Introduction
Since the second season of The Simpsons, every season has featured a ‘Treehouse of Horror’ episode. This is a Halloween themed non-canon episode that includes three short spooky tales, usually parodying a famous horror film or story.
Throughout this list, we will be counting down the top ten best spooky tales told within the ‘Treehouse of Horror’ episodes. So, without further ado, let’s start our list.
10. Oh, the Places You’ll D’oh! (Treehouse of Horror XXIV)
Parodying the work of Dr. Seuss, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll D’oh!’ sees Homer as an evil, murderous, rhyming creature known as ‘The Fat in the Hat’ (named after the Cat in the Hat).
When Bart, Lisa and Maggie are left alone on Halloween night suffering from the mumps, the Fat in the Hat arrives to cure their illness. He takes them all trick or treating to get candy for them and beer for himself. However, along the way, he causes mass death and destruction by blowing up Mr. Burns’ mansion, robbing Moe’s and killing innocent civilians.
This episode is just utterly bonkers and hilarious and has therefore gained the tenth place on our ranking.
9. School is Hell (Treehouse of Horror XXV)
In this instalment, Bart found a magical portal whilst he was in detention that led to Hell. After exploring the school in Hell, Bart realised it was the best place for him, so he begged his parents to let him enrol.
Bart aced all of his classes in torture and torment and soon became top of the class, but the trouble arrived when he had to torture Homer as his final exam.
This story was quite an interesting horror story, and it was fun to see The Simpsons’ version of Hell.
8. I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did (Treehouse of Horror X)
In this parody of ‘I Know What you did Last Summer’, one night, Homer was driving the family home, when he accidently hit and killed Ned Flanders.
Homer did everything to try and make Ned’s death look like an accident, so he tried to stage the death as a heart attack. This plan worked, and The Simpson family attended Ned’s funeral, until they get home and receive a threatening letter from someone, stating they know what The Simpsons did.
Without too many spoilers, this episode has gained the eighth place on our list as there are a few interesting twists and turns that make this story so fascinating to watch.
7. Wanted Dead then Alive (Treehouse of Horror XXVI)
In this story, Sideshow Bob finally succeeds in his decades long quest in escaping prison and successfully killing Bart Simpson.
However, after his goal has been achieved, Bob realises he has nothing to live for. So, he creates a machine that can bring back the dead. He uses the machine to keep bringing Bart back to life just to keep killing him over and over again in a variety of different ways.
This story had to be included in our list, because although it isn’t canon, it is satisfying to finally see Sideshow Bob achieve his lifelong goal.
6. Dial D for Diddily (Treehouse of Horror XXII)
In this story, Homer speaks through a microphone to Flanders, making him thing it’s the voice of God. Homer instructs Ned to kill all of his enemies, and Ned, who thinks Homer’s voice is God, complies with the evil acts.
When Ned realises that it wasn’t God who told him to kill all those people, he goes after Homer with murderous rage.
This episode deserves the sixth place on our list because it’s quite funny, but it’s also really interesting to see the extent of what Ned Flanders would do to make God happy.
5. The Thing and I (Treehouse of Horror VII)
Although it isn’t canon to the Simpsons universe, in this story, Bart and Lisa hear noises coming from the attic, so they both go and investigate. It’s soon revealed that Bart was born as a Siamese twin, and his brother, Hugo was being kept in the attic because Marge and Homer were told he was evil.
After a visit to Dr. Hibbert it becomes clear that the twins got mixed up, and that Bart was actually the evil one of the pair.
This episode was one of the first Halloween episodes of the Simpsons that I watched, so it holds a lot of nostalgia and sentimental value, but the story itself has a strong plot and lots of twists and turns, earning it the fifth spot on our list.
4. Send in the Clones (Treehouse of Horror XIII)
Anyone who has watched The Simpsons will know that Homer will do anything if it gets him out of doing his chores, so this story just made sense on so many different levels.
In this instalment, Homer brought himself a magic hammock that creates a clone of himself. Homer uses the clone to carry out all of his chores around the house, but soon, the clone doesn’t want to do the chores either, so he creates another clone. Soon there are hundreds of Homer clones overtaking Springfield.
This caused a lot of issues, so Homer realised he had to get rid of all of these clones, but how you may ask? With a giant doughnut of course!
This story was just so fun to watch and portrayed Homer’s personality perfectly, so this story defiantly deserves the fourth spot on our list.
3. Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace (Treehouse of Horror VI)
In this parody of The Nightmare of Elm Street, the children of Springfield are being hunted in their dreams by the evil Groundskeeper Willie (who is a parody of Freddie Kruger). Once Groundskeeper Willie kills the kids in their dreams, they die in real life.
When he begins to hunt the Simpson kids, it’s down to Bart, Lisa and Maggie to try and defeat Willie in their dreams before it’s too late.
This episode was a brilliant parody of The Nightmare on Elms Street, with lots of dark twists and turns. Honestly, this is one of the scarier Treehouse of Horror instalments, earning this story the third spot on our list.
2. Reaper Madness (Treehouse of Horror XIV)
In this story, Homer accidently kills death, and after putting on his robes, Homer gains the job of death himself, becoming the grim reaper.
Taking his orders from God, Homer began to kill everyone he was instructed to. That is until he was instructed to kill Marge.
This story was just so ridiculously funny, but also entertaining- I mean, just imagine someone as unintelligent and clumsy as Homer Simpson having the ability to choose who lives and who dies, it’s just comedy gold.
1. The Shinning (Treehouse of Horror V)
In this parody of the Shining, Homer and the family are sent to housesit Mr. burns’ cabin. When they arrive, they realise there is no food, alcohol, or electricity.
The lack of alcohol or television makes Homer go crazy and attempt to kill his family in the same way as Jack from The Shining.
This is probably the most iconic Simpsons Halloween story- it’s a great adaptation of the original film and it has great storylines for the whole Simpson family- including elements of comedy and horror, so it was a no brainer to put this story at the top spot of our list.
Do you agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments below.
