The Simpsons: "Halloween Of Horror"

454 Evergreen Terrace is transformed into Everscreem Terrors!

Premiered October 18, 2015.

It's the day before Halloween in Springfield.  The Simpson family is excited that their home is undergoing its annual transformation into "Everscream Terrors."  When Homer notices that some of his decorative skeletons are worn out, he visits a Halloween pop-up store, which is operated by Apu (Hank Azaria).  

When three pop-up employees offer to steal decorations for Homer (Dan Castellaneta) in exchange for cash, he inadvertently gets them fired by Apu.  They tell Homer he's "gonna be real sorry" for getting them fired.

In addition to decorating their house, Lisa (Yeardley Smith) is excited that she's finally old enough to attend the Krustyland Halloween Horror with her brother Bart (Nancy Cartwright).  

When the Simpsons arrive at Halloween Horror, Lisa gets scared and regrets coming along.  Homer tells her to stick close to him and she'll be alright.  

However, they are accidentally separated and Lisa is petrified of the actors dressed as zombies.  The Halloween attraction is shut down and Bart is furious at his sister.  

The next morning, Lisa is still shell-shocked.  Bart's anger grows when his mother Marge (Julie Kavner) says that Lisa's condition means the Simpsons won't be handing out candy and they'll have to take down all their decorations.  

He feels better when Marge says she'll take Bart to "Spine Chills," the best trick-or-treating block party in Springfield.  Unfortunately, it's located in a gated community and Bart and Marge are turned away. 
   

Homer and Lisa plan to spend Halloween putting together a puzzle.  When there's a knock at the door, Homer answers and is greeted by the three pop-up workers! 

They've come to take revenge on Homer for their firing, which means he and Lisa will face something much more frightening than the Krustyland Halloween Horror.

Plus, Bart discovers what happens when trick-or-treating ends and Grown-Up Halloween begins!

J.A. Morris says:

After two decades of "Treehouse Of Horror" episodes, this is the first Halloween-themed episode that is considered "canonical" in the Simpsons' history.  

"Halloween Of Horror" deals with how Halloween changes as kids grow up.  Lisa thinks she's ready for the Krustyland horror attraction, but quickly learns otherwise.  This reminded me of some of my own childhood experiences.  I recall kids my age wanting to watch R-rated slasher movies or going to "realistic" haunted house attractions.  The next day they would regret it.  

I also appreciated the way Marge and Homer handled Lisa's new fear of Halloween.  They take down all their decorations and decide not to hand out candy.  Did they overreact?  Maybe, but it underscores that in spite of Homer's frequent failures since the series began, he and Marge are good parents.  

However, the highlight of the episode is the "NC-17 Halloween" musical number.  It's a hilarious song and it's fun to see the residents of Springfield dressed as hobbits...

... monsters... 

...and even Zardoz!

As usual, we try to avoid spoilers at this site.  However, I will say that everyone ends up having a great Halloween before it ends.  

Lisa dresses up a Freda Kahlo for Halloween, Santa's Little Helper wears a Yoda Costume!

 

"Halloween Of Horror" is a great episode and it makes me want more canonical Halloween episodes of The Simpsons. 

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 jack o'lanterns!

RigbyMel says: 

"Halloween of Horror" is an excellent episode of The Simpsons and an unusual Halloween Simpsons as it is the only one (so far) to be considered in canon.   So unlike the Treehouse of Horror episodes, this one actually "happened" in the Simpsons' universe.   This is a character-driven episode that looks at the tensions between childhood fears and adult responsibility and does so rather well. 

I felt for Lisa in this episode.  Her terrified reaction to the Halloween horrors of Krustyland and subsequent shell-shock are utterly understandable.  It's worth noting that Yeardley Smith's voice acting is really top notch in this episode.  For all Lisa's smarts and precociousness, she's still a little kid who needs protecting and Smith's voice acting underscores this beautifully.

I think I also relate to Lisa pretty strongly in this episode because I have never enjoyed slasher movies or gore and was myself rather traumatized by a spooky ride at a local amusement park when I was small. To this day, I HATE  haunted house attractions, but weirdly love a good ghost tour and/or ghost story! 

