters theme song and the harpsichord and clicking from the The Addams Family theme song. [42] Although Treehouse of Horror episodes are Halloween-themed, in recent years new episodes have premiered in November. This is due to Fox 's current contract with Major League Baseball's World Series. [47] Season 12's " Treehouse of Horror XI " was the first episode to air in November.

There have been several references to this in the show, such as in " Treehouse of Horror XIV " where Kang looks at a TV Guide and says, "Pathetic humans. They're showing a Halloween episode... in November!" and Kodos replies "Who's still thinking about Halloween? We've already got our Christmas decoration up." The camera then cuts to a shot of the fireplace with Christmas decorations, and festive Christmas music plays over the opening credits. [5] Season 21 's " Treehouse of Horror XX " aired October 18, before the World Series, but the following year's episode, " Treehouse of Horror XXI ", aired in November. [48] Season 23 's " Treehouse of Horror XXII aired on October 30, however, as the World Series (which went the maximum of seven games ) had concluded on October 28. [49] Merchandise Edit The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror edition of Monopoly There has been a variety of merchandise based on the Treehouse of Horror episodes, including books, action figures, comic books , video games, DVDs and a "Treehouse of Horror" version of Hasbro 's board game Monopoly .

[50] Although every Treehouse of Horror episode until " Treehouse of Horror XIII " has been released along with its season in a boxset, in 2003, The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror DVD was released. It includes Treehouse of Horrors V, VI, VII and XII. [51] A Treehouse of Horror comic book has been published annually since 1995, and collected into several books , including The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Fun-Filled Frightfest, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror Spine-Tingling Spooktacular, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror Heebie-Jeebie Hullabaloo and The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Hoodoo Voodoo Brouhaha. [52] Several video games based on The Simpsons include levels with a Halloween theme, including The Simpsons Hit & Run and The Simpsons Game . In 2001, Fox Interactive and THQ released The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror on Game Boy Color . The entire game has a Halloween theme as the player tries to save the Simpson family from the Treehouse of Horror. [53] Many of the special character designs featured in the episodes have become action figures.

[23] Four different playsets have been made by Playmates Toys and released as Toys "R" Us exclusives. The sets are: The "Treehouse of Horror I" set was released in 2000 and included a cemetery playset as well as "Devil Flanders", "Bart the Fly", "Vampire Burns", and "King Homer". It also came with an "Evil Krusty Doll" and Gremlin as accessories. [54] The "Treehouse of Horror 2" set was released in 2001 and included an interior alien spaceship playset as well as Kang, Kodos and "Alien Ship Homer". The entire set was based on " Treehouse of Horror ". [55] The "Treehouse of Horror 3" set was released in 2002 and included a playset based on the "Ironic Punishment Division" of Hell in " Treehouse of Horror IV ". It came with "Donuthead Homer", "Witch Marge", Hugo Simpson and "Dream Invader Willie".

[56] The final "Treehouse of Horror 4" set was released in 2003 and included a playset based on Comic Book Guy 's "Collector's all-plastic lair". It came with "The Collector", "Clobber Girl Lisa", "Stretch Dude Bart" and Lucy Lawless . All the designs were based on " Treehouse of Horror X ". [57] After the Playmates Toys sets were finished, McFarlane Toys produced four Treehouse of Horror themed playsets including the "Ironic Punishment Box Set" released in 2004, [58] the "In the Belly of the Boss — Homer & Marge Action Figures" released in 2005, [59] "The Island of Dr. Hibbert Box Set" released in 2006, [60] and a "Lard Lad Box Set" released in 2007. [61] Reception Edit The Treehouse of Horror episodes are often among the top-rated episodes of their season [23] and many of the Treehouse of Horrors have generally been well-received by fans.

However, like The Simpsons itself, critics have noted a decline in the quality of the later episodes. [62] In its first airing, "Treehouse of Horror" finished with a 15.7 Nielsen rating and a 25% audience share and would lose to The Cosby Show . [63] It was said that it "set a level of excellence that viewers never expected creator Matt Groening to repeat", [64] although it was also described as "kind of stupid and unsatisfying". [65] " Treehouse of Horror V " is considered the best episode by several critics: it finished ninth on Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episode list, [66] fifth on AskMen.com's "Top 10: Simpsons Episodes" list, [67] and was named best episode of the sixth season by IGN.com. [68] In 2006, James Earl Jones , who guest starred in " Treehouse of Horror " and " Treehouse of Horror V " was named seventh on IGN's "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances" list.

[69] In 2006 IGN.com published a list of the top ten Treehouse of Horror segments, and they placed "The Shinning" from " Treehouse of Horror V " at the top, saying it was "not only a standout installment of the annual Halloween episode, but of The Simpsons, period." [70] Rounding out the list were " Dial "Z" for Zombies ", " The Devil and Homer Simpson ", " Time and Punishment ", " Hungry Are the Damned ", " Clown Without Pity ", " Citizen Kang ", " If I Only Had a Brain ", " Bart Simpson's Dracula " and " Starship Poopers ". The third, fourth and fifth episodes were each represented by two segments. The most recent episode on the list was " Treehouse of Horror IX ", which first aired in 1998. [70] " Treehouse of Horror VII " is Simpsons creator Matt Groening 's seventh favorite episode, and the line he likes best is "We have reached the limit of what rectal probing can teach us." [71] "King Homer" of " Treehouse of Horror III " is one of Matt Groening's favorite segments.

