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In spite of what you may think of the
current state of "The Simpsons," the fact remains that the show is a
dynasty and the annual "Treehouse of Horror" episodes however bland
or mediocre they have become are a tradition and one that garners
good ratings for FOX every year. "Treehouse of Horror" began as a
little nod to Halloween with spoofs of The Twilight Zone and classic
urban legends and soon rocketed in to something of an event for the
entire crew of The Simpsons to satirize and poke fun at classic
horror movies to great episodes of The Twilight Zone. Zombies, King
Kong, Robots, Monkeys Paws, Aliens, Witches, Frankenstein, haunted
houses, nothing was off the table, and this allowed the creators of
the series to throw a party every year for us horror fans to show us
what they can do when they rode off the rails of the storyline and
allowed for some fun to be had and blood to be shed.
Though none of the new installments
have actual tree houses, the origin of the yearly gimmick began with
"Treehouse of Horror" where Homer, deciding to scare Bart and Lisa,
begins listening in on separate horror stories told by Bart and Lisa
in a treehouse, both of whom tell the scariest stories they can
think of in an attempt to scare each other. What begins as mocking
laughter soon transformed in to Homer going back to bed that night
realizing he couldn't quite go back to sleep thanks to the
effectiveness of a good horror story, properly told by two little
children with a lot of imagination. While none of them are at all
really disturbed by one another, Homer has learned that a good
horror story can do wonders for inducing insomnia. Horror is best
when imagination is at play, and "Treehouse of Horror" took what was
a one and done little nod to Halloween and turned it in to its very
own gimmick going balls to the wall every year devising some of the
best moments in the series barnone. Here are ten of our favorite
moments from "Treehouse of Horror," episodes brilliant, hilarious,
and just plain memorable.
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Dial Z for Zombie
If you can believe it, when I
was a kid in spite of being such an avid hardcore viewer
of "The Simpsons," their take on zombies called "Dial Z
for Zombie" actually inspired a nightmare or two. Before
you laugh at me, my phobia of zombies was so bad when I
was a boy that anything even remotely zombie related
left me awake at night and looking over my shoulders. In
either case "Treehouse of Horror III" is perhaps the
series most entertaining episode with the most creative
sketches and not a single chink in the armor. Not only
is the set-up involving a Halloween party where Martin
is punched in the stomach for dressing as Calliope while
Ned induces a heart attack from Grampa after pretending
to be a zombie utterly hysterical to this day (I'm
chuckling as I'm writing this), but "Dial Z for Zombie"
is an excellent little ditty. |
| Bart has to do a
book report and when his report on Baby's First
Pop-Up Book isn't accepted, he takes to the school's
barren occult section to look for a book. Little
does he realize that he's taken out a book of
spells. Wanting to ward off the sadness of Lisa's
dead cat Snowball I, Bart insists they raise her
from the dead. Kids, eh? Little does he know that
they didn't raise Snowball but have unleashed the
throngs of the walking dead who are roaming around
to feast on the brains of the living! "Dial Z for
Zombie" is nothing but a barrage of hilarious
one-liners, sharp gags, and some hilarious humor
that will keep you glued to the screen from minute
one. From Ned rejoicing at the presence of a
relative he thought dead and realizing she's a
zombie much too late, to Krusty being eaten by
Sideshow Mel, to Homer being rejected as a sacrifice
for his family because the zombies can't find any
brains in his head, "Dial Z for Zombie" is one of
the funniest segments of the series Halloween
episodes. |
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Clown Without Pity
Paying tribute to one of
the most famous episodes of "The Twilight Zone," the
writers of "The Simpsons" pull out all of the stops
for their homage to "The Living Doll" involving a
really demonic Krusty the Clown doll and Homer's
battle with it. Homer being the man that he is has
forgotten Bart's birthday and feels pressured to buy
him something especially after Grampa rained cash on
him thanks to the government much to his shock ("I
didn't earn it; I don't need it; but if they miss
one payment, I'll raise HELL!"), and ends up at
"House of Evil" where among many gadgets and
trinkets he chooses the Krusty the Clown doll. In
spite of being warned that the doll contains a
terrible curse (That's bad), Homer takes it because
it comes with a free Frogurt (That's good!), of
course the Frogurt is cursed, warns the shopkeeper
(That's Bad), but he insists he gets his choice of
free topping (That's good!). Nevertheless, in spite
of warnings of the toppings containing Potassium
(That's bad by the way), Homer buys the doll and
soon Krusty is on a rampage torturing Homer for no
good reason, appearing in his bathtub and
threatening to murder him with harpoons, butcher
knives and even attempts to choke him to death on
his pull string. The battle comes to an end when a
simple solution is presented (That... seems oddly
logical) and Krusty's will is taken away as he lives
life with Lisa's Malibu Stacy. It's a short but
sweet little homage to Rod Serling.
