50 Fun Facts About Treehouse of Horror

In Treehouse of Horror IV, what does Homer sell his soul to the Devil for at the power plant?

A donut is the whole price, and Homer nearly cheats the deal by leaving the last bite uneaten. At his trial, Marge saves him from Hell with a photo from their wedding day.

Which horror film is spoofed in Treehouse of Horror V when Homer goes mad as a winter caretaker?

The Shining becomes the tale of a mountain lodge whose owner cuts off the cable TV and the beer, which tips Homer over the edge. Entertainment Weekly ranked the episode ninth best of the whole series.

Which broken appliance does Homer turn into a time machine in Treehouse of Horror V?

A toaster flings Homer back to prehistoric times, where swatting a single mosquito rewrites the present. The plot spoofs Ray Bradbury's short story A Sound of Thunder.

Which two presidential candidates do Kang and Kodos impersonate in Treehouse of Horror VII?

Clinton and Dole are released by Homer, who then accidentally ejects them into space. The unmasked aliens point out that a two-party system still forces voters to pick one of them, and Kang wins.

Which James Bond actor voices the robotic house that falls for Marge in Treehouse of Horror XII?

Pierce Brosnan is one of three celebrity voices the Ultrahouse offers, and Marge picks him because he was in Remington Steele. The smitten house then tries to kill Homer.

Which Edgar Allan Poe poem is acted out in the first Treehouse of Horror, with Homer in the lead role?

The Raven casts Bart as the bird and Marge as the lost Lenore in a portrait. Matt Groening was nervous about the segment, fearing it would be the most pretentious thing the show had done.

Which talk show host tries to settle the fight over Maggie's alien father in Treehouse of Horror IX?

Jerry Springer voices himself and urges everyone to do what is best for Maggie, only for her to attack and kill him. Bart had suggested his show as the place to resolve things.

Which holiday got its own Treehouse of Horror-style spin-off episode in The Simpsons' 31st season?

Thanksgiving of Horror grew from producer Matt Selman's idea of remaking Apocalypto with turkeys. It aired about a month after that year's regular Halloween special.

In Treehouse of Horror VIII, Bart uses a matter transporter to swap heads with which creature?

A fly ends up wearing Bart's head after he steps into the machine Homer bought at a yard sale. The story borrows from the film The Fly, including the telepod design of the 1986 remake.

Fox's coverage of which event has often pushed Treehouse of Horror premieres past Halloween?

The World Series first bumped the special in 2000, when Treehouse of Horror XI premiered on November 1. A later episode joked about it by opening with Christmas decorations.

What is the name of Bart's evil twin, hidden in the attic in Treehouse of Horror VII?

Hugo was chained up and fed fish heads after the conjoined brothers were separated at birth. A scar on the wrong side then shows that Bart was the evil one all along.

Which Springfield character appears as the Devil to claim Homer's soul in Treehouse of Horror IV?

Ned Flanders is the Devil, a casting joke on the most devout man in town. He agrees to give Homer a trial, then packs the jury with the damned, among them Blackbeard and Benedict Arnold.

Whose Pennsylvania castle hides a vampire's lair in Treehouse of Horror IV?

Mr. Burns plays the Count in a spoof of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Lisa finds his memoir Yes, I Am a Vampire in the basement. Killing him changes nothing, because Marge is the head vampire.

Which giant movie monster does Homer play in a black-and-white spoof in Treehouse of Horror III?

King Kong is the model, except that this ape tires out two storeys up a skyscraper and ends the story by marrying Marge. Matt Groening counts the segment among his all-time favourites.

A talking doll of which TV star tries to kill Homer in Treehouse of Horror III?

Krusty the Clown dolls come with a switch, and a repairman finds this one set to evil. Flipped to good, the doll makes friends with Homer and is soon put to work as his servant.

Which wish-granting object does Homer buy on a trip to Morocco in Treehouse of Horror II?

A monkey's paw grants the family four wishes, and the vendor's warning of misfortune proves right. Lisa asks for world peace, which leaves a disarmed Earth easy prey for an alien invasion.

