Gather your family on your pink living room sofa, it is once again the best time of the year. No, we don’t mean Halloween, or “spooky season”, we mean the release of the next installment ofThe Simpsons Treehouse of Horror.This annual television event, which is highly anticipated by the show’s dedicated, multi-generational fans, has been a regular part of the series for the past 33 seasons. For years the writers have parodied horror media with their classic comedy style, poking fun at short stories and the top film releases of the year at the expense of America’s favorite cartoon family who endures significantly more violence in the annual horror-themed releases. With the 34th edition of the series’ spooky installments,The Simpsons Treehouse of Horroris doing something that the series has never done before this year, upping the ante in a way that their fans will surely appreciate.
Related:‘The Simpsons’ Season 33 to Stream on Disney+ This October
What Makes 2022’s Treehouse of Horror Different?
Hold onto your hat, son. This year,The Simpsonsfranchise is making its audiences' nightmares come true with a bonus Treehouse of Horror episode. In addition to the classic horror anthology-style episode, an entire second episode will devote its 30-minute runtime to a singular movie parody. No longer constrained by the six-minute minisode format, this change will give the writers an opportunity to dive deep into a fictional world with its own rich, terrifying story.
What Will 2022’s Treehouse of Horror Episodes be About?
Much of what the anthology episode will entail is still a mystery, though executive producerMatt Selmanlet attendees of his panel at San Diego Comic Con know thatCaroline Ominehas written a segment inspired by theDeath Noteanime series. Selman stated that in this portion of the episode,The Simpsonswill go “full anime”, and therefore the animation will be handled by a completely different studio. Additionally, Selman has said that they will break a rule that they have never before broken in the series. Shrouded in secrecy, audiences will have to wait and see what more lurks in the anthology episode.
As for the bonus, singular movie-dedicated episode, fans of Krusty the Clown will get a bloody fantastic surprise.The beloved burn-out character will star in a parody of Stephen King’sItin an episode punnily titled “Not It”, with Krusty taking on a parody role of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Pennywise, meet Krusty. Krusty, meet Pennywise. Now we aren’t strangers.
When Will The New Episodes Be Released?
Lou, cancel the prom! The release dates for these two episodes have finally been set in stone! “Not It,” will premiere on October 23, while “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII” will premiere on October 30 (aka Halloween Eve). Though every moment we live without the new episodes is agony, that gives audiences just enough time to binge-watch the previous thirty-threeTreehouse of Horrorepisodes leading up to the spookySimpsonsrelease, which rounds out at about 14 hours total.
Related:‘The Simpsons’: Treehouse of Horror Comics Gets Ominious Omnibus Collection
Where Can You Watch the New Treehouse of Horror Episodes?
Well not on Candy Apple Island. As legend tells, theTreehouse of Horrorepisodes will continue to air on Fox duringThe Simpsons’regularly scheduled slot, Sundays at 8/7c. But, if you’re looking to view the terror-ridden episodes outside of regularly televised timeslots, you’ll be able to catch theTreehousetales the day after they air via the online streaming platform Hulu.
Where Can You Watch Past Treehouse of Horror Episodes?
Seasons 1 through 33 can be found on Disney+, though you’ll have to locate each episode individually in each season or in the curatedThe Simpsons"Horror" selection. In order to make your journey a bit easier, we’ve compiled this easy-to-navigate list. Every episode ofTreehouse of Horroris a nod to well-known and lesser-known horror films, series, novels and short stories, making it an easter egg hunt for fans of the horror genre.
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Season 2, Episode 3 - Released in 1990 and titled simplyTreehouse of Horror, this first installment of the horror-themed episodes parodiedPoltergeist,The Amityville Horror,The Twilight Zone’s “To Serve Man” and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”. Meet the alien sibling, Kang and Kodos Johnson, the recurring characters who make their first appearance in the minisode where a chilling cookbook is discovered.
Season 3, Episode 6 - In a nod to another horror short story,The Simpsonspay tribute to W.W. Jacobs “The Monkey’s Paw” when Maggie gets her wish.The Twilight Zone’s “It’s a Good Life” grants Bart new-found power over his city, and Homer donates his brain in a rendition of the horror classicFrankenstein.
