Difference between revisions of "Treehouse of Horror"

Revision as of 15:14, January 29, 2015

This episode is considered non-canon and the events featured do not relate to the series and therefore may not have actually happened/existed. The reason behind this decision is: . If you dispute this, please bring it up on the episode's talk page.

"Tuck your children into bed tonight instead of writing us angry letters tomorrow."

―Marge Simpson

"Treehouse of Horror"

Episode Information Showrunner: [[{{{showrunner}}}]] DVD features

"Treehouse of Horror" (also known as "The Simpsons Halloween Special") is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons, the third episode of the second season and the first installment in the Treehouse of Horror series.

Synopsis

"The first of the annual Halloween spook-fest. In 'Bad Dream House', the family move into an old haunted house and are possessed by a evil spirit and attempt to kill each other. In 'Hungry are the Damned', the family are abducted by aliens Kang and Kodos, before being fattened up to the extent that Lisa questions their motives. In 'The Raven', a poem by Edgar Allan Poe is recited with the family as characters."

Plot

Act I: "Bad Dream House"

Marge warns viewers that the following program (The Simpsons) may give their children nightmares, so she suggests the adults to "tuck your children into bed tonight instead of writing us angry letters tomorrow." However, the viewers ignore her and let their children watch it anyway.
When Homer comes back from trick-or-treating, he notices Bart and Lisa are telling ghost stories in the treehouse. He climbs up and eavesdrops while Bart comments on Lisa's first story.

The Simpsons move into a new home at a great price. Lisa and Marge are scared there is an evil presence lurking in the house, though Homer says there's nothing to worry about despite there being a vortex in the kitchen, Homer throws in an orange into the vortex then the ones who live in the world throw it out with a note that asks them not to throw in stuff. Bart being strangled by lamp cord, the house threatening the family to leave, and being thrown up to the ceiling. When everyone tries to settle in to sleep, the house brainwashes everybody to kill each other. When they stop what they're doing, thanks to Marge not being brainwashed, the house threatens that they will die horribly. Marge ends up angrily telling the house to shut up, and after a few moments, it complies. Marge then explains that since they are living in the house, the house is going to have to accept this. The house asks them to leave for a moment as it decides what to do. It determines it would rather die than live with the Simpsons, and the house implodes into nothingness.

Act II: "Hungry are the Damned"

The Simpsons are having a barbecue until an alien ship abducts them. When they arrive on the ship, they meet Kang, Kodos, an unnamed alien and Serak the Preparer, who treat the Simpsons extremely well by giving them countless amounts of food to hold them over until the great feast at Rigel IV. Lisa becomes suspicious and thus, one night, wanders around the ship and heads into the kitchen when Serak leaves. She mistakes the book How to Cook for Forty Humans as being titled How to Cook Humans and accuses the Rigellians of plotting to eat the family. They are shocked at the accusation and angry at the Simpsons. The aliens then take them back home to live out their normal lives on Earth, and tell them that they have forfeited a blissful existence where they would have been treated like gods. Lisa then speculates that they, the Simpson family, may be the true monsters as everyone gets mad at Lisa.

Act III: "The Raven"

Lisa reads a classic tale of terror, "The Raven", penned by Edgar Allan Poe:
Homer, a wealthy, yet distraught lover who is lamenting the loss of his Lenore, sits, asleep, with a book titled "Forgotten Lore Vol.~II" on his lap. He is soon disturbed from his slumber and awoken by a repeating tapping on his chamber door. Homer is then spooked by a rustle heard outside. Screaming, Homer hides behind his reading chair and utters, "Sir, or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you." Homer proceeds to approach the chamber door and throws it open while covering his eyes. There is nothing there but darkness.

Suddenly, there comes a tapping on the window. Homer opens the window and a raven flies into the room and perches above the chamber door upon a bust of Pallas. homer attempts to communicate with the raven, but the bird only replies with, "Nevermore." The bird continues with this reply and begins to anger Homer. Homer lunges for the Raven, who flits off. Homer chases the bird across and around the room, but it remains barely out of reach. Homer and the raven's chase makes a mess of his chamber and results in Homer throwing a potted plant at the Raven, who dodges the projectile. The plant pot hits Homer on the head. and tiny ravens dance around his head, chanting, ``Nevermore, Nevermore, Nevermore...

The chase continues. The Raven plucks books from the shelf and drops them, before returning to its place atop the bust of Pallas. Below, the carnage it has wrought upon the room, while Homer has seemingly descended into madness. The narrator concludes, "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting on the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted - nevermore!"

With the poem now finished, Bart and Lisa consider the tales before going to bed, not knowing Homer was freaked out by all of the stories. Everybody goes to bed, but Homer has trouble sleeping that night and decides he hates Halloween after hearing the Raven outside.

Production

The episode was written by John Swartzwelder, Jay Kogen, Wallace Wolodarsky and Sam Simon. Wesley Archer, Rich Moore and David Silverman directed. The episode is considered to be non-canon and takes place outside the normal continuity of the show. Part of the series' attraction to the writers is that they are able to break the rules and include violence and kill off characters, which they would not usually be able in a regular episode.

Reception

Since It originally aired, the episode has received very positive reviews from television critics and is almost always included in the lists of "best episodes" of the show.

Gallery

Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Treehouse of Horror".