Hello all!

It’s only a couple of days until Halloween! Personally, I like to watch The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes to get in the spooky mood. Yeah, that’s the level of spooky my anxiety can take!

But it is a classic series, much loved by many. Including me! So I thought I’d give my two cents and share with you my list of the Top 10 Simpsons Treehouse of Horror tales.

I have to say, it was difficult to narrow down the Treehouse of Horror tales to just 10 favourites, because I truly love them all.

Except the one where Homer is King Kong. What’s that about?

So what do I have on my list of the top 10 Simpsons Treehouse of Horror tales?

10. The Raven – Season 2

The first Treehouse of Horror episode deserves a special mention as a whole, simply for starting off this iconic annual Halloween event! This tale is particularly special and memorable, though, as its entire contents (aside from a few commentary interjections by Bart and Lisa) is a rendition of Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem The Raven. Other than being an interesting and seldom-used format for Treehouse of Horror, this holds a special place in my heart as The Raven is my personal favourite poem.

9. I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did – Season 11

A parody of I Know What You Did Last Summer, this segment follows the Simpson family after hitting Ned Flanders with their car. Which results in some Homer’s posthumous usage of Ned’s body… Probably the highlight quote is Homer’s “and I’ll go skinny dipping in that lake where the sexy teens were killed 100 years ago tonight.” And of course, it wouldn’t be a Treehouse of Horror tale with a delightfully nonsensical twist. That’s right, we’re bringing in werewolves.

8. Easy Bake coven – season 9

This segment is a personal favourite of mine as the first historical tale in the Treehouse of Horror series. It’s a Halloween origin story set in 1649 Salem, and the current fad is witch-burning. Marge becomes accused, because her laundry is particularly white, of course, and pushed off a cliff. Which sounds unfair, but end up being quite a just punishment for the child-eating witch. In order to appease the witches, and spare their children, the parents bake cookies and give candy to the witches. And thus, Halloween was born.

7. Life’s a glitch, then you die – season 11

Another gem from Season 11, this tale hypothesises on what may have happened at the start of the year 2000, had Y2K been as disastrous as some feared. And this is the exact reason why it’s on my top 10 list. While the event’s that happen in The Simpsons’ version may not be entirely viable (why would a milk carton have a microchip??), it is fun (and horrifying) to think about what might have happened. And I think we can all agree that Homer would be the one to cause the technological apocalypse.

6. the devil and homer simpson – season 5

The first segment in an episode set in a gallery of horrors, narrated by Bart. Would you be surprised to hear that the thing to send Homer to hell is a doughnut? That’s right, Homer sells his soul for a doughnut. It’s that simple. The highlight of this segment has to be the scenes we see from Homer’s day in hell, in which he is force-fed doughnuts, which turns out to not be much of a punishment. When reminded of Homer’s constitutional rights, the Devil must allow a trial to determine who the rightful owner of Homer’s soul is. Hint: it’s not Homer or the Devil!

5. Bad Dream House – Season 2

The very first Treehouse of Horror tale, and it’s a very strong start, in my opinion! The Simpsons move into a spooky manor, which was a steal on the market for one very good reason: it’s cursed. With flying books, weird portals, and bleeding walls, the house is actively trying to get the Simpsons to leave. And when they inevitably don’t, they become compelled to kill one another! But the Simpsons won’t stand for that. Really, all the house really wants is to just be alone, without inhabitants. So when Marge won’t tolerate its bullying, it must ask itself if it really wants to live with the Simpsons forever. Of course, it chooses to self-destruct.

4. The Shinning – season 6

An obvious parody of The Shining, there’s not much to dislike about this segment. The Simpsons are invited to housesit for Mr Burns, who decides to cut off their satellite connection and beer supply in order to ensure the family stays focused. Take a guess at who goes on a murderous rampage because of this… Bart uses his “shin” to call for help, and the family end up frozen outside in the snow with a portable TV. Filled with cultural references and with various twists on the iconic “Here’s Johnny” scene, you can’t go wrong with this Treehouse of Horror tale.

3. House of Whacks – Season 13

Okay, so part of the reason this tale is so high on my list is the cameos. The Simpsons upgrade their house to an Ultrahouse 3000 (basically a smart house…), and they can change the interface voice between Matthew Perry, Dennis Miller, and Pierce Brosnan. That’s right, in this episode, you will hear the iconic phrase, “could I be anymore of a house?”. But, personally, my favourite cameo is Pierce, my favourite incarnation of James Bond. Under the guise of his charming voice, the house tries to rid the world of Homer as a result of his infatuation with Marge. Why they would construct a house with in-built flamethrowers, axes, and shears, I’ll never know. We also get a low-key cameo from Homer’s patented electric hammer. But don’t worry, this murderous CPU is passed on to a good home…

2. The Thing and I – Season 8

This one scared the bajeezus out of me when I was a kid. And that’s exactly why it’s number 2 on my list. For a PG cartoon, The Simpsons did a really good job of making something entirely scarring to young children. I remember that the VHS tape this tale was recorded on was considered the cursed tape in my 6 year old mind. In this segment, we find out that Bart has a secret siamese twin that’s been locked in the attic his whole life. Brother Hugo comes loose, of course, and his only desire is to sew Bart back to his side. In an unexpected twist, we end with Hugo eating at the dinner table, and Bart in the vent with a bucket of fish heads.

1. Bart Simpson’s Dracula – Season 5

Not only do I love the Simpsons, but I love vampire fiction. So perhaps you can understand why this segment, which is a cross-over of the two, is at the top of my list of the Top 10 Simpsons Treehouse of Horror tales! It makes perfect sense for the core of this story to revolve around Mr Burns as a vampire. Over a hundred years old, sitting in his manor with his doting servant, and countless traps and secret rooms. And as a vampire he’s even worse. Essentially, everyone ends up turning into a vampire, but the reason for its place at the top of the list isn’t necessarily the story, but the way the vampire genre is captured and executed.

All images remain the right of 20th Century Fox Television.

The post Top 10 Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Tales – Blogtober 2019 Day 29 appeared first on Emily Aagaard.