Season 4, Episode 5 - “You killed Zombie Flanders!” This 1992 iteration pokes fun at the cult classic horror filmNight of the Living Dead, as well as doing a segment based on the then newly-releasedChild’s Play.
Season 5, Episode 5 - WithConan O’Brienadded to the writers roster for the fourth edition ofTreehouse of Horror, the anthology parodies another horror anthology, 1970sNight Gallery, in addition to painting quite the horrifying picture of Mr. Burns in the cartoons’ take on the wildly popularBram Stoker’s Dracula.
Season 6, Episode 6 - Not tv and no beer make Homer go crazy! Stephen King’sThe Shininggets a cartoon adaptation in the fifthTreehouseinstallment, which also dips into dystopia with a play on the 1973 thrillerSoylent Greenwhen the kids in the school cafeteria run low on resources.
Season 7, Episode 6 - FollowingJohn Swartzwelder’s original “Attack of the 50-foot Eyesores” The Simpsons find themselves in aNightmare on Elm Street, I mean, Evergreen Terrace, in which groundskeeper Willie finally seeks his revenge.
Season 8, Episode 1 - What a way to start the season,Treehouse of Horrorgets political in a segment titled “Citizen Kang”, a play on the cinema classic, though the episode is inspired by none other than the 1996 US presidential election.
Season 9, Episode 5 - Opening with “The HΩmega Man”, Season 9’sTreehouseepisode references two horror classics, including the 1958 science fiction filmThe Fly, and Marge gets a witchy makeover in “Easy Bake Coven”.
Season 10, Episode 4 - In Season 10 writerDavid X. Cohengraced audiences with his short “Starship Poopers”, andStephen Spielberg’s anthology seriesAmazing Storiesgets a new-look in “Hell Toupee.”
Season 11, Episode 4 - Nosey neighbor Flanders knows what you diddily-iddily-did last summer in the episode that aired in the months leading up to the “disaster” known to this day as Y2K.
Season 12, Episode 1 - The classic horror stories meant to scare children into good behavior known as Grimms’ Fairy Tales is given new life in Season 12’sTreehouserendition, which also pays homage toAlfred Hitchcock’sThe Birds.
Season 13, Episode 1 - Season 13 brought references to some of the biggest names in entertainment media of the time, includingSex and the CityandHarry Potter. Don’t worry, they are referenced in different segments. Additionally, the cult classic2001: A Space Odysseymeets the twisted story ofDemon Seedin a short known as “House of Whacks”.
Season 14, Episode 1 - Three new writers helm the fourteenth season’sTreehousestorylines, and bring with their references to the 1896 science fiction novelThe Island of Doctor Moreau, and the 1996 science fiction filmMultiplicity.
Season 15, Episode 1 - LongtimeSimpsonswriter John Swartzwelder returns to write all three minisodes of Season 15, opening with a short titled “Reaper Madness'' and bringing back the classicTwilight Zonereferences.
Season 16, Episode 1 -Bill Odenkirk, the younger brother ofBetter Call Saul’sBob Odenkirk, wrote the entirety of the sixteenth season’s stories.From HelltoThe Dead Zone, Odenkirk references many horror, mystery, and science-fiction favorites.
Season 17, Episode 4 - Eat my machine-programmed human-mimicking simulation shorts. Steven Spielberg’sA.I. Artificial Intelligencegets a Bartified reboot, and “Survival of the Fattest” pushes Homer to his physical limits in a reference to the 1924 short story “The Most Dangerous Game."
Season 18, Episode 4 - Homer is the butt of the joke in an episode inspired by 1958’sThe Blob, which is followed by an adaption of a Jewish folktale,The Golem, and the earth-shattering radio seriesThe War of the Worlds, which took US farmers by storm when unbeknownst to them, it was a fictional performance and not a real-life newscast.
Season 19, Episode 5 - Science fiction favorite,E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and action-romance flickMr. & Mrs. Smithgets a cartoon makeover in the 2007Treehouse of Horrorepisode, which closes out on a segment with the PG-13 title “Heck House”, Ned Flanders’ splendiddley alternative to haunted houses.
