The 10 Scariest Simpsons Horror Story Treehouses

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV”

While The SimpsonsTreehouse of Horror’s annual Halloween specials are mostly fun parodies of famous horror films and stories, that doesn’t mean the show hasn’t produced some genuinely scary segments in its history. The Simpsons has been around for a long time, and the iconic animated family comedy has told many stories over the years. More than 770 episodes of The Simpsons aired since the program began, 35 years ago, and even with The Simpsons With a 37th season renewal not yet guaranteed, the series has broken several records when it comes to sheer longevity.

As such, it is not surprising that The Simpsons has aired 36 Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials before 2024’s season 36, and that number will soon reach 38. Season 36, episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV,” was a standard anthology series divided into three segments, while episode 7, “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes,” keeps a new series tradition alive. Like Stephen King’s Season 34 Parody THISThe November 2024 Treehouse of Horror special parodies the works of a specific horror writer. This time, it’s genre legend Ray Bradbury.

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The HΩmega Man (Treehouse of Horror VIII)

Springfield’s zombie population was genuinely disturbing

While “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” will likely keep things PG rated, it’s important to note that some of the The Simpsons‘The Treehouse of Horror segments are authentically scary. A milder example of this can be found in “The HΩmega Man,” the opening segment of Season 9, Episode 4, “Treehouse of Horror VIII.” Here, Homer is lucky enough to inspect a bomb shelter just as a nuclear attack destroys Springfield, killing everyone else. Immediately after mourning his presumably dead family, Homer enjoys his newfound freedom. However, he soon encounters the town’s mutant residents, and they prove to be a surprisingly frightening bunch.

Seeing Homer’s former friends turn against him is a dark and scary twist, and this segment manages to make the mutant threat quite intense before its hilarious ending. The revelation that the rest of the Simpsons survived thanks to their home’s layers of lead paint is ingenious, while an uncharacteristically mercenary Marge killing the mutants rather than coexisting alongside them is cynically funny. However, for younger viewers, it will be difficult to shake the image of a mutated Moe and the remains of the town’s citizens after watching this segment.

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Toy Gory (Treehouse of Horror XXXI)

Bart’s Toys Getting Gruesome Revenge Was Darker Than Anticipated

Season 32, Episode 4, “Treehouse Of Horror XXXI,” is an average ride, but the episode keeps an intriguing tradition from the series alive. The Simpsons changes its animation style in this outing, just as the show previously did in “Homer3” from Season 7, Episode 6, “Treehouse of Horror XI.” This time, a move to 3D animation allows The Simpsons to falsify the Toy Story series as Bart tortures his toys instead of offering them to charity. Bart’s toys eventually kill him and turn his corpse into a ghoulish toy in the segment’s surprisingly gruesome conclusion, even playing with his insides.

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Bad Dream House

The Simpsons’ First Halloween Special Featured a Creepy Haunted House

Season 2 Episode 3, “Treehouse of Horror,” is the iconic ride that started the show’s annual tradition of Halloween specials, and it doesn’t disappoint upon rewatch. However, Homer becoming homicidal as Simpson family members chasing each other with axes and knives is an unexpectedly scary visualeven though it’s set in a pretty funny segment. The final gag of the house exploding rather than bearing the Simpson family’s company ensures that this segment never gets too dark, but it’s a darker plot than viewers probably expected from the 1990 cartoon.

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The Fall of Monty’s House (Treehouse of Horror XXXV)

The Simpsons’ Second Edgar Allan Poe Parody Was Brutal

Although “Treehouse of Horror” also included the stellar “The Raven” as a final segment, The SimpsonsThe second Edgar Allan Poe parody is the best segment of season 36 of “Treehouse of Horror XXXV.” Mixing elements from “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Fall of the House of Monty” sees Mr. Burns pursued by the vengeful ghosts of his dead employees. . The workers’ fate is brutal, but it’s Burns’ haunting that makes this segment memorably frightening. The ghosts turning fresh food into maggot-infested waste as they pass by is a disturbing visual that could have come from a simple horror story.

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Horror at 5+1⁄2 Feet (Treehouse of Horror IV)

This segment’s infamous ending was truly disturbing

For the most part, Season 5 Episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror IV,” isn’t very dark. The reveal that Flanders is the devil is inspired, and casting Mr. Burns as Dracula works perfectly. However, The Twilight Zone the “Terror at 5+1⁄2 Feet” parody wins the unique prize of being scarier than its source material. Bart’s unsuccessful attempts to stop a gremlin from destroying the school bus are quite frightening, as is the appearance of the monster itself. However, it’s Bart being sent to a mental hospital, only to see the gremlin taunting him with Ned Flanders’ severed head, that makes this sequence a nightmare.

