The Simpsons’ Best Halloween Episode In Years Isn’t A Treehouse of Horror

The annual Treehouse of Horror specials are a tradition beloved by fans of The Simpsons, but the show’s best Halloween episode in years saw the series break from this format for the first time. Since the series began decades ago, The Simpsons has consistently tried to stay inconsistent. Whether it is The Simpsons’ confusing continuity and non-existent canon, its tendency to recast guest stars as new and different characters, or even just the ever-changing location of Springfield, the show has always strived to stay fresh by avoiding formula.

However, for a show that can’t keep its canon clear, The Simpsons has been remarkably consistent when it comes to its annual Halloween specials. Since the original “Treehouse of Horror” (season 2, episode 3) aired way back in 1990, the basic outline of each annual Simpsons Halloween special has remained the same. Some earlier specials had host segments while some more recent Treehouse of Horror specials had four segments rather than three, but the formula is still more consistent than almost anything else on the anarchic long-running sitcom.

Each Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode uses the holiday of Halloween as an excuse to parody scary movies, the horror genre in general, and random pieces of pop culture. Early Treehouse of Horror episodes saw The Simpsons draw inspiration mostly from classic anthology shows like The Twilight Zone and Tales From The Darkside, whereas more recent Halloween specials have seen the show parody everything from Mr. And Mrs. Smith to Mad Max: Fury Road. However, it was the first non-Treehouse of Horror Halloween episode that saw The Simpsons really shine in the eyes of critics and viewers alike. 2015’s “Halloween of Horror” (season 27, episode 4) was the first Simpsons Halloween episode to offer a grounded, canon adventure involving the eponymous holiday—and as a result, it was the best Halloween special the show has mounted in decades.

Treehouse of Horror’s Critical Decline

Although early Treehouse of Horror specials was among The Simpsons‘ most critically-acclaimed outings, as the holiday series wore on, the format’s critical appeal wore off. Early on in the series, seeing The Simpsons kill off cast members still had novelty value and the show was focused on its sharp parodies of famous horror moves such as The Shining, A Nightmare On Elm Street, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. By the mid-’00s, though, the Treehouse of Horror specials were regularly criticized as being unfocused and uneven, and by 2015, it had been some years since an entire special had been well-received critically. This was particularly true of the extremely divisive “Treehouse of Horror XXII,” (season 23, episode 3) which inexplicably parodied the moving real-life drama The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.

Halloween of Horror Changed The Simpsons’ Formula

Rather than focusing on a few self-contained segments parodying famous horror movies or then-recent pop culture, “Halloween of Horror” borrowed its approach from The Simpsons’ many Christmas episodes and told a self-contained story set around the holiday. Homer and Lisa are left alone in the Evergreen Terrace home as Marge takes Bart and Maggie trick or treating since Lisa has developed an unfortunate fear of costumes. However, a break-in by a group of disgruntled hoodlums with a grudge against Homer forces the pair to defend their home, Home Alone-style. It is a simple setup that garners laughs and some well-earned sentimental moments from the interplay between Lisa and Homer as well as the genuinely tense home invasion plot, which manages to balance creepy atmosphere and broad humor as masterfully as The Simpsons’ golden-age X-Files crossover.

Halloween of Horrors Used Guest Stars Well

Rather than relying on famous faces and indulging in the laugh-free habit of The Simpsons letting celebrities play themselves, “Halloween of Horror” utilized the talents of guest stars Nick Kroll and Blake Anderson to make the episode’s villains creepy, compelling, and still funny enough for the story to work. Kroll and Anderson are comic veterans who are perfectly suited to The Simpsons, but the episode doesn’t shy away from making their characters seedy enough for the tense scenes to have an impact despite the many silly sight gags and tension-deflating goofy moments. Few shows have the cultural clout or sizable budget of The Simpsons when it comes to impressive guest stars, but “Halloween of Horror” is more reminiscent of the classic appearances from Michael Jackson and Dustin Hoffman than the show’s many pointless cameos such as Elon Musk and Lady Gaga’s critically derided episodes.

Halloween of Horror’s Impact On The Simpsons

Although the episode was deservedly nominated for an Emmy, judging by the show’s recent seasons, “Halloween of Horrors” did not encourage The Simpsons to replace the Treehouse of Horror specials with standalone Halloween stories. Instead, the recent Treehouse of Horror episodes has continued to focus on recent pop culture for their inspiration, with last year’s outing parodying the popular children’s film Toy Story. However, “Halloween of Horror” failing the alter the show’s approach to the titular holiday does not mean that the episode had no legacy on the series at large. In the years since the outing’s success, The Simpsons has aired more Christmas episodes, most of them well-received. Whether this choice was decided by the critical success of “Halloween of Horror” is unclear, but it could be argued that the episode’s success had at least some influence on the increase in holiday specials The Simpsons has put together in the years since.

The ‘Treehouse of Horror’ series, meanwhile, has also branched out, with The Simpsons recently producing a critically praised “Thanksgiving of Horror” special (season 31, episode 8) shortly after their Halloween special. Since the show (like many sitcoms) had rarely attempted a special centered on the America-specific holiday before this point, “Thanksgiving of Horror” soon became one of The Simpsons’ best Thanksgiving episodes and proved the show could still find inspiration in new spins on even a familiar format. Only time will tell whether The Simpsons attempts to reignite interest in its Halloween outings with another standalone adventure, but for the time being “Halloween of Horror” is interesting evidence that the aging series can still surprise and delight audiences by avoiding familiar formula.

About The Author

Cathal Gunning
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Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies and TV online since 2020. His obsessions include The Simpsons, Stephen King, the Scream series, and the horror genre in general. He has spent more time thinking about Stranger Things than the writers of Stranger Things, and he has never seen a Star War.

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