The Simpsons: Tree House of Horror (TV Series Review)

    There's a number of annual traditions people do on Halloween ... trick r’ treating, go to costume parties, exploring fake haunted house's, decorating the house, etc. Well, I do all of that too ... and I also make it a tradition to watch the annual “Simpsons: Tree House of Horror” specials. "The Simpsons" of course need no introduction, as it’s often regarded as one of the greatest animated TV series of all time. It’s a beloved comedy series, and it’s one of the longest lasting TV shows in recorded history. Yes, it’s a classic show, but for me personally, the best thing about this series is its yearly Halloween special. Ever sense the second season, it became a tradition to always have a Halloween episode, colorfully referred to as "The Tree House of Horror". It’s practically a small series in of itself, and instead of a traditional half-hour long episodes, the “Simpsons: Tree House of Horror” consist of three short back to back episodes in a single block. It’s basically an anthology, comedy series, with no real ties to the continuity of the main show, and I love it.

   These episodes are often regarded as some of the best of the entire Simpsons line-up, and their so popular that a good chunk of the marketing toured the show revolves around their Halloween episodes. There’s a Simpsons tree house addition of Monopoly, video game spin-off’s, comic book spin-offs, and I’ll never forget when Burger King had a lineup of toys based around the Halloween episodes, and recurring characters. I distinctly remember my friends and I tried to collect as many of them as possible. 

   The episodes weren’t always aimed at Halloween specifically. Sometimes it was a funny recreation of a popular “Twilight Zone” episode, and other times it would be a parody of a popular horror movie. The very first episode I ever saw was titled “Fly VS. Fly”, which was a satire of the classic 1958 Sci-Fi/ Horror movie “The Fly”. Just like in the movie, Bart gets his body switched with a fly's during a transport, and just about every famous scene is lovingly spoofed. Other popular horror movie's that got spoofed included “The Exorcist”, “King Kong”, “Night of the Living Dead”, “Psycho”, “Paranormal Activity” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, just to name a hand full. Over the years, they began to spoof non-horror films, and instead spoofed big blockbusters like “Avatar”, “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”. Even popular children’s films from the 90’s like “Free Willy” and “Jumanji” all had funny parody episodes.  

   They're also a lot of annual traditions that reoccur with ever yearly Halloween episode. One of my favorite traditions is the opening segments, which often recreate the traditional Simpsons intro with a funny Halloween twist. Half the time, these openings are better than the actual episodes, and often do a better job getting me in the mood for Halloween. Another tradition are appearances from the two squid aliens named Kang and Kodos. These characters are exclusive to the "Tree House of Horror" series, and usually just make short cameos, but they’ve also had entire episodes dedicated to them, which are always a lot of fun. 

   Another set tradition that regrettably didn’t last long were the Wraparounds, which were like mini segments that loosely connected all the shorts. For example, in the second season, the kids take turns telling scary stories in a tree house, and every story the kids tell leads into a new short. 

There was also a season in which they eat too much candy resulting in every family member having a separate nightmare, which in turn would lead to our standalone episodes. This unfortunately didn’t continue after season four, but the result was longer episodes, and that was at least a plus. In general, you can never predict what you'll get from a Simpsons Halloween special. It could be dark, it could be cute, or it could be extremely wild and over the top. One thing's for certain, they can always make an audience laugh, and laugh hard. Right now there’s over 80 episodes, and there’s no way I can do them justice, as they just need to be seen on their own. However, I’ll at least round up my personal top 10 favorite episodes...  

   

10. Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores 

Now here’s a clever satire revolving around both product placement and advertising that have gone too far. In this episode, giant company mascots and logos come to life to destroy the city. There's only one way to defeat them, and that's simply to ignore them. It’s wild, imaginative, and features one of my favorite Bart Simpsons jokes as he literally becomes a shoulder devil for a giant devil monster. 

9. Tweenlight 

It was only a matter of time before the popular “Twilight” series got the Simpsons treatment for Halloween. I’ll start by saying that I’ve never had any real animosity toured the often hated “Twilight” series, but these guys sure gave it a funny spoof. Homer finds himself teaming up with Dracula in order to prevent Liza from falling in love with the Counts evil son. The variety of vampire jokes are great, and the stabs made at “Twilight” are terrific. It’s just good old Halloween fun with this parody.  

8. Bart Simpsons Dracula 

Here’s yet another clever vampire parody, but this time aimed at the 1992 motion picture “Bram Stoker's Dracula”, and it even pokes fun at “The Lost Boys”. It’s a brilliant spoof like any of their movie parodies, but this one has some of the quickest comedy and flat out funny jokes that the Halloween collection has ever offered, which is saying a lot. Plus, Mr. Burns has never been more memorable then as a second rate Count Dracula.  