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Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace (Treehouse of Horror VI)

The Simpsons’ Freddy Krueger Parody Had Some Scary Moments

While The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Season 36 Focuses on Parody Pacific Rim, Poisonand Edgar Allan Poe, “Treehouse of Horror VI” spoofed one of the most famous horror franchises in cinema history. Groundskeeper Willie played Freddy Krueger in this parody of Nightmare on Elm Street films, and although the segment is filled with killer jokes, his villainous form is authentically frightening. Whether it’s Willie’s glowing eyes as he swears revenge on the town fathers or his final form as a spider/human hybrid, this Freddy Krueger parody is scary enough to scare younger viewers.

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It’s not (Horror Treehouse Gifts)

Stephen King’s Killer Clown Was Scary Even When Krusty

It almost seems unfair to include “Not It” in this roundup, since the Stephen King parody had a lot more screen time and source material to work with than previous Treehouse of Horror segments. This Season 34 release marks the first time that The Simpsons devoted the runtime of an entire Treehouse of Horror episode to parodying one piece of media, and the show’s creators picked the right one. King’s 1986 novel This was adapted into a cult classic miniseries and two blockbuster films that grossed over $1 billion at the box office, making This the perfect source material for a parody of The Simpsons.

Although “Not It” is much more funny than scary, the episode still manages to include some scary moments. Krusty the Clown disguising himself as Marge to scare the comic book guy is a real scaremade all the more effective by the fact that the moment is not borrowed from an equivalent specific movie scene. The Simpsons The Treehouse of Horror series pokes fun at the show itself and all kinds of horror movies, books, and shows, but “Not It” proves that the series can deliver a scare if given a chance. Meanwhile, the fan art of Krusty as Pennywise in the end credits ranges from inventive to disturbing.

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It and I (Treehouse of Terror VII)

Bart’s secret twin brought an authentic atmosphere to The Simpsons

In “The Thing And I,” the first segment of Season 8, Episode 1, “Treehouse of Horror VII,” Homer and Marge admit that Bart was secretly born with an evil twin named Hugo. Hugo’s first appearance in The Simpsons It’s genuinely scary as he takes Bart hostage and tries to reconnect with his former Siamese twin. Meanwhile, the revelation that Marge and Homer kept him locked alone in the attic and fed him fish heads only compounds that creepiness factor. Even the humorous twist, in which viewers discover that Bart was the evil twin all along, can’t undo the chill of this one.

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The Pookadook (Treehouse of Horror XXXIII)

The Simpsons Babadook Parody Was Totally Scary

Season 34, Episode 6, “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII,” might be the Simpsons’ best Treehouse of Horror special in years, thanks to its consistent invention. The final segment is a Western World parody that doubles as the show’s chance to affectionately poke fun at its meme-obsessed online fanbase, while the tone-perfect Death Note pastiche “Death Tome” is rendered in stunning anime-style animation. However, it is the simplest The Babadook “The Pookadook” parody that stands out as exceptionally scary. Marge reads Maggie a cursed book only to discover that, like the heroine of The Babadookshe is inexplicably compelled to hurt her baby soon after.

“The Pookadook” effectively taps into the same fears that The Babadook but the fact that Marge threatens her baby Maggie, rather than an older child, makes the story even more disturbing. The sight of Marge brandishing a knife at Maggie is scaryand the segment’s upbeat conclusion doesn’t entirely dispel its atmosphere of dread. Thus, “The Pookadook” stands out as the darkest and scariest segment The Simpsons It’s been on air for some time now.

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Nightmare Coffee Shop (Treehouse of Horror V)

The Simpsons didn’t hesitate to portray cannibalism

While the visuals of “The Pookadook” are scary, Maggie at least emerges from her ordeal unscathed. The same cannot be said for Lisa, Bart and Milhouse in “Nightmare Cafeteria,” the final segment of Season 6, Episode 6, “Treehouse of Horror V.” The show’s young heroes realize that their teachers have become cannibals who kill and eat the children at Springfield Elementary School.and they soon discover that they are powerless to escape this dark fate. In a shocking twist, Milhouse is thrown into an industrial blender, and despite trusting the plot armor, Lisa and Bart soon follow.

The entire segment soon turns out to be Bart’s dream, but the ordeal isn’t over yet. Just as the family assures him there is nothing to worry about, they are horribly turned inside out by a mysterious fog that apparently causes this grotesque, unexplained medical illness. The episode ends with the horrific sight of the skinless Simpson family, a horrific visual that makes this segment comfortably the scariest yet. The Simpsons‘Halloween horror story.