Treehouse of Horror
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- This article refers to the first Treehouse of Horror episode. For an overview of the series of episodes, see Treehouse of Horror (series).
"Treehouse of Horror" is the third episode of The Simpsons second season, which aired on October 25, 1990. It was the first of a series of Halloween themed episodes, currently consisting of 18 episodes. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes are a yearly tradition. The Treehouse of Horror episodes generally do not obey the rest of the series' rules of realism, and are not treated as canon, although the first and third (and to a lesser extent, the second and fourth) are set-up in a fashion that they could be considered canon. In addition, since 1995, Bongo Comics has produced an annual comic book titled Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror.
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[edit] Plot
[edit] Opening Segment
In a parody of Edward Van Sloan's introduction to the original 1931 Frankenstein film, Marge warns the audience that this episode may frighten some viewers and suggests that parents with sensitive children "tuck them into bed early tonight instead of writing us angry letters tomorrow". This practice was kept up in a small number of subsequent episodes. The creators eventually decided that people knew that the episodes were scary and stopped adding warnings.
[edit] Set-up
Homer eavedrops as Bart and Lisa tell three scary stories in the treehouse, resulting in a sleepless night for him.
[edit] Bad Dream House
In this segment, based on The Amityville Horror murders, as well as Poltergeist, the Simpsons move into an old house, wondering why it was so inexpensive. Their questions are soon answered when the walls begin to bleed and objects begin to fly through the air. Marge wants to leave, but Homer tells her to sleep on it first. That night, the house possesses Homer and the children, manipulating their minds and making them chase each other with axes and knives. Marge intervenes and confronts the house, demanding that it treat them with respect while they are living there. The house thinks it over, eventually opting to destroy itself instead.
[edit] Hungry are the Damned
The Simpsons are abducted by extraterrestrial life forms. The aliens introduce themselves as Kang and Kodos, and tell the Simpsons that they are taking them to their home planet. En route they present the family with enormous amounts of food and watch eagerly as they gorge themselves. Lisa is suspicious, so she sneaks into the kitchen where she finds a book called How To Cook Humans. She takes the book and confronts the aliens with it. They inform her that part of the title was obscured by space dust, which they blow away to reveal the title How To Cook For Humans. Lisa, skeptical at this, blows off more space dust, revealing the title to be How To Cook Forty Humans. The aliens blow off the last of the space dust, finally revealing the real title How To Cook For Forty Humans, allegedly proving that the aliens were trying to treat the humans well. Enraged at Lisa's distrust, they return the Simpsons to Earth, but not before rubbing in how she ruined their chance of paradise on the aliens' home planet. This episode parodies "To Serve Man", an episode of The Twilight Zone.
[edit] The Raven
Lisa reads "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. In this adaptation, Bart is depicted as the raven, Homer finds himself in the role of the poem's lead character, while Lisa and Maggie are seraphim. Marge appears briefly as a painting of Lenore. James Earl Jones narrates. The poem is read verbatim, with some of the poem edited out for time. Several times a bust of Edgar Allan Poe is visible in the background on a bookshelf.
[edit] Conclusion
Bart, Lisa and Maggie are not frightened by any of the stories. They climb down from the treehouse and sleep peacefully the whole night. Homer, on the other hand, is scared witless. As he says that he now hates Halloween and then Bart, The Raven appears outside the window, laughing at him.
[edit] Cultural references
When Lisa sees the Indian burial yard in Bad Dream House, there is a grave stone labelled "Mahatma Gandhi" to be seen. This is a quite comical element as Gandhi was an Indian from India -- not a Native American.
[edit] External links
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