7. Dial ‘Z’ for Zombies 

Definitely a classic episode, and what’s not to like about a premise involving the Simpsons battling an army of scary zombies. When Bart reads from a magic book in an effort to bring the family cat back from the dead, he unintentionally awakens a herd of Zombies, or as they like to be called “The Living Impaired”. This episode has all the good stuff, cute moments, clever gags, social satire, zombie action, and lots of dark comedy. The best scene of all is when Homer kills zombie Flanders ... you really just need to see it for yourself.   

6. I’ve Grown a Costume on Your Face 

In this episode, a real witch gets insulted at a costume party, resulting in her cursing the town people to literally become what their dressed up as for Halloween. There’s a lot of creativity and funny jokes revolving around the towns folk as they try to adjust in their new forms. It’s just really fun seeing everybody become their costumes, and it’s especially nice to have an episode that’s actually set on Halloween night.

5. The Terror of Tiny Toon 

This is without a doubt one of the most imaginative situations to come from the series. Bart and Lisa get sucked into their TV and are dropped in an extremely violent Itchy and Scratchy cartoon. The kids are the prey, while the cartoons are the villains who simply want to destroy them. The result is a frantic chase throughout TV world, with lots of cartoony gags and visual hummer. Sense their stuck in a TV show, Bart and Lisa can do more traditionally cartoony things that you’d normally see in an old Roadrunner cartoon. They also jump through different TV programs, even a moment when they drop into a live action cooking show. What more can I say, it’s just comedy gold.

4. The Shinning 

As you’d expect from the title, this episode is a parody of the 1980 horror classic “The Shining”. It captures the feel and mood of its movie counterpart masterfully, along with some of the best dark comedy the show ever provided. Right from the opening, this episode lets you know what you’re in for, as it mocks the film’s daily transition scenes. It’s just a brilliant spoof, and a loving tribute to one of the greatest horror movies of all time.     

3. Homer³ 

This is an iconic episode that blew everybody’s mind, and it still stands as one of the all time greatest Simpsons moments. When trying to hide from his dead beat relatives, Homer finds himself lost in an Alter-Net dimension which looks like the world of “Tron” if it was rented out by “Futurama”. The effects in this episode were awesome, the jokes were great and the ending was brilliant, as Homer actually finds himself in the real world, making it look a little like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. It’s just an awesome and clever parody of “The Twilight Zone” episode "Little Girl Lost", and one that still gets me laughing to this day.    

2. It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Millhouse 

That’s right, the Simpsons are tackling one of the most treasured Halloween specials of all time. The original “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” is still a favorite of mine that I still watch ever year, and from beginning to end, this episode is a faithful recreation of it with some brilliant comedy throughout. The highlight is a hilarious twist, when the grand Pumpkin turns out to be real, and he's seeking revenge on all the pumpkins that have been killed to make Jack O’ lanterns. It’s clever, brings back Nostalgic memories of Charlie Brown, and features an awesome ending with giant holiday mascots in battle ... what more do I even need to say.

Before I reveal my favorite episode, here are some honorable mentions ... 

Nightmare of Evergreen Terrace

The Raven 

Coralisa 

Fly VS. Fly

House of Whacks

1. Time and Punishment 

I’ll always regard this one as a classic, and honestly, it’s the episode that got me watching “The Simpsons” in the first place. When Homer accidentally ruins his toaster, he tries his best to repair it, but he unintentionally creates a machine that can send him back in time. Once he gets sent back to the Dinosaur age, he constantly messes things up, which have huge changes on his present day life. Every time his life is altered, he goes back in time to try and fix things again, but it only makes more problems for things in the future. The comedy is relentlessly fast, and it’s just so creative with how many different Alter-Net realities Homer get’s himself stuck in. It also features my favorite moment in the whole series, when he returns to his present life and everything seems perfect, the house is perfect, the family is perfect, but there’s only one setback ... NO DONATES! That just kills me every time. The premise is so brilliant, over the top, and funny that it had to be my number one favorite.    

   Overall, “The Simpsons: Tree House of Horror” still stand as some of the funniest episodes to come from the series, and to this day they're some of my favorite animated Halloween specials that I still enjoy watching every year. If you love Halloween, and you love dark comedy, this is one series that I highly recommend checking out.

Thanks for reading my review of the animated TV series “The Simpsons: Tree House of Horror” ... and let's make every day in October feel like Halloween.