[72] "Treehouse of Horror III" is also noted for the moment where Homer shoots Ned Flanders and Bart says "Dad, you killed the Zombie Flanders!" only for Homer to reply, "He was a zombie?" [70] It is also one of Groening's favorite lines. [72] Awards Edit In 1996, the "Homer³" segment of " Treehouse of Horror VI " was awarded the Ottawa International Animation Festival grand prize. [73] In 1998, " Treehouse of Horror VIII " won a Golden Reel Award for "Best Sound Editing - Television Animated Specials"; the recipients were Robert Mackston, Travis Powers , Norm MacLeod and Terry Greene. Bob Beecher also received a nomination for "Best Sound Editing in Television Animation - Music" for " Treehouse of Horror X ". [74] The second , third , fifth , eighth , ninth , fourteenth and fifteenth and eighteenth [75] Treehouse of Horror episodes were nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" at the Primetime Emmy Awards .

The second and third "Treehouse of Horror" episodes were also nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special". [46] In 1996, " Treehouse of Horror VI " was submitted for the Primetime Emmy Award in the " Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour) " category because it had a 3D animation sequence, which the staff felt would have given it the edge. [46] The episode failed to win and Bill Oakley later expressed regret about submitting the episode.

[76] Episodes The Simpsons Halloween Special II The Monkey's Paw (Lisa) If I Only Had a Brain (Homer) 3 The Simpsons Halloween Special III Clown Without Pity The Simpsons Halloween Special IV The Devil and Homer Simpson Terror at 5½ Feet Bart Simpson's Dracula The Simpsons Halloween Special V The Shinning The Simpsons Halloween Special VI Attack of the 50 Foot Eyesores Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace The Simpsons Halloween Special VII The Thing and I The Simpsons Halloween Special VIII The HΩmega Man The Simpsons Halloween Special IX Hell Toupée The Terror of Tiny Toon Starship Poopers The Simpsons Halloween Special X I Know What You Diddly-Iddily-Did Desperately Xeeking Xena Life's a Glitch, Then You Die 11 The Simpsons Halloween Special XI G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad Scary Tales Can Come True Night of the Dolphin The Simpsons Halloween Special XII Hex and the City The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms The Island of Dr.

Hibbert 14 Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off 15 Four Beheadings and a Funeral In the Belly of the Boss 16 I've Grown a Costume on Your Face 17 You Gotta Know When to Golem The Day the Earth Looked Stupid 18 How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse 20 Dial "M" for Murder or Press "#" to Return to Main Menu Don't Have a Cow, Mankind There's No Business Like Moe Business 21 The Diving Bell and the Butterball Dial D for Diddily The Greatest Story Ever Holed Unnormal Activity Oh, the Places You'll D'oh! Dead and Shoulders Treehouse of Horror series | Simpsons Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Treehouse of Horror series Share Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected.

The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened/existed. The Simpsons Dolby Digital 5.1 (2009–present) Original Run The poster for Treehouse of Horror XX The Simpsons Halloween Episodes are an annual tradition in which there is a special Halloween episode consisting of three separate, self-contained pieces. These pieces usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting; they always take place outside the normal continuity of the show (and are therefore considered to be non-canon), and completely abandon any pretense of being realistic. The Couch gag in Treehouse of Horror VI Regular Simpsons characters play humorous special roles, occasionally being killed in gruesome ways by zombies, monsters, or even each other. Groundskeeper Willie has died many times in the Treehouse of Horror episodes, mostly by being stuck in the back with an axe , impaled by a sharp object, burned by a furnace and even once by a dolphin .

The Halloween episodes also regularly parody many classic horror and science fiction films and episodes such as "The Shining", "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", "To Serve Man", "Living Doll", "It's a Good Life", "A Kind of a Stopwatch", "The Little People", "Little Girl Lost", "Twilight" and "28 Days Later". Contents [ show ] Origins According to DVD commentary, the reason why the episodes are non-canon is a trade-off for the writers. Writing three 7-minute segments was just too taxing for the writers, so it was proposed that they could do anything without worrying about continuity to appease them. The yearly Halloween special was named "Treehouse of Horror" because the original special depicted the Simpson children in their treehouse telling scary stories to one another. In later years the series dropped the framing device of characters telling stories, but kept the Treehouse title. The 3-D Homer from Treehouse of Horror VI In a section of " Treehouse of Horror VI " called "Homer³," Homer and Bart go into a three-dimensional world, which Homer likens to Tron , created by Pacific Data Images, a computer animation company that would later produce Shrek.

This segment from the Halloween episode was also used as a segment of a film shown in the IMAX 3D film Cyberworld. This was the first and one of the few times The Simpsons have strayed from their traditional 2D animation, and the longest, as other moments consisted of live action couch gags or short claymation or CGI television and film parodies. Other Treehouse segment name parodies include "Citizen Kang" (Citizen Kane), "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace" (Nightmare on Elm Street), "The Thing and I" (The Thing) , "Hex and the City" (Sex and the City) "House of Whacks" (House of Wax), "I've Grown a Costume On Your Face", "The Shinning" (The Shining) and "Reaper Madness". Traditions For several years the characters broke the fourth wall and introduced their three stories directly to the audience. In " Treehouse of Horror II " the writers decided to give the cast and crew of the show 'scary names' in the opening and closing credits (like "Bat Groening" and "James Hell Brooks").