Season 20, Episode 4 - You can’t have a Halloween series that doesn’t reference the classic and well-lovedPeanutsspecialIt’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Though poor Milhouse is in for more than just a night of shattered childhood dreams.
Season 21, Episode 4 -The OfficewriterDaniel Chunhelms Season 21’sTreehouseepisode, giving burn-out bartender Moe a new outlook on business in aSweeney Todd-inspired short. Additionally, two zombie movies clash in “Don’t Have a Cow, Mankind”, which draws inspiration from28 Days LaterandI Am Legend.
Season 22, Episode 4 - ATwilight-inspiredTreehouseepisode with Lisa as the bewitched damsel was necessary, and when coupled with aJumanjireference, you can’t go wrong. But things for Marge and Homer, who are trying to enjoy their honeymoon at sea, go very wrong indeed.
Season 23, Episode 3 - Flanders reaches new levels of creepy in “Dial D for Diddly”, aDexter-inspired short. The epic science fiction filmAvataris also referenced, as isThe Diving Bell and the Butterfly, though Homer’s gaseous communications are less eloquent than that of inspirational Jean-Dominique Bauby.
Season 24, Episode 2 - Something unnatural is afoot in “Un-Normal Activity”, theParanormal Activityinspired minisode, which is paired with Bart and Homer’s father-son adventure in aBill and TedmeetsBack to the Futureshort.
Season 25, Episode 2 - 2013’sTreehouseepisode featuresan opening sequence byGuillermo Del Toro.Said to be the scariest episode yet, Episode XXIV draws inspiration fromThe Cat in the Hat, 1972 sci-fi blaxploitation comedyThe Thing with Two Heads, andTod Browning’s 1932 carnival sideshow filmFreaks.
Season 26, Episode 4 - Bart may have finally met his match in “School is Hell”. Inspired by 2001’sThe Others, the family is haunted by strange, alternate versions of themselves, and writerStephanie Gillisbrings the family into a mind-bending take onA Clockwork Orange.
Season 27, Episode 4 - In a series first, “Halloween of Horror” sees the Simpson family celebrating Halloween separate from the spooky tales in the treehouse, and follows Lisa, who feels humiliated after being traumatized at Krustyland’s Halloween Horror Night when she and Homer are visited by some unwelcome house-guests, meanwhile Marge promises to take Bart trick-or-treating in a wealthy neighborhood.
Season 27, Episode 5 - In the opening segment “Wanted: Dead, The Alive”, Sideshow Bob finally gets his hands on Bart, and Homer reaches new heights in aGodzilla-inspired short.
Season 28, Episode 4 -Mad MaxmeetsThe Hunger GamesinJoel Cohen’s short titled “Dry Hard,” and Moe dives into the world of 007 in “Moefinger.”
Season 29, Episode 4 - TheTim Burtonstop-motion animation filmCoralineis referenced in “Coralisa," Maggie gets possessed in “The Exor-Sis,” and Homer brings a Stephen King short story to life.
Season 30, Episode 4 - The psychological thrillerSplitinspires a Lisa starring minisode. The 1959 horror classic,Invasion of the Body Snatchersgets flushed by the comedy writers, and Grandpa pays the price when the terms geriatric and Jurassic get mixed up.
Season 31, Episode 4 - Episode 666, this episode ofTreehouse of Horrorpays tribute to 1976 horror classicThe Omen. Minisode “Danger Things” parodies the Netflix original seriesStranger Things, and the episode closes out with a tasteful mash-up ofWhen Harry Met SallyandThe Shape of Water.
Season 31, Episode 8 - In a special Thanksgiving installment, cleverly titled “Thanksgiving of Horror”, there’s a clever send-up ofApocalyptowith a Thanksgiving coating in “A-Gobble-Ypto,” aBlack Mirrorparody “The Fourth Thursday After Tomorrow,” and a cranberry sauce goes wild in the parody of 2017’sLifein “The Last Thanksgiving.”
Season 32, Episode 4 - Following the release ofSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, “Into the Homerverse” was born.Toy Storygets a little gory, andBe Kind RewindmeetsRussian Dollto close out the episode.
Season 33, Episode 3 - It features references toBong Joon Ho’sParasite, 2002’sThe Ring, and the world’s fascination with social media platform Tik Tok.