Homer and Marge try to do the right thing and remove all their Halloween decorations, becoming "skippers" to help their little girl cope.    

Marge tries to placate a furious Bart with a trip to the fancy Halloween block party only to be denied -- they get a tantalizing glimpse of what they're missing in passing. 

And then comes the *real* scary, a home invasion by the disgruntled Halloween pop-up store ex-employees forces Homer to do his best to keep up a brave face for Lisa.  (He tries whistling nonchalantly and settles on the theme from Halloween as his melody of choice!)  Eventually he has to come clean - "I may not be the smartest dad, or the bravest, or the smartest ..."  It's touching and helps Lisa come up with the confidence to formulate a plan.

We also get another angle on the grown-up responsibilities theme with the Rocky Horror inspired "NC-17 Halloween" song and dance number in which the adults of Springfield (in amusingly naughty costumes) sing about the one night a year when they can cut loose (once the kids are asleep).   It's an amazingly clever and funny take on the adult elements of the holiday. 

"Our lives are awful and weary, so tonight we're going way, way, way, way, way too far!" 

Nobody does Halloween as well as The Simpsons and "Halloween of Horror" is a sweet, funny and scary stand out episode that's well worth annual repeat viewing.   

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 jack o'lanterns 

The Simpsons: "Treehouse Of Horror XIX"

Premiered November 2, 2008.

"I believe in the Grand Pumpkin, almighty gourd, who was crustified over Pontius pie plate and ascended into oven. He will come again to judge the filling and the bread."

-Milhouse Van Houten

This special Halloween episode opens on Election Day of 2008.  Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) goes into a voting booth with a touch-screen and tries to vote for Barack Obama.  However, the machine registers it as a vote for John McCain.  Homer presses Obama's name several more times, but the machine keeps counting votes for McCain.  Suddenly, Homer is sucked into the voting machine...

...it kills him and spits out his mangled corpse.

Like earlier Simpsons Halloween episodes, "Treehouse Of Horror XIX" features three short segments, beginning with:

"Untitled Robot Parody": 

Bart Simpson (Nancy Cartwright) visits a toy store in search of a Christmas gift for his sister Lisa (Yeardley Smith).  When a toy truck flashes its headlights at Bart...

...he tells it that girls don't like trucks.  When his back is turned, the truck transforms into a pink Malibu Stacy Convertible and Bart knows he's found the perfect gift for Lisa. 

On Christmas morning, Lisa is very excited and grateful when she receives the the car.  

However, the Simpsons soon discover that the convertible is actually an alien robot, which transforms all of the Simpsons' electronic household gadgets into killing machines!  Springfield becomes the epicenter of a war between two robot armies! 

"How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising":

Marge and Homer take their youngest daughter Maggie to a new daycare center.  When she's nervous about her new surroundings, her parents encourage Maggie to look at the daycare's mural, which features Maggie's favorite TV personality Krusty The Clown (Castellaneta).  

Unfortunately, Krusty himself shows up and orders the mural to be sandblasted since he never authorized its construction, which makes Maggie cry.  Homer visits Krusty to confront the clown about the mural and accidentally knocks Krusty into a wood chipper, killing him. 

After this, an advertising agency gets Homer to kill other celebrities so they can use their likenesses to promote their products.  Homer does what they want and murders several celebrities.  

In Celebrity Heaven, Homer's victims decide to visit Earth (and Springfield) to take revenge on companies for exploiting their images. 

"It's The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse":

When every kid in Springfield is preparing to go trick or treating, Milhouse Van Houten (Pamela Hayden) announces that he plans to spend Halloween in a pumpkin patch waiting for the arrival of the Grand Pumpkin.  Milhouse tells Lisa that the Grand Pumpkin is a giant pumpkin that appears in pumpkin patches and brings candy to all children who believe in him.  Bart scoffs at this and says he made up the Grand Pumpkin just to mess with Milhouse.  

When Halloween Night arrives, Milhouse waits in the pumpkin patch while the other kids go trick-or-treating.  Lisa decides to wait for the Grand Pumpkin with Milhouse.  