This also became a classic tradition, and has been done in every Halloween episode since Treehouse of Horror except for Treehouse of Horror XII and Treehouse of Horror XIII. Their names have changed in subsequent seasons, with the exception of Sam Simon 's, who left during the fourth season. Sam has since (with the exception of Treehouse of Horror XXII and Treehouse of Horror XXIII ) remained "Sam 'Sayonara' Simon." Another mainstay of the Halloween shows is the yearly appearance of the two space aliens Kang and Kodos , introduced in the second segment of the first "Treehouse of Horror" episode. However they are not always important to any story in the special; starting with " Treehouse of Horror III " they began appearing just to keep up with the tradition. While they have had significant parts in other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, they often only appear in the middle of a completely different story, for example, a story about zombies attacking the town will suddenly switch to them watching in outer space, watching all the events and laughing maniacally at the Earthlings' suffering, before switching back to the actual story.

In much later years Kang and Kodos would sometimes appear at either the beginning or end of the episode, outside of any of the stories; for example, one year they appeared between the last segment and the credits wondering "Why The Simpsons producers hadn't called us to be in this episode?". Soon they get a call offering them to be on a commercial for something called "Old Navy". From the 2nd Halloween special onwards, the Gracie Films logo (excluding VI and XIX ), there is a pipe organ playing the jingle and a girl screaming loudly in the background (which sounds more like a whistle), in II and III , the organ played without the scream, on IV , the scream was added in. The scream was replaced with other quotes or Homer's screams. On IX , the organ played, but the scream was replaced with Regis Philbin screaming, "My eyes, my beautiful eyes!". On XV , the scream was replaced with Homer screaming loudly through this logo and 20th Century Fox Television logo, similar to The Blunder Years . On XXIV , the scream was replaced with the mob saying "One of us!". On XXVI , the scream was replaced with Homer-zilla's roar.

Also, at the start of Treehouse of Horror I, II, and V, Marge (or Homer in III) comes out with a message urging the parents not to let their children watch the Halloween episodes as they will all suffer from nightmares; however she soon gives up, saying that none ever listens to her. This was abandoned in later seasons, because the length of each episode has been reduced significantly since the first few seasons, and also because the current writers were sure that everyone was aware that the Halloween episodes were scary by then. Another tradition that the writers abandoned was including old tombstones with humourous messages in the opening credits: the credits for Treehouse of Horror V included a single tombstone with the words "Amusing Tombstones" to signal this. All of the Halloween Specials are officially named Treehouse of Horror, but the halloween specials from Treehouse of Horror to Treehouse of Horror XII were dubbed The Simpsons Halloween Special. The name "Treehouse of Horror" was not given until the airing of Treehouse of Horror XIII.

The ending credits of Treehouse of Horror I,II, and III featured a cell from the episode (ideally a graveyard scene) during the end credits to which was changed in Treehouse of Horror IV but used again in Treehouse of Horror XV. As well as including a spooky version of The Simpsons theme song in every episode, with some exceptions. The halloween ending credits theme then evolved to become a brief medley of the episodes musical scores. Recent years Although the Treehouse of Horror series is meant to be seen on Halloween, in recent years new installments have premiered after Halloween. This is due to Fox's current contract with Major League Baseball's World Series and Playoff games. If the Series does not go the full seven games, Fox usually airs the previous season's Treehouse of Horror episode on the Sunday before Halloween. However, it has been known on many occasions for new shows to premiere on the West Coast only in time for Halloween regardless of how long the World Series lasts. It gets the full national premiere, of course, as scheduled in November, after Halloween.

Another reason for the late airing is that during November, Nielsen Media Research conducts one of its four annual sweeps months - in recent years, the annual Treehouse of Horror episodes tend to draw some of the highest ratings of the season to which it belongs. Between Treehouse of Horror XI to Treehouse of Horror XIX and Treehouse of Horror XXI was aired in November. FOX's arrangement with Major League Baseball was made fun of in the opening sequence for " Treehouse of Horror XVI ". Kang, frustrated that the episode is being delayed by a World Series baseball game, decides to "fast forward" the game, but overdoes it, sucking the Earth, the universe, and everything else (including God ) into nothingness. He then leaves a sticky note, which shows the title. Another joke about the programming of Halloween episodes in November appears in " Treehouse of Horror XIV ", where Kang looks at a TV Guide and says, "Those humans. They're showing a Halloween episode. In November!" Kodos replies, "Who cares about Halloween?

We've already got our Christmas decorations up!" The camera then cuts to a shot of the fireplace with Christmas decorations, complete with multi-legged stockings and alien reindeer, scattered about, and festive Christmas music plays over the opening credits. So far, only four Treehouse of Horror episodes were aired before the World Series: Treehouse of Horror XX , Treehouse of Horror XXIII , Treehouse of Horror XXIV and Treehouse of Horror XXVII . Every other Treehouse of Horror episodes were aired right after the World Series with half of them going into November. The Opening sequences in recent years have been longer than the original openings, almost being a fourth segment. They would feature a short story with Kang and Kodos (Treehouse of Horror XV, Treehouse of Horror XVI) feature the Simpson family feuding, (Treehouse of Horror XIV) or might include a character talking to the audience about the show. (Treehouse of Horror XVII, Treehouse of Horror XXI) Comics Series In 1995, Matt Groening's Bongo Comics Group, a company specializing in Simpsons-based publications, began a series of comic book adaptations of the Treehouse of Horror series.