Which book series is spoofed in Treehouse of Horror XII when Bart and Lisa attend a school of magic?

Harry Potter is the target, with a villain named Lord Montymort scheming to drain Lisa's magic powers. Bart defeats him by stabbing his shin, the source of all his magic.

Which animals conquer Springfield in Treehouse of Horror XI after Lisa frees a marine park's star?

Dolphins rise up because Snorky, the performer Lisa set loose, is secretly their ruler and raises an army against humanity. The story spoofs The Day of the Dolphin and The Birds.

Which tech scare does Homer fail to prevent in Treehouse of Horror X, wrecking the whole world?

The Y2K bug strikes because Homer, the nuclear plant's compliance officer, neglected the plant's machines. The episode aired two months before the real date rollover.

Whose job does Homer inherit in Treehouse of Horror XIV simply by trying on a robe?

The Grim Reaper is killed after coming for Bart, so nobody on Earth can die until Homer puts on the robe. Homer begs out of the job when he is ordered to take Marge.

The names of the aliens Kang and Kodos in Treehouse of Horror are borrowed from which TV series?

Star Trek had a Klingon captain called Kang and a human villain known as Kodos the Executioner. The Simpsons' drooling pair debuted in the first Halloween special, abducting the whole family.

Which TV action star, playing herself, is kidnapped by Comic Book Guy in Treehouse of Horror X?

Lucy Lawless is snatched from a science fiction convention by Comic Book Guy's villain alter ego, The Collector, who intends to marry her. Bart and Lisa come to the rescue as superheroes.

Which film director made the monster-packed opening sequence of Treehouse of Horror XXIV?

Guillermo del Toro crammed in nods to classic horror and to his own films, ending with Lisa in a send-up of the finale of Pan's Labyrinth. Critics acclaimed the sequence.

Whose radio play panics 1930s Springfield in Treehouse of Horror XVII just as real aliens invade?

Orson Welles and his 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast cause mass panic, so the town ignores the real attack even when he turns up to say this one is no act. Maurice LaMarche supplies the voice.

A rigged voting machine keeps rejecting Homer's vote for which candidate in Treehouse of Horror XIX?

Barack Obama is Homer's pick, but the machine keeps registering John McCain and finally kills Homer to hide the truth. The scene leaked online weeks before the episode aired.

The ghosts in Treehouse of Horror XXV are the Simpsons' earlier selves from which 1980s series?

The Tracey Ullman Show versions of the family return as ghosts, and the living Marge kills herself to compete with her ghostly double for Homer. In the end Homer chooses his modern-day wife.

Which cartoon are Bart and Lisa zapped into by a plutonium-powered remote in Treehouse of Horror IX?

Itchy & Scratchy chase the pair right out of the cartoon and into a live-action scene with Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford. Marge had taken the batteries out to stop them watching.

Which slasher villain waits on the couch with Jason Voorhees in Treehouse of Horror IX's opening?

Freddy Krueger is voiced by Robert Englund, the actor who played him in the Nightmare on Elm Street films. The two killers wait in vain, because the family never make it to the living room.

Which musical inspired the Treehouse of Horror XX story where Moe brews beer with Homer's blood?

Sweeney Todd gave the Halloween specials their first musically themed segment, presented as a stage show. Moe uses Homer's absence to woo Marge while his rival slowly bleeds in the basement.

Which manga series is parodied in an anime-styled segment of Treehouse of Horror XXXIII?

Death Note becomes Death Tome, with Lisa finding a book that kills anyone whose name is written in it. The segment was animated by DR Movie, a South Korean studio that worked on the original anime.

Which school employee is killed with an axe in all three stories of Treehouse of Horror V?

Groundskeeper Willie rushes to help in each tale and is axed in the back every time: by Homer, by a talking Maggie, then by the school principal. The running gag is the only link between the stories.

Which deep-voiced actor narrates the Edgar Allan Poe segment of the first Treehouse of Horror?

James Earl Jones has a part in all three stories of that episode, also voicing a moving man and one of the aliens. He came back four years later as an alternate-timeline Maggie.

Which Twilight Zone episode inspired the alien abduction story in the first Treehouse of Horror?

