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A very Simpsons Halloween list
By Clarke Reader
creader3@mscd.edu

Rarely scary, always hilarious, each “Treehouse of Horror” episode of The Simpsons is composed of three mini-stories. Here’s a list of 10 of the best:

1. “The Shinning” – Season 6
A spoof of Stephen King’s classic, The Shining, this episode strands the family in Mr. Burns’ mountain retreat. Things are going fine until Homer learns that there is no beer or TV in the house. Upon his discovery, he transforms from raving lunatic to bloodthirsty raving lunatic.
Best Part: Marge finding herself in a room where Homer’s scrawled “No TV and No Beer Make Homer Go Crazy” all over the wall. When Homer enters, he says all he needs is a title: “I was thinking something along the lines of No TV and No Beer make Homer something something.” “Go crazy?” she responds. “Don’t mind if I do!” he says.

2. “The Raven” – Season 1
The concluding story of the very first Treehouse of Horror is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” with Homer as the grief-stricken narrator and Bart as the demon bird that torments him.
Best Part: James Earl Jones as the narrator, lending gravity and horror to Poe’s timeless story. Listening to Jones read it, it’s easy to understand why “The Raven” is a horror classic.

3. “Time and Punishment” – Season 6
Homer incorrectly rewires the family’s toaster, turning it into a time machine. He finds himself back in the prehistoric age, where he keeps accidentally changing the fabric of time.
Best Part: The closest Homer ever comes to true and complete happiness is in this episode. After screwing up time yet again, he comes home to find himself in a huge mansion. The kids are well-behaved, the family has a luxury sedan, and Patty and Selma are dead. Then he asks Marge for a donut, and she doesn’t know what they are. He loses it and flees.

4. “Homer3” – Season 7
A landmark episode for the series. Viewers are given the chance to see Homer enter the 3-D world via computer animation.
Best Part: Professor Frink explaining to everyone exactly where Homer is and how he got there. Police Chief Wiggum’s response, in true action-movie form, is, “Enough of your borax, Poindexter. We need action!”

5. “The Devil and Homer Simpson” – Season 5
To satiate a major donut craving, Homer says he would sell his soul for a donut. Who should appear at the call but the Morning Star himself, Flanders.
Best Part: The Devil appears, sees Bart and gives a casual “Hey Bart,” to which Bart responds in kind. Clearly these two are on familiar terms. It’s just a little throwaway joke, but it’s so funny and subtle that it makes the episode.

6. Wiz Kids – Season 13
A parody of the Harry Potter series finds the kids at a school much like Hogwarts – so similar that the boy wizard himself makes an appearance. Lisa is such a powerful witch the evil Lord Montymort decides to capture her and take all her powers for himself.
Best Part: After attempting to humiliate Lisa in front of the class, Lisa turns Bart’s head into a balloon, using the hex, “Head Zeppelin!” For music fans, this little nugget is one of the funniest moments of the whole episode.

7. King Homer – Season 4
A homage to King Kong finds Marge on a ship with Mr. Burns and Smithers on the way to a mysterious island to help capture a giant monkey. The enormous ape is Homer, and he and Marge fall in love, but things go bad when Burns drags him off to Springfield.
Best Part: Marge has just agreed to go along on the expedition with a little persuasion from Mr. Burns. As she’s boarding, Burns turns to Smithers and says, “So, what do you think?” Smithers’ reply is, “I think women and seamen don’t mix.” “We know what you think,” Burns says dryly.

8. Mr. Kang Goes to Washington – Season 8
The aliens Kang and Kodos come down to Earth and assume the identities of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, during election month. Homer is the only one who knows the truth, but nobody believes him. What follows is a hilarious satire of politics and the American system as the two aliens duel for the presidency.
Best Part: During a debate both aliens spew all kinds of nonsensical gibberish just to please the voters, but the best line undoubtedly goes to Kodos as Clinton: “My fellow Americans. As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball, but tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.”

9. The Homega Man – Season 9
Homer is the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust, or so he thinks. He quickly finds out that some of the population has been turned into hideous mutants, and he battles mightily against people who used to be his friends.
Best Part: Homer bemoaning his fate after he realizes everyone is dead, but as usual, he has a quick change of heart: “Oh, I’ve lost everything, I can’t go on! No. No, no! I can’t just wallow in sadness! It’s time to laugh again! (laughs) I’m the last man alive, and I can do everything I’ve always wanted!”

10. Life’s a Glitch, Then you Die – Season 10
Thanks to Homer not setting up the Y2K protection at the plant, when 2000 rolls around, the world dissolves into chaos and destruction. Machines start taking over and everyone’s convinced it’s the Apocalypse.
Best Part: Once Homer and Bart realize they’re on the rocket with the worst, Rosie O’Donnell starts leading a singalong, and the two Simpsons can’t take it. “Don’t worry, Dad, we’ll be dead in five minutes,” Bart says, to which Homer replies, “Not fast enough!” and hits the eject button, sending them into space for a blissfully quick demise.