13 of the Best ‘Simpsons’ ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Moments

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/etc., and your favorite TV shows roll out their Halloween-themed episodes!

With the rise of super hero 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 29 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 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.

Let’s look back at the 13 best, funniest, and weirdest segments broadcast throughout the years, in chronological order!

Photo credit: FOX / 20th Century FOX

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 re-imagines 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. 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 while paying homage to a fantastic story.

The Shinning – Treehouse of Horror V

Go ahead, I’ll let you think of your favorite joke from this segment, which is full of all-time great Simpsons jokes.

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. This segment strikes the perfect balance of reinterpreting of the most famous movies of all-time while also interjecting tons of humor.

A scene in which Marge checks Homer’s typewriter, a famous scene from The Shining, Marge sees he’s merely typed “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, but with Homer introducing himself as David Letterman, which a surprised Grandpa Simpson replies to with, “Hi David, I’m Grandpa.”

Time and Punishment – Treehouse of Horror V

From the opening moments of this sequence, where Homer tells his family how lucky he feels, only to have Lisa point out his hand is in a toaster, you learn you’re in for some real wackiness, and this segment absolutely delivers. Homer’s attempts to repair his newly broken toaster result in accidental time travel in which he learns about the Butterfly Effect in various wacky ways.

From a dystopia run by the demagogue Ned Flanders to a world in which there are no donuts, the whole sequence is super wacky and a great collaboration between the writers and the animators to showcase all these silly ideas.

Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace – Treehouse of Horror VI

If you’ve ever replied to someone complaining about the weather with the phrase, “Lousy Smarch weather,” you have this segment to thank!

During a P.T.A. meeting to discuss an error in the school calendars, Groundskeeper Willie get killed in the boiler room, but not before swearing to take vengeance on everyone’s children.

Although the humor might peak at the Smarch joke, this sequence is a highly engaging exploration of the mythology of A Nightmare on Elm Street, showing that the most entertaining 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 a picture frame so he could punch Hugo in the face? Classic 10-year-old punching Dr. Hibbert!

The Homega Man – Treehouse of Horror VIII

Haven’t you always wondered what Homer would do with himself if the humanity got wiped out in a nuclear war between France and the United States?

This segment answers that question! The answer is 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.

Easy Bake Coven – Treehouse of Horror VIII

In a parody of the Salem Witch Trials, Marge is accused of being a witch, which can only be proven by tossing her off a cliff, forcing her to either die or fly to safety. Turns out, Marge is actually a witch! She then joins Patty and Selma in their coven before returning to town demanding to eat children, only to be offered cookies and candy, giving us a fictional history of Halloween.

Maybe it’s because yours truly is from Massachusetts, or maybe it’s because I absolutely love Halloween, but 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 it, and I’ll bet she feels great about herself. Unfortunately, the dolphin she freed was the leader of the rest of the dolphins, who sparked a revolution to come up on land and push humans back into the ocean.

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

This segment also reminds you how you can never predict which direction an episode of the show will go based on the opening scenes, and gave the writers a chance to showcase a unique, original idea and that we don’t need to constantly see parodies.

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 since no one can seem to die, Homer must 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, but we also see Moe not being able to adequately kill himself in the time where no one was the Grim Reaper. Although seeing Moe attempt suicide is incredibly dark, the showrunners somehow found a way to make it funny.

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 grant him the ability to speak.

Voiced by Richard Lewis, we get to enjoy the Golem show remorse for his terrible actions, try to adapt to modern life, and ultimately fall in love with a female Golem, voiced by Fran Drescher. This is another instance of how enjoyable it is to see the show tackle and reinterpret a familiar fable, and this segment also featured a pretty hilarious dig at how HD TVs show you how disgusting someone’s skin can be, reminding people 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 to be Marge, but is actually Kodos, causing hilarity to ensue.

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, stupid dorky Milhouse starts crying. Those tears awaken the Grand Pumpkin, who becomes horrified when offered pumpkin bread, pumpkin seeds, and sees his carved up brethren.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is incredibly lovable and it is terrifying to think how the show would parody it, but The Simpsons clearly has respect for the special and paid homage to it 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 in a battle of epic proportions.

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

The differences between Bart and Lisa Simpson couldn’t be more evident than when you see how they choose to “help” one another with their teachers, which means Bart kills 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 reference to Dial “M” for Murder and not Strangers on a Train (which is where this plot came from), it acted instead as a signifier for an overall Hitchcockian inspired segment.

The animation was black and white and there were some musical cues from Psycho, so this whole story showed the strength of Hitchcock’s films and I’m surprised it took this many years for the show to make a direct parody.