These annual editions are released in September each year, and as of September 2007 there will be thirteen issues available. Originally, guest writers from other comic book companies were invited to submit scripts to Bongo, where the comics themselves would then be drawn by Bongo staff. Beginning with #5 (1999), the "guests" were allowed to submit both stories and art, wherein at the most Bongo would only supply the lettering and colorings of the stories [however, there are few cases of this rule being broken; i.e., "The Catastrophe on Substitute Springfields" (#7, 2001) and "The Legend of Batterface" (#10, 2004). The comics were also more surreal than the episodes, with more gore, and more scary scenarios than the show would do.

Best Halloween TV: From Friends to The Simpsons, how sitcoms got frightening | The Independent Best Halloween TV: From Friends to The Simpsons, how sitcoms got frightening Glee, Family Guy and Buffy also have classic Halloween episodes to enjoy Wednesday 29 October 2014 17:32 BST Click to follow The Independent Culture Friends - 'The One with the Halloween Party' NBC If your Halloween plans stretch to curling up on the sofa with a few sweets left over from the trick-or-treaters, you’re in luck. Thanks to the beauty of the long-running US TV series format, there are plenty of episodes to get you in the mood for the scary season. Buffy and Family Guy have more than three Halloween specials for fans to choose from, but nothing compares to The Simpsons’ yearly Treehouse of Horror installment, now in its 26th year. For a trip down memory lane, Dawson's Creek, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Desperate Housewives all offer entertaining Halloween special episodes as well. The Simpsons – ‘Treehouse of Horror’ In last year’s annual "Treehouse of Horror Halloween" special, The Simpsons took on a Guillermo del Toro-movie theme.

This year Springfield’s favourite family are all visited by ghosts of their former selves as Bart finds his ideal school in hell. Glee - ‘The Rocky Horror Glee Show’ Glee’s Halloween special pays tribute to the 1973 musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show by staging it as a school musical, which cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester inevitably tries to sabotage. Buffy – ‘Halloween’ Costumes bought from Chaos worshipper Ethan Rayne's shop turn the wearer into a much more realistic version of that costume. Willow becomes a ghost, Xander a soldier and Buffy an 18th century noble woman. Family Guy – ‘Halloween on Spooner Street’ The third of four Family Guy Halloween specials sees Stewie and Brian go trick-or-treating, but despite their best intentions Stewie is confronted by bullies who steal his candy (perhaps as a comeuppance for being rude about ‘Jewish sweets’). Friends - ‘The One With The Halloween Party’ Rachel finds it hard to say no to trick-or-treaters and ends up giving away all the flat’s candy, resulting in having to write cheques out to 7-year-olds.

Phoebe also meets her twin Ursula’s fiancé Eric, played by Sean Penn, for the first time. Sabrina the Teenage Witch – ‘A Halloween Story’ For a witch, Sabrina struggles to come to terms with “enjoying” Halloween. After being forced to go to a family Halloween party, she chooses to send a clone in her place who inadvertently agrees to strip to liven things up. Desperate Housewives – ‘Now I know, Don’t Be Scared’ Brie’s pregnant daughter Danielle turns up to a costume party dressed as Brie – despite her mother’s desperate attempts to keep her in hiding. Things get even scarier when she goes into labour in the middle of the party. American Horror Story – ‘Halloween’ If you’re not spooked out enough by the series, try the two-part Halloween special from the first season, which sees a Rubber Man terrify a gay couple in their home. Dawson’s Creek – 'Living Dead Girl ' Todd and Natasha fool Dawson into believing he is seeing the ghost of a legendary film actress when Dawson assists Todd in throwing a Halloween Party.

Supernatural – ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester’ A few days before Halloween, Sam and Dean launch an investigation into two mysterious deaths. Sam is later forced to use his powers to exorcise a demon – a relatively usual occurrence in the drama series made all the better at Halloween. Best Halloween TV movies, specials and marathons to watch - TODAY.com Today.com Scare up the best Halloween treats on the small screen 2014-10-25T16:21:00.000Z You don't have to dress up and go door-to-door to find tricks and treats to satisfy your Halloween cravings. In fact, you don't even have to leave your living room. Today Grab your own popcorn, candy and other confections and plop down on the sofa for some seriously spooktacular viewing with a host of holiday-appropriate movies, specials and marathons. Get animated There's one must-see animation this time of year, and that's "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." But you'll only get one chance to see Linus' faith in a giant gourd get tested. ABC will air the 1-hour special on Oct.

30 at 8 p.m. Fans of "The Simpsons" darker and funnier "Treehouse of Horror" episodes won't be so restricted. On Oct. 26, from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. FXX will feature 24 different fright-and-fun-filled "Treehouse" episodes with Homer and the gang. Isn't that special? Of course "The Simpsons" isn't the only TV series to regularly celebrate the season. Before ending in 1997, "Roseanne" aired several special episodes devoted to Halloween, and on Oct. 26 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., TV Land will show them all. But if you miss the "Roseanne" marathon madness as it airs, don't despair. TVLand has several of the episodes available online , too. "Saturday Night Live" has been bringing the Halloween laughs for decades, and while there's no marathon planned, fans can create their own online. Hulu Plus subscribers can simply search "Saturday Night Live Halloween" to find favorite episodes. Nonsubscribers can go with the same search phrase on NBC.com for an abundance of skits.