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The Devil and Homer
Simpson
Of course the Devil is Ned
Flanders, who else would it be? Insisting he's
taking the form of someone Homer recognizes, Homer
does battle with the master of deception Lucifer
when Homer declares he'd sell his soul for a donut
after a tardiness at work means no donuts for the
day. The devil takes advantage of this declaration
offering his donut and insists that the minute he
finishes it, his soul is his property. Homer,
thinking he has the upper hand, refuses to finish
it. One
weak midnight snack trek sees Homer consuming the
final portion of the Donut which calls the devil to
collect once and for all! Reducing him to a torture
in hell involving donuts that goes awry for the poor
horned one, Homer is taken to trial where Lionel
Hutz bargains for his soul against a jury of folks
like Lizzie Borden, Blackbeard, and the starting
line-up of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers (among many)
who battle for poor Homer's weak soul, all of which
is drawn to a close by the devil who admits defeat
but not without a catch. Homer's head is turned in
to the very thing he craves the most, and must hide
inside as a slew of cops await his emergence with
cups of coffee in tow. Is it any surprise Lucifer
and Bart seemed to be good chums?
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Bart Simpsons'
Dracula
As time went on "Treehouse
of Horror" found its footing in the Halloween
gimmick and went from a cute sometimes forgettable
little tradition to mustering up some of the sickest
twisted episodes of the entire season. Often times
the writers went all out and reduced the show to
some morbid humor a la Conan O'Brien who co-wrote
Treehouse of Horror III. "Bart Simpsons' Dracula" is
yet another spoof of Francis Ford Coppola's gothic
Dracula adaptation. A gag that became very infamous
in the nineties, "The Simpsons" take every single
opportunity to spoof his film by adding their own
twist to the story here. Utterly hilarious and yet a
bit disturbing, folks all over Springfield are
turning up dead without blood and puncture wounds on
their necks. It's mummies! Of course, it's the
mummies faults as the skilled Police Force of the
town deduce, burning up priceless artifacts to nip
the problem in the bud. Simultaneously Mr. Burns is
opening up a new blood bank and has invited the
Simpsons over to his mansion in... Pennsylvania
(boo!) to have some dinner. |
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| Also making it
clear that they wash their necks beforehand.
It's only good manners, people! Lisa is of
course suspect of Mr. Burns who appears with a
lively shadow and invites the Simpsons to eat
with a peculiar little blood tasting beverage.
Homer of course defends Burns insisting it's
free blood, so who cares? On inspection with the
inept Bart, Lisa discovers Mr. Burns secret...
laundry room... but then they discover his oddly
out of place coffin room where they happen upon
his diary and a slew of his minions. Bart, never
one to shy away from a nice slide, is drawn back
in to the vampire horde and turned. Lisa,
convinced Bart is a vampire, learns of his
nightly visits with the town's children and
seeks out to destroy Burns once and for all.
With a funny surprise ending, and an homage to
the Peanuts, this is one nice topper to a great
episode. You also have to appreciate how the
theaters in Springfield will give anyone who
says they're a vampire a free soda. That's just
good marketing. |
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The Shinning
Where do I begin even
recounting this slice of fried gold? Where do I even
start? Perhaps the implementing of the similar score
from the Kubrick film? The prologue to the madness
that begins with the family's constant forgetfulness
leading to the abandonment of poor grampa? Maybe Mr.
Burns insistence on ridding the hotel of beer and
television and wondering why the previous
groundskeepers went mad. Or perhaps it's mad Homer
being dragged out of the freezer kicking and
screaming by monsters including Pinhead, Freddy
Krueger, and Jason? Homer's insistence that no beer
and no TV make Homer go Crazy. Bart's connection
with Groundskeeper Willie who just can't catch a
break in the damn episode being axed in the back
over and over. |
Or maybe Homer's
now famous catchphrase "Urge to kill rising...
rising..." I don't know. "The Shinning" is just
a big bag of genius, sprinkled with brilliant,
caked with pure hilarious, and it's one of my
favorite episodes of all time. It's a self-aware
segment that's actually funnier because of its
self-awareness. Willie warns Bart to call it The
Shinning and not The Shining or else they could
get sued, not to mention Willie warning Bart to
stay out of his head at a certain time ("That's
Willie's time!"), and the Simpsons going for
broke with Homer's spoofing of Jack Nicholson's
famous door smashing where he constantly ends up
in the wrong room ("Hi, David, I'm Grampa!"). I
don't know where to start or where to end
without making this summary sound like a random
string of sentences, but if you're familiar with
Kubrick's masterpiece of a horror film, you'd do
best to watch this masterful satire of Stephen
King's novel that is so funny it never lets you
sit back and regain your bearings not even for a
minute.
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"Our Favorite Treehouse of
Horror" episodes Part Two >>
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