To Serve Man turns on a cookbook, and the spoof has one too. Here Lisa's suspicion backfires: the offended aliens take the family home, costing them a paradise planet.

Which fictional planet is home to Kang and Kodos, the drooling aliens of Treehouse of Horror?

Rigel VII is home to the octopus-like Rigellians, whose language happens to be exactly the same as English. In their debut they offered the family paradise on a neighbouring world, Rigel IV.

Whose transplanted hair turns Homer into a killer in Treehouse of Horror IX?

Snake Jailbird is put to death under a three-strikes law and vows to kill the witnesses to his arrest. Once his hair is on Homer's scalp, it carries out the threat.

Which food kills Homer in Treehouse of Horror XI, leaving his ghost a day to do one good deed?

Broccoli finishes him off on a day when his horoscope had warned he would die. St. Peter then tells him he has never done a good deed and gives him 24 hours to manage one.

Which backyard purchase lets Homer make endless copies of himself in Treehouse of Horror XIII?

A hammock that duplicates whoever lies in it gives Homer a workforce of clones to do his chores. The story is a spoof of the film Multiplicity.

Which Springfield character turns resort guests into animal hybrids in Treehouse of Horror XIII?

Dr. Hibbert plays the mad scientist in a spoof of The Island of Dr. Moreau. Homer is appalled at first, then decides that life as a mutant animal suits his lifestyle rather well.

Which comedian, the model for Professor Frink, plays Frink's father in Treehouse of Horror XIV?

Jerry Lewis's character in The Nutty Professor inspired Frink in the first place, so casting him as the scientist's revived father brought the joke full circle.

Which singer appears as himself in Treehouse of Horror VI to help stop giant advertising mascots?

Paul Anka performs a catchy jingle with Lisa that persuades the town to stop looking at the monsters. An ad executive had explained that attention is all that keeps them going.

Treehouse of Horror VI trapped Homer in another dimension using which technique, rare on TV in 1995?

Computer animation from Pacific Data Images made Homer three-dimensional, and the story ends by dropping him into a real Los Angeles street, the first live-action scene the show ever did.

Bart raises zombies in Treehouse of Horror III while trying to resurrect which dead family pet?

Snowball I, the family's late cat, was the target, but the spell from a school library book of black magic wakes the human cemetery next door instead.

Homer steps into which director's famous silhouette to introduce Treehouse of Horror III?

Alfred Hitchcock walked into his own outline to open his TV anthology, and Homer copies the routine down to the theme music, Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette.

Marge's on-stage warning in the first Treehouse of Horror copies the start of which 1931 film?

Frankenstein began with actor Edward Van Sloan stepping out to caution the audience. The producers meant Marge's version sincerely, worried the episode might frighten young viewers.

Which 1950s publisher of horror titles inspired Treehouse of Horror and its spooky credit names?

EC Comics sometimes printed scary alternate names for its staff, which gave producer Al Jean the idea for the Halloween credits. The joke names first appeared in the second special.

Which exchange student debuted in Treehouse of Horror IV and later joined the regular series?

Üter was conceived as a one-time joke in the gremlin story, yet he is the only human character from the Halloween specials to cross into the show's normal continuity.

In Treehouse of Horror IV, Bart alone can see a gremlin sabotaging which vehicle?

The bus stands in for the airliner of the Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, in which William Shatner's character watches a gremlin tear at the wing.

Which South Korean film is parodied in Treehouse of Horror XXXII, the first with five segments?

Parasite is reworked with the family living in a flooded basement flat while Bart lands a job tutoring for a wealthy household. The segment's title even names director Bong Joon Ho.

Which publisher, co-founded by Matt Groening, issued a Treehouse of Horror comic from 1995 to 2017?

Bongo Comics put out Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror for 23 issues. Groening named the company after Bongo, a rabbit character in his comic strip Life in Hell.

In Treehouse of Horror VII, the alien Kang introduces Kodos as which relative of his?

His sister is how Kang presents Kodos, although other episodes have called the character he. Producer Al Jean has described the aliens' gender as intentionally vague.