The screams just keep on coming If your idea of a good time is to howl with fear instead of laughter, you've got plenty to choose from when it comes to movie marathons, many of which are already underway. SyFy kicked off "31 Days of Halloween" at the start of the month, but the thrills keep coming. Be sure to tune in on the 31st for some of the best flicks, including "30 Days of Night," "Children of the Corn" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." AMC's annual Fear Fest continues through the 31st, and features classic big-screen shockers like "The Omen," "Child's Play, "Nightmare on Elm Street," and of course, "Halloween." Want some family friendly frights? Check out ABC Family's annual celebration. Now through the big night, mom, dad and the kiddies can all enjoy "Beetlejuice," "The Addams Family," "ParaNorman" and more. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" will be the movie of the day, all day on Halloween. Logo TV starts airing the camp classic at 10 a.m. Oct. 31 and keeps it going straight through Nov.

1. Don't forget the scariest flick of all If a marathon isn't your speed, and you'd rather get your thrills with just one scary movie, you'd better make it count. This week we asked our audience to name the most spine-tingling film of all time, and the possession tale "The Exorcist" came out on top . IFC will play the winning horror flickOct. 28 at 9 p.m. and again at 11:45. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett C / Today "The Exorcist" (1973). "The Simpsons" Treehouse of Horror XXV (TV Episode 2014) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The 25th annual 'Simpsons' Halloween special includes an alternate dimension, a "Clockwork Orange"-style gang led by Moe and a visit from the Tracey Ullman-era Simpsons.

Director: Matthew Faughnan (as The Infernal Matthew Faughnan) Writers: Matt Groening (created by) (as Bat Groening), James L. Brooks (developed by) (as James 'Give Me Gluten!' Brooks) | 3 more credits » Stars: a list of 25 titles created 13 Oct 2013 a list of 27 titles created 10 Aug 2015 a list of 27 titles created 22 Aug 2015 a list of 46 titles created 09 Oct 2015 a list of 35 titles created 03 Jan 2016 Title: Treehouse of Horror XXV (19 Oct 2014) 7.3/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Harry Shearer ...

Edit Storyline On the annual spooktacular Halloween special, Bart and Lisa are transported to a demon-filled alternate universe after Bart reads a set of Aramaic symbols he finds on the underside of his desk; Moe's "Clockwork Orange"-style gang is disrupted when Dum (Homer) falls for a girl (Marge) who wants him to give up the thug life; and, in an homage to "The Others," the Simpsons are visited by their former Tracey Ullman-era versions of themselves. Written by Jiilo_Kim 19 October 2014 (USA) See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia The "sex view blockers" in the segment "A Clockwork Yellow" are a reference Eyes Wide Shut (1999) where foreground actors were digitally added to obscure some sex acts by Warner Bros. for the film's US release. Kubrick had final cut privilege on his films and had already approved a final cut of the film shortly before his death, but the film was given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA while he was contractually obligated to obtain an R-rating or lower.

The digitally added foreground actors were added to avoid making any changes to the edits of the film. See more » Goofs In the segment about Moe's "Clockwork Orange"-style gang of thugs, Moe convinces police officers Lenny and Carl to rejoin the gang for one more job. Moe pulls off his bowler hat along with two more bowlers on his head and says, "I still have your bowler hats." But when the gang goes out dressed in their old thug clothes, Carl is wearing a beret instead of his bowler that Moe gave him.

See more » Connections (Ireland) – See all my reviews Treehouse of Horror 25 is a fantastic Simpsons episode with three very well written segments that can easily be compared to the Halloween specials of the earlier seasons and i'm not exaggerating when I say that.The opening was a funny parody of several celebrities but it wasn't anything too special,followed by the School is Hell segment,which was very funny but it made me feel like it was going to be another average Halloween episode as it wasn't anything too special.However,the following two segments are what made this episode so outstanding,A Clockwork Yellow is a very loving tribute to A Clockwork Orange as well as several other Stanley Kubrick classics,as well as a hilarious scene parodying the fussy director himself.This part was without a doubt my favourite because you could tell from the way it was written that the writers really loved this film and they were parodying it truly because they were fans and not because its popular,which is how I felt about several of their parodies,such as the Transformers and Twilight ones.The final segment was without a doubt an unforgetful five minutes,it feels like a crossover even though we are really just seeing the Simpsons of today meeting the Tracey Ulman show versions.It was

 such a treat to watch all these ten characters together and see how much they have changed in personality,voice and drawing over the years.Treehouse of Horror 25 is one of the best Halloween specials they've ever done and one of the best episodes in years,all three segments were fresh,funny and original.

Bart starts attending a school in Hell,Moe,Homer,Lenny and Carl start causing crime as a group through Springfield and the Simpsons are haunted by some very familiar ghosts. 5 of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Treehouse of Horror | Halloween Specials Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit In a parody of the original Frankenstein film, Marge warns viewers that the following program (The Simpsons) may give their children nightmares, so she suggests the adults to "tuck your children into bed tonight instead of writing us angry letters tomorrow." However, the viewers ignore her and let their children watch it anyway. When Homer comes back from trick-or-treating, he notices Bart and Lisa are telling ghost stories. He climbs up and eavesdrops while Bart comments on Lisa's first story. Bart starts telling his own story called... Bad Dream House Edit The "haunted" house. The Simpsons move into a new home at a great price.