Eventually, she gives up and departs for the school Halloween dance.  Milhouse cries for the Grand Pumpkin to show himself and his "childlike belief" turns a pumpkin into the Grand Pumpkin (Hank Azaria).  However, when Grand Pumpkin learns that humans carve pumpkins for jack o'lanterns and pumpkin bread, he goes on a killing spree!  It seems that Springfield is doomed!  However, hope arrives in the form of another holiday symbol...Tom Turkey (Azaria)!

J.A. Morris says:

This is a great Halloween episode.  My favorite editions of "Treehouse Of Horror" are the ones that have "literal" connections to Halloween.  I mention that because some "Treehouse" epeisodes are just horror stories that don't mention actually All Hallows' Eve or trick-or-treating.  "It's The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" is the strongest segment.  

I'm a huge fan of Peanuts and "Grand Pumpkin" pokes fun at both It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Milhouse, like Linus, is often his own worst enemy, so it's appropriate that he's the one spends Halloween waiting in the pumpkin patch.  "Grand Pumpkin" is also more directly connected to Halloween than the other two segments.  Kang and Kodos, who regularly appear in Simpsons Halloween episodes, also make a cameo appearance at the Halloween dance.

"Untitled Robot Parody," which pokes fun at the Transformers franchise, is also good.  It takes place during Christmas, so it's nice to get two holidays featured in one episode, something that rarely happens.  

I thought "How To Get Ahead In Dead-Vertising" was the weakest part, but only because it's not particularly related to Halloween, other than the murders Homer commits for the advertising likenesses.  Its homage/parody of Mad Men's opening montage is great.

Some viewers might watch "Treehouse Of Horror XIX" and think it's dated because it contains references to the 2008 election and Mad Men.  I think these references make this episode a nice snapshot of the pop culture of 2008.  Speaking of which, Homer kills Prince in "Dead-Vertising" and Rip Taylor is part of the "posse" that comes down from Celebrity Heaven.  Prince and Taylor are sadly both now deceased in real life. 

"Treehouse Of Horror XIX" is very funny and should be appreciated by all fans of All Hallows' Eve programming.  The inclusion of Christmas and Thanksgiving elements makes it even more enjoyable.

J.A. Morris's rating: 

4 jack o'lanterns!

RigbyMel says: 

I look forward to The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror anthology episodes every Halloween season.   Anthologies tend to be hit-or-miss, but generally Treehouse of Horror delivers enough spooky seasonal goodness and humor to be satisfying.  Overall "Treehouse of Horror XIX" works pretty well. 

That being said, as J.A. Morris mentions above,  I think the Mad Men parody portion of Treehouse XIX is the weakest link in this episode.   It's just not that funny, and could have made MUCH better use of its source material -  although some of the dead celebrity ads are memorably crass.  

The best bits of it are the homage to the title sequence to Mad Men and the random "dead celebrity" cameos, including an irate John Lennon astride a Yellow Submarine, but overall it just doesn't quite come into focus.  

Simpsonized John Lennon with Bob Denver (aka Gilligan) and Babe Ruth in the background

The satire of the Transformers movies in "Untitled Robot Parody" is much sharper -- skewering holiday commercialism and last minute gift purchases via alien robot battle mayhem.  We also get some amusingly naughty sight gags like Homer and Ned Flanders being trapped in ... interesting positions within their transformed cars.  

"It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" is most definitely the highlight of this installment,  partly because of the loving homages to the original Peanuts specials from 1960s that it riffs on.  There are some particularly clever bits  including a cameo appearance of Santa's Little Helper in Snoopy v. Red Baron mode, Marge keeps making use of a muted trombone a la the speech of adults in the original specials and the dance scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas recreated with Simpsons characters...and an iPod. 

Santa's Little Helper as Snoopy! 

The Simpsons is certainly not the first TV show to play with the notion of what might happen should the Great... errr...Grand Pumpkin actually show up, but the Grand Pumpkin's outrage at learning that his kind are sliced and carved and cooked is both hilarious and also understandable.  

I also appreciated that Thanksgiving gets mashed up into the Grand Pumpkin stew when Tom Turkey is called upon for assistance! 

"Treehouse of Horror XIX" is not my favorite Simpsons Halloween episode,  but "It's The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" is a segment that I do enjoy revisiting seasonally. 

RigbyMel's rating:

.5

2 and a half jack o'lanterns.