Top 5 ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Storylines From The Simpsons

Ahhh Halloween, the American holiday that Aussies love because well, we love celebrating stuff. Halloween can be broken down into three main components. Dress up partys, trick or treating, and TV specials. Just about every sitcom has done, or continues to do, Halloween specials.

…And the king of the Halloween special is of course The Simpsons. The show’s annual halloween special, ‘Treehouse of Horror’ first aired on October 25th 1990 and since then has been a consistent staple of Halloween television. Riddled with pop culture references from Charlie Brown to Soylent Green, Tree House of Horror is essential viewing every Halloween.

Here are the TheVine’s top five ‘Treehouse of Horror’ stories that make for essential blood curdling Halloween viewing.

5. Treehouse of Horror XIX, The great Pumpkin, Milhouse. Episode 4, season 20. Aired November 2 2008.

In a nod to ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ Milhouse’s child-like innocence (and severe lack of friends) brings to life The Great Pumpkin and everything seems to be coming up Millhouse… Until the giant pumpkin learns of the atrocities enacted on it’s race every Halloween and decides to take revenge. Lisa helps Milhouse once again use his child-like belief to summon a giant Thanksgiving turkey, which eats the pumpkin and saves Halloween.  That is until the turkey learns of similar atrocities enacted on its own race and things once again go south.

Highlight – Bart explaining to the Turkey just how ‘stuffing’ works.

4. Tree House of Horror VI, Attack of the Fifty Foot Eyesores. Episode 6 season 7. Premiered October 29 1995.
When perennial idiot, Homer heads to ‘Lard Land’ in search of a giant donut he is bitterly disappointed by what he calls false advertising. Taking matters into his own chubby three fingered hands, he steals the giant donut from the statue out front. In a startling coincidence, an ionic storm rages that night and brings to life all of the giant advertising mannequins in Springfield. And Lard Man sets out to claim what is his whilst the others terrorise the city.

Highlight – Lisa’s ingenious solution to stop the power of advertising.

3. Tree House of Horror X, I know what You Didily-Iddily-Idd. Episode 4, Season 11. Premiered  October 31, 1999.

A spoof of the 1997 teen horror classic ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ sees Marge and the Simpson family run over bible bashing neighbour, Ned Flanders, before covering up the crime by making it look like he fell off the roof. They are then haunted by a cloaked Ned Flanders who, due to a werewolf bite he sustained years ago survives and is able to leave a sting of linguistic clues as he haunts the Simpsons family.

Highlight – Homer not giving in, and mocking his enemy to the bitter end.

2. Tree House of Horror IX – ‘The Terror of the Tiny Toon’. Episode 4, Season 10. Premiered October 25, 1998.

When Bart can’t find batteries for the TV remote he uses a piece of left over uranium from Homers toolbox. As a result he and Lisa get sucked into the TV. They are then forced to survive a deadly game of cat and mouse with everybody’s favourite ultra violent children’s cartoon characters, ‘Itchy and Scratchy’. When Homer finally works out how to change the channel they end up on the set of ‘Live with Regis and Kathy Lee’ before Homer finally figures out how to get them and Itchy and Scratchy out.

Highlight – Scratchy finding out his love affair with Snowball II has to end when Marge demands that he be neutered.

1. Tree House of Horror V – ‘Nightmare Cafeteria’. Episode 6, Season 6. Premiered October 30, 1994.

In a nod to the post apocalyptic masterpiece ‘Soylent Green’ ‘Nightmare Cafeteria’ sees Skinner solve the problem of an overcrowded cafeteria by killing and serving students. Jimbo Jones is ordered to help in the cafeteria before being ‘accidentally’ covered in meat tenderiser and served as ‘Sloppy Jimbos’. Lisa catches on to the plan when German exchange student, Üter disappears and later that day ‘Uterbraten’ is served for lunch. Principal Skinner gives away his evil plan when he tries to be cryptic, saying “I guess you could say there is a little bit of Üter in all of us, I guess you could say we just ate Uter”.

Highlight – Willie once again failing in his attempt to save the day groaning ‘Ach I’m bad at this’