We don’t have many Halloween traditions here in Australia. But anyone who grew up in the 1990s or early 2000s will remember inhaling episodes of The Simpsons at 6pm every night, and I guess you could say that was a scaaAAaaAAAaary long time ago? That includes the yearly Treehouse of Horror episode, in which the writers channelled their inner ghouls and then took the piss out of everything from The Twilight Zone to Edgar Allan Poe.

Sadly, like the rest of the series, the Halloween specials have gone drastically downhill in the past, oh, two decades or so. But back in the day, these episodes were some of the very best.

And so, as the last day of October approaches, we’re taking the Super Fun Happy Slide through the ten best Treehouse of Horror segments ever made.

10. Dial ‘Z’ For Zombies (Season 4)

After wandering into the occult section of the Springfield Elementary School Library, Bart accidentally raises a horde of zombies (or, as they prefer to be called, “the living impaired”).

The simple setup inspires one of the classic Treehouse of Horror segments, featuring undead versions of beloved Springfieldians including Principal Skinner, Krusty the Clown, Ned Flanders (“he was a zombie?!) and, uh… Shakespeare. To the book depository!

9. Time and Punishment (Season 6)

A broken toaster and trip back in time to when dinosaurs “weren’t just confined to zoos” sees Homer wreak havoc on the present day, creating a bizarre dystopian future in which Flanders is the unquestioned lord and master of the world.

From there this sci-fi send-up cycles through a seemingly endless stream of alternate realities, each more ridiculous than the last. To quote Maggie: “this is indeed a disturbing universe”.

8. Bart Simpson’s Dracula (Season 5)

Look, it’s not quite as terrifying as dogs playing poker, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t close.

This riff on Dracula is one of the best parodies in the show’s entire run — and that’s saying a lot.

Burns as a vampire makes total sense, and the fact that no one in the family except Lisa can tell he’s a bloodsucker (even after he asks them to pre-wash their necks), is one of those jokes that gets funnier the longer it goes on.

7. Homer³ (Season 7)

More than two decades after it went to air, this segment is still one of the strangest and most ambitious things The Simpsons has ever done.

The sight of Homer wandering into the computer-generated third dimension isn’t quite as astounding as it might have been in 1995, but the visuals in this episode are still striking… kind of like that movie Tron.

Novelty aside, there are a heap of great lines to be found here, including my personal favourite: “there’s so much I don’t know about astrophysics. Wish I’d read that book by that wheelchair guy”.

6. Clown Without Pity (Season 4)

A Child’s Play piss-take in which Homer is terrorised by a demonic Krusty the Clown doll, this segment from season four has a maniacal energy that makes it an easy inclusion on this list.

Homer running nude through the kitchen after the murderous toy tries to harpoon him in the bath is an unforgettable image (it certainly scars Patty and Selma), and the revelation that the doll was accidentally “set to evil” is a genius left turn.

That’s what you get for shopping at Springfield’s House of Evil, where even the frogurt is cursed.

5. Nightmare Cafeteria (Season 6)

This has to be one of the more horrifying ‘Treehouse of Horror’ segments.

I mean, they literally puree Milhouse! Jokes aside, there’s something genuinely upsetting about how Marge just straight up refuses to help Bart and Lisa when they tell her their teachers are going to eat them. But the greatest moment has to be Skinner’s ill-conceived joke about poor Üter’s mysterious disappearance right around the time the cafeteria starts serving German cuisine:

“You might even say we ate Üter, and he’s in our stomachs right now!”

4. The Devil and Homer Simpson (Season 5)

If Monty Burns makes a good Nosferatu, then Ned Flanders as the Devil is downright perfect.

After selling his soul for a doughnut, Homer gets sent to hell, where his fiendishly ironic punishment backfires in spectacular fashion. The segment then pivots to an infernal court case, one that delivers a surprisingly sweet ending when it’s revealed Homer already gave his soul away, pledging it to Marge on their wedding day.

Shame he has to spend the rest of his days with a doughnut for a head, but still, it’s a nice moment.

3. The Raven (Season 2)

All three segments from the very first Treehouse of Horror could have easily been included on this list.

But we’ve got to give the points to this unlikely take on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven. The Simpsons has never been afraid to tout its literary influences, but it takes a level of confidence to produce a parody of a 19th-century poem for prime-time TV audiences.

Moreover, despite Bart’s insistence to the contrary, this is a legitimately spooky exercise, thanks in large part to James Earl Jones’ wonderful narration. Quoth the raven: “eat my shorts!”

2. The Shinning (Season 6)

Actually, forget Dracula. This is the best and most iconic parody The Simpsons has ever done.

A loving homage to one of the greatest horror movies ever made, this segment is hilarious even if you haven’t seen Stanley Kubrick’s film. But from the blood getting out of the elevator on the wrong floor to Moe as the ghostly barman with murder on his mind, it works on a whole other level if you have.

There are so many references packed into this seven-minute short — hell, even the music cues are bang on.

1. Citizen Kang (Season 8)

Kang and Kodos have appeared in every single Treehouse of Horror episode, but this is hands down their best work.

A brilliant roast of political campaigning that works whether or not you know anything about the politicians being lampooned, Citizen Kang contains the perfect blend of smart social satire and jokes about anal probing that only gets funnier with age. The ending of this episode, in which humanity is enslaved because voters are unwilling to vote for a third party candidate, rings particularly true today.

Just don’t blame Homer. He voted for Kodos.

–

Tom Clift is Junkee’s after-hours editor, and tweets at @tom_clift.