Lisa and Marge are scared there is an evil presence lurking in the house, though Homer says there's nothing to worry about despite there being a vortex in the kitchen, Homer throws in an orange into the vortex then the ones who live in the world throw it out with a note that asks them not to throw in stuff. Bart being strangled by lamp cord, the house threatening the family to leave, and being thrown up to the ceiling. When everyone tries to settle in to sleep, the house brainwashes everybody to kill each other. When they stop what they're doing, thanks to Marge not being brainwashed, the house threatens that they will die horribly. Marge ends up angrily telling the house to shut up, and after a few moments, it complies. Marge then explains that since they are living in the house, the house is going to have to accept this. The house asks them to leave for a moment as it decides what to do. It determines it would rather die than live with the Simpsons, and the house implodes into nothingness. Hungry are the Damned Edit Kang and Kodos The Simpsons are having a barbecue until an alien ship abducts them.

When they arrive on the ship, they meet Kang, Kodos, an unnamed alien and Serak the preparer, who treat the Simpsons extremely well by giving them countless amounts of food to hold them over until the great feast at Rigel 4. Lisa becomes suspicious and thus, one night, wanders around the ship & heads into the kitchen when Serak leaves. She mistakes the book "How To Cook For Forty Humans" as "How To Cook Humans" and accuses the Rigelians. They are angered at the Simpsons and they are sent back home to live the life of not gods, but normal human beings. Lisa then speculates that they, the Simpson Family, may be the true monsters. The Raven Edit Bart as the Raven. A Simpson's version of the Edgar Allan Poe tale, "The Raven", in which Homer is the main character, Lisa and Maggie are angels, Marge is the lost Lenore, and Bart is none other than the Raven, whose only line is "Nevermore". Also Bart says "eat my shorts" interrupting Lisa Epilogue Edit As the episode comes to a close, Bart and Lisa consider the tales before going to bed, not knowing Homer was freaked out by all of the stories.

Everybody goes to bed, but Homer has trouble sleeping that night, as he decides he hates Halloween when he hears the Raven outside. Production Edit Unlike a typical Simpsons episode, "Treehouse of Horror" is divided into three segments. It is the first in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween themed Simpsons episodes. It is considered to be non-canon and takes place outside the normal continuity of the show. A Treehouse of Horror episode has since aired around Halloween every season. Part of the series' attraction for the writers is that they are able to break the rules and include violence that would not make it into a regular episode. The episode was inspired by EC Comics horror comics, such as Tales from the Crypt . In the first segment, several haunted house films are parodied, including The Shining and The Amityville Horror . The haunted house being built on a burial ground is inspired by the 1982 film Poltergeist . The house was also designed to look like the Addams family house. The second segment's cookbook is a reference to the 1962 The Twilight Zone episode " To Serve Man ". The third segment reimagines Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven".

In 2011, staff writer Al Jean commented on the episode: "The idea of it to parody EC Comics was really original and kind of shocking for a cartoon on network television. [Executive producer] Jim Brooks said, 'We better have a disclaimer at the beginning of this Halloween show,' so Marge came out and warned people that they were going to see something scary. And the funny thing is it's now very tame by our Halloween standards and by network animation standards." According to M. Keith Booker, author of Drawn to Television, the warning only made the episode more attractive to children. The entire segment was a parody of the opening of the 1931 film Frankenstein . While similar "warnings" were used to open the second and third "Treehouse" episodes, these quickly became a burden to write and there was no warning for the fourth episode. Instead, it had Marge ask Bart to warn people how frightening the show was during his introduction paying homage to Night Gallery . The tradition was revived for " Treehouse of Horror V "; after that, they were permanently dropped and the writers did not make any attempts at reviving them.

In the opening segment of the episode, and the four subsequent episodes, the camera zooms through a cemetery where tombstones with humorous epitaphs can be seen. These messages include the names of canceled shows from the previous television season and celebrities such as Walt Disney and Jim Morrison . They were last used in "Treehouse of Horror V", which included a solitary tombstone with the words "Amusing Tombstones" to signal this. The tombstone gags were easy for the writers in the first episode, but like Marge's warnings, they eventually got more difficult to write, so they were abandoned. Of the series, "Treehouse of Horror" was the only one that included a treehouse as a setting. "Treehouse of Horror" was the first time that an alternate version of the theme that airs over the end credits was used. Originally it was supposed to use a theremin (an early electronic musical instrument), but one could not be found that could hit all the necessary notes. Alf Clausen, who has scored most of the Simpsons music, began his work on the show with this episode. The first segment, "Bad Dream House", was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Wes Archer.

The voice of the house was provided by cast member Harry Shearer . Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky wrote the second segment, "Hungry are the Damned", and Rich Moore directed it. Sam Simon and Edgar Allan Poe wrote the third segment, "The Raven", and David Silverman directed it. The segment was based on Poe's 1845 narrative poem "The Raven". During production, Simpsons creator 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. American actor James Earl Jones guest starred in the episode as a moving man, Serak the Preparer (one of the aliens) and the narrator of "The Raven". He recorded his lines at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles. To get the right drooling sound for the aliens, Jones chewed on a cookie close to his microphone. The sibling aliens Kang and Kodos first appeared on the show on this episode. Every Treehouse of Horror episode since this one must have Kang and Kodos as characters, states an unofficial Simpsons rule.

