As the longest-running animated series in American TV history,The Simpsonsis absolutely jam-packed with iconic moments and episodes, even churning out the impressiveThe Simpsons Movie. However, one of the most notable things aboutThe Simpsonsis its Halloween specials, titled theTreehouse of Horror. From their earliest conception, these episodes have helped to bring audiences back every year, as they anticipate what scares the show will come up with next.
Each of these episodes often features parodies of iconic horror and sci-fi movies, though it sometimes features entirely original tales. While the best episodes of this collection are genuinely perfect, there are unfortunately an unfavorable amount of forgetful installments. So, in time for Halloween, here are all theTreehouseepisodes ranked from worst to best
34Treehouse of Horror XXXI - Season 32
ThisTreehouse of Horrorepisode featuressome great pop culture references, but it just doesn’t fit the usual Halloween tone at all. The first segment of the episode, “2020 Election”, takes a political turn as Homer fails to remember all the bad things Donald Trump has done throughout the years. While it wasn’t wrong in its portrayal of Homer’s stupidity and ignorance, the joke felt far too conspicuous. The worst segment in the episode by far is its parody ofRussian Doll, titled “Be Wind, Rewind.” The whole thing is so ridiculous, that even Comic Book Guy struggles to find any enjoyment in the predicament the characters find themselves in.
33Treehouse of Horror XXII - Season 23
Like the aforementioned episode,thisTreehouseepisode also feels widely disconnected from Halloween. Not only that, but it’s also incredibly sloppy with its references. One of the segments, “The Diving Bell and the Butterball”, is considered by many fans to be one of the worstTreehousesegments of them all. The segment parodies bothThe Diving Bell and the Butterflyas well as Spider-Man, although it doesn’t do anything effective with either material. Instead, it plays out as one extremely tedious fart joke. Additionally, it also pokes some fun atAvatar, recycling jokes that had already been made about the film during its release two years prior.
32Treehouse of Horror XXIX - Season 30
While thisTreehouseepisode is one of the best of the ones released in the last few years, it’s a far cry from any of its predecessors. This is when it truly started to feel as thoughThe Simpsonshad started to run out of ideas for theirTreehouseepisodes, especially during the segment “Intrusion of the Pod-y Switchers.” It then happens for a second time during “Geriatric Park”, a parody ofJurassic Park, whichThe Simpsonshad already had a go at in a previous season. Except that rather than making any improvements to their ideas, they feel muddled together onscreen.
31Treehouse of Horror XXXII - Season 33
It’s amazing thatThe Simpsonsmanaged to make fiveTreehousesegments instead of three feel empty, and yet that’s exactly what “Treehouse of Horror XXXII” did. It’s good that they acknowledged that the Halloween special needed more of a shakeup, but they completely ignored most of what fans missed. For example, like most recentTreehouseepisodes, it barely parodies any horror movies. Instead, it spends its time imitatingBambiin its “Barti” segment, which is supposed to be a jab at Disney’s traumatic material. Even an interlude ofVincent Price reading a spooky poem to Maggieisn’t enough to save this episode.
30Treehouse of Horror XXVI - Season 27
After years of wondering if Slideshow Bob would finally catch up to Bart Simpson, he manages to achieve his goal. In the episode’s first segment, “Wanted: Dead, Then Alive”, Slideshow Bob tricks Bart into the school’s music room, where he then murders him with a spear gun. This is a moment that should have felt more thrilling given the pair’s cat-and-mouse game for years, and yet it’s incredibly underwhelming. Even he gets bored himself, and brings Bart back to life multiple times over to relive his fantasy again. It doesn’t help that the rest of the segments are also incredibly dull and forgetful, making the premise feel like a missed opportunity.
29Treehouse of Horror X - Season 11
WhileTreehouse of Horrorhas notably stepped away from horror in recent years, it made the grave mistake of doing so in the run’s 10th anniversary. In this episode, just two of the three episodes are horror-based. As a result, the episode’s first segment, “I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did” is easily its best, despite the fact that it feels far too clumped together as it not only spoofs slasher movies but also creature features. To make things work, the final segment, “Life’s a Glitch, Then You Die”, where several ‘boring’ celebrities are on a rocket headed towards the sun. One of these celebrities is acclaimed director Spike Lee, which feels extremely poor in taste.
28Treehouse of Horror XVII - Season 18
A lot of “Treehouse of Horror XVII” is a bunch of jokes made in poor judgment. Of course, most shows of this likeness do the same, however, in this instance, it especially feels crass. The first segment, “Married to the Blob”, is essentially just one long fat joke. It attempts to gross the audience out, but instead recycles the same gags over and over. The second goes a bit more extreme, chucking in an eye-brow-raising amount of Jewish jokes that never land. It begins to take a bit of a turning point during the final segment, “The Day the Earth Looked Stupid”, which utilizes the show’s iconic aliens Kang and Kodos to make a relevant jab at America’s involvement in the Iraq war.
27Treehouse of Horror XIII - Season 14
The first segment of thisTreehouseepisode, titled “Send in the Clones,” is practically just a running gag of Homer jokes that you could make. After Homer discovers that his new hammock clones whoever sits on it, he decides to use it to his advantage. However, what are the actual benefits of a bunch of Homer clones, really? The episode manages to slightly get better in the final segment, “The Island of Dr. Hibbert”, though it’s nothing special enough to make it stand out. Especially since this episode is the first officially titledTreehouse of Horror.
26Treehouse of Horror XVI - Season 17
Every single segment in “Treehouse of Horror XVI” is mediocre at best. In the first segment, “B.I. Bartifical Intelligence”, the family takes in a robotic boy, David, while Bart is in a coma. Following on from that is a spoof ofThe Most Dangerous Game, where Mr. Burns hunts down the men in the show for sport. The episode finally decides to get in the Halloween spirit during its final segment,a parody of “The Masks” fromThe Twilight Zone, in which residents of Springfield turn into their costumes. At least its opening sequence is fun, with show runners expressing their frustration with the MLB playoffs for pushing back theirTreehouseepisodes until November.
The Best Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror Episodes, Ranked
The Simpsons have released some great Halloween specials during its 35-season run. Here are the best episodes.
25Treehouse of Horror XXIII - Season 24
Yet again, it’s no surprise that a more recentTreehouseepisode has moved away from horror. Albeit, its second segment, “Un-normal Activity”, does make fun ofParanormal Activity, none of the jokes feel entirely refreshing, nor do they add anything that the films already hadn’t. It makes it worse that this segment is sandwiched between two very un-scary and un-funny ones, with its final one completely butcheringBack to the Future. Given the fact thatThe Simpsonshas had no issue with using Homer and Bart’s father-son feud to tell a good story, and yet in this segment, their behavior feels incredibly out of character for the both of them.