Despite this rule, the writers say the duo will often be forgotten and then added at the last second, leading to brief appearances. The idea of Kang and Kodos came from Kogen and Wolodarsky. In the script, Kang and Kodos were shown as "an octopus in a space helmet with a trail of goo". The finished design was based on the cover of an EC Comics issue. Although originally designed to constantly drool, Groening suggested that they not drool all the time to make the animation process easier. However, the animators did not mind the work, leading to the drooling staying in the script. Kang and Kodos's names are derived from two Star Trek characters. Kang was a Klingon captain portrayed by actor Michael Ansara in the episode "Day of the Dove", whereas Kodos the Executioner was a human villain from "The Conscience of the King". Harry Shearer voices Kang, and Dan Castellaneta voices Kodos.

Reception Edit In its original broadcast, "Treehouse of Horror" finished 25th in ratings for the week of October 22–28, 1990, with a Nielsen rating of 15.7, equivalent to approximately 14.6 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating Married... with Children. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said the first two segments worked better than the third, "but this is a marvelous episode, and set a high standard for the Halloween specials to come." In 2008, Canwest News Service chose "Treehouse of Horror" as one of the top five scariest episodes from the television's past. They singled out Marge saying "This family has had its differences and we've squabbled, but we've never had knife fights before, and I blame this house" as a memorable line from the episode. Two of the episode's segments were singled out by critics as exemplary parts of the Treehouse of Horror series.

"The Raven" was selected as the second best Treehouse of Horror segment by Ryan J. Budke of TV Squad in 2005. Budke described the segment as "one of the most refined Simpsons pop references ever" and knows "people that consider this the point that they realized The Simpsons could be both highly hilarious and highly intelligent." "Hungry are the Damned" was selected as the fifth best Treehouse of Horror segment by Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson and Brian Zoromski of IGN in 2008. The IGN reviewers singled out the How to Cook for Forty Humans section of the segment as its funniest moment. Critics also praised the episode's relationship to various television shows and Poe's "The Raven". Michael Stailey of DVD Verdict described the three Treehouse of Horror segments as "brilliantly crafted tales capturing the best elements of The Twilight Zone , Outer Limits , and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, injecting them into the Simpsons' universe." DVD reviewer Doug Pratt described "The Raven" as a "perfect adaptation". Kurt M.

Koenigsberger said in his book Leaving Springfield that The Simpsons, while "not strictly a literary form", "is certainly the literate of all situation comedies." Koenigsberger uses "The Raven" as one example in support of the statement "The Simpsons is steeped in the American literary context into which Arnold Bennett made such a splash on his tour in 1911." Cast Simpsons: Bad Dream House | tidbot Simpsons: Bad Dream House The first story of the first episode of the long running "Treehouse of Horror" series of Simsons Halloween specials. The Simpsons move into an old house, wondering why it was so inexpensive. Their questions are soon answered when the walls begin to bleed and objects begin to fly through the air. Marge wants to leave, but Homer tells her to sleep on it first. That night, the house possesses Homer and the kids, making them chase each other with axes and knives. Marge intervenes and confronts the house, demanding that it treat them with respect while they are living there. The house thinks it over, and opts to destroy itself instead. This is based on The Amityville Horror murders.

Treehouse of Horror IV - Wikisimpsons, the Simpsons Wiki Treehouse of Horror IV For the continuing series of Halloween specials, see Treehouse of Horror series . "Mmmm ... forbidden donut." The Simpsons are zombies. They rise up out of the ground (breaking through the floor) and take their seats on the couch. Show Runner(s): Treehouse of Horror IV is the fifth episode of season 5 and the fourth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials. Contents Synopsis[ edit ] "When Homer announces he would sell his soul for a donut, the Devil, disguised as Ned Flanders, shows up to take him up on the offer. Second Act, while ridings to school, Bart believe he sees a malevolent gremlin on the side of the bus. And final act, Mr. Burns is Dracula, in a spoof of Francis Ford Coppola's vampire film." Opening sequence[ edit ] The camera zooms into a graveyard showing various tombstones and then the Simpsons home and the Simpsons break the floor and sit on the couch as zombies.

Wrapround part 1[ edit ] Bart is seen walking around a room with paintings in light of Rod Serling's Night Gallery and tries to introduce the show but Marge and Maggie interrupt telling Bart to tell the viewers the show is scary but Bart ignores and we watch the first part. The Devil and Homer Simpson[ edit ] Homer being force-fed donuts in Hell, much to his happiness Homer falls asleep at work, dreaming of donuts. When he wakes up to get one to eat, he finds out from Lenny and Carl that the remaining donuts have already been eaten. Homer then declares that he'd sell his soul for a doughnut, causing the Devil ( in the form of Ned Flanders ) to appear. After signing a contract, Homer is given his doughnut, with the provision that as soon as it's finished, the Devil will own his soul. However, Homer finds a loophole: if he doesn't finish the doughnut, he's safe. Homer openly mocks this loophole, to which the Devil promises that he will go to Hell eventually. One evening, Homer goes down to the kitchen, and without realizing it, eats the last of the doughnut.

As expected, the Devil comes to take Homer's soul, but Lisa asks him to hold a trial, which the Devil agrees to. However, Homer must spend the day in Hell being severely tortured. Aside from being chopped into pieces, a demon in the Ironic Punishment Division laughingly plans to feed Homer all the donuts in the world (this plan backfires when Homer gleefully keeps eating, much to the confusion of the demon). Back on Earth, Marge already has the trial area set up and hires Lionel Hutz to defend Homer. The Devil and Hutz barter on specific terms before the trial begins: The Devil agrees to Hutz's request for bathroom breaks, and Hutz agrees that the Devil can choose the jury. The Devil's jury includes Benedict Arnold , Lizzie Borden , Richard Nixon (still alive at the time), John Wilkes Booth , Blackbeard the Pirate, John Dillinger , and the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers . The Devil gives the evidence of the contract Homer signed, pledging his soul for a donut. Lionel Hutz counters with the definition of a contract according to the dictionary, stating it as something that is unbreakable.

Realizing that he's put his foot in his mouth, Hutz asks to be excused to the bathroom. When he doesn't return immediately, Marge finds the bathroom window open and Hutz long gone. As the judge prepares to sentence Homer, Marge shows the jury a photo album showing their wedding day, where Homer's eating of the whole wedding cake sent them to the emergency room. On the back of a photograph, it is revealed that in a statement of love to Marge, Homer pledged his soul to her. This causes the jury to declare Homer's deal with the Devil to be revoked. However, the Devil is not willing to let Homer best him. With a zap of his power, the Devil turns Homer's head into a doughnut. The next morning, Homer can't stop eating parts of his head. As he decides to go to work, Lisa cautions him to stay home...because standing outside the house are the Springfield Police Department, waiting to rip apart his doughnut-made head and enjoy it with their morning coffee. Terror at 5½ Feet[ edit ] Bart has a nightmare where the bus crashes and wakes up very paranoid. Bart and Lisa then get on the bus on one rainy morning with Principal Skinner on the bus.

Lisa informs everyone that Bart is acting paranoid, and asks that they act nice to him, causing everyone to laugh at him instead. In the middle of the ride, Bart hears tapping on the window, but it is only Groundskeeper Willie , who says he had to kill his mule and needs a ride. Bart's nightmare then comes true when a gremlin is attacking the bus Bart keeps trying to warn everyone but every time anyone but Bart looks the gremlin hides and it even causes Otto to destroy Hans Moleman 's AMC Gremlin. Bart then becomes very annoying to the people on the bus and it causes Skinner to close the window, and forces Bart to sit next to Üter the German foreign exchange student. Bart eventually gets the emergency flares and throws one at the gremlin, knocking it off the bus, only to be picked up by Ned. After arriving safely to the school, everyone notices severe damage done to the outside of the bus. Bart stopped the gremlin from destroying the bus, but with no one as an alibi, he is declared insane for his behavior and is sent to the New Bedlam Insane Asylum for the rest of his life.

On the way, Bart begins to relax at the thought of never having to worry about the gremlin. At that moment, the gremlin shows up at ambulance's back window and shows Bart Ned Flanders severed head, causing him to scream uncontrollably. Wrapround part 2[ edit ] The Simpsons attack Lisa , as vampires. They originally had a story to go with the famous Dogs playing Poker picture (Homer is frightened at this painting), but Bart said it was too twisted and scary to show on TV. So they had to put a random story about vampires together. Bart Simpson's Dracula[ edit ] The Simpsons are watching TV to find out a vampire has attacked and this convinces Lisa vampires are real. The Simpsons are then invited to Mr. Burns 's mansion for a midnight dinner in Pennsylvania. There it is obvious that Burns is a vampire but no one believes Lisa. She and Bart find Mr. Burns's secret lair which can be accessed by a staircase that has a lever which doubles as a fun slide and Bart (while fleeing from a horde of vampires) says "I shouldn't... But when am I going to be back here?" is turned into a vampire after pulling the lever.

The Simpsons are then worried that Bart could get worse and The Simpsons have to kill the head vampire. Homer then places a stick in Burns' heart and kills him but gets fired in the process. The Simpsons are then eating dinner and Lisa finds out that her whole family is vampires and Lisa mistakingly killed Burns but she should've killed Marge, the real head vampire ("I do have a life outside of this house, you know."). The vampire family surrounds and corners a terrified Lisa... The Simpsons - Season 2, Episode 3: Treehouse of Horror - TV.com Treehouse of Horror AIRED: 10/25/90 In the backyard treehouse on Halloween, Bart and Lisa try to frighten each other by telling three scary stories. Bad Dream House The family moves into a new house and eerie things begin to happen. Hungry Are The Damned The Simpsons are abducted by aliens, Kang and Kodos, who seem to have plans on eating the family.

The Raven Lisa reads the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem.moreless Moving Man, Serak the Preparer, Narrator Guest Star Join the discussion of this episode Episode Discussion Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions See All Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions Trivia & Quotes Last Man Standing A House Divided NEW NEW ABC Important: You must only upload images which you have created yourself or that you are expressly authorised or licensed to upload. By clicking "Publish", you are confirming that the image fully complies with TV.com’s Terms of Use and that you own all rights to the image or have authorization to upload it. Please read the following before uploading Do not upload anything which you do not own or are fully licensed to upload. The images should not contain any sexually explicit content, race hatred material or other offensive symbols or images. Remember: Abuse of the TV.com image system may result in you being banned from uploading images or from the entire site – so, play nice and respect the rules! Choose background:

Question: The Treehouse of Horror episodes are the Halloween specials of what long-running TV series?
Answer: The Simpsons