Treehouse of Horror: Difference between revisions

 

 

The specials are anthologies of [[Three Shorts|three short stories]] with a [[Horror]] theme, all [[Played for Laughs]]. The first episode had a framing story of Bart, Lisa and Maggie telling scary stories in their [[Artifact Title|treehouse]], hence the name. The next three had different framing stories, but from the fifth onward, they were cut due to the running time.

 

 

An annual ''Treehouse Of Horror'' comic book is published by [[Bongo Comics]].

** "Nightmare Cafe" from the fifth episode features this ending.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: [[Played for Laughs]]. Its mostly the supporting cast however, the Simpsons family themselves mostly only die when the the plot needed them. But then its mostly [[The Chew Toy|Homer]]. ''Everyone else'' is fair game in the [[Cold Opening]] however.

* [[Artifact Title]]: Only the ''first'' episode takes place in a tree-house.

* [[Auto Cannibalism]]: In one episode, Homer's head is turned into a donut. Homer being Homer, naturally keeps picking at it.

* [[Becoming the Costume]]: In one short, a witch curses the townspeople into being whatever their costume is during a Halloween party.

* [[Bloodier and Gorier]]: Used to set the Halloween episodes apart from the usual episodes.

** [[Black Comedy]]: Also a main feature of many TOH shorts.

* [[Body Horror]]: Often and usually [[Played for Laughs]]. One memorable example is "that fog that turns everybody inside out."

** Oddly, clips from these episodes ''show up'' in [[Clip Show]] episodes...

* [[Contrived Clumsiness]]: Bart uses the "My finger slipped" excuse when Lisa's science experiment turns into a miniature civilization.

* [[Couch Gag]]: The first few specials featured a darker spin. Such as the family being zombies, the family shown dead and hanging from nooses (with Maggie being barely alive enough to suck on her pacifier), or dropping dead in front of the Grim Reaper who was waiting for them on the couch... One time they didn't make it to the couch ''at all'' (which was for the best since Freddie Krueger and Jason were waiting on the couch for them).

** The toppings contain potassium benzoate. <ref>That's ''bad''.</ref>

*** And the doll {{spoiler|wasn't even cursed, despite coming from an occult curio shop run by a strange Chinese man. The doll had a "good/evil" switch on its back that someone flipped on "evil"}}.

* [[Downer Ending]]: A lot of TOH shorts have these...

* [[Evil Twin]]: Hugo {{spoiler|is a subversion. Bart turns out to be the evil twin}}.

* [[Genre Anthology]]: Parodies of [[Night Gallery]] and other horror related TV shows were common.

* [[Halloween Episode]]: [[Played for Laughs]]... [[Nightmare Fuel|Mostly]]

* [[Harmful to Minors]]: Happens to Bart and Lisa in TOH XX ''or'' TOH IIX...

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Subverted when Apu holds off the [[Ptitleteza 1 ple|zombies]]. The family leaves thinking he sacrificed himself, while Apu complains that they were supposed to wait for him to get back.

** They were actually outmatched, seeing as [[It Makes Sense in Context|they had just conquered Earth with only a slingshot and a baseball bat]].

* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: A number of the stories revolve around many people being ''eaten''. These include portraying Homer as a man-eating giant blob (and as a parody of [[The Blob]]), and another episode where due to budget cuts and the rise in delinquent students, the staff decides to use the bad kids as a new food source.

** Played for ''laughs'' in an episode parodying [[The Most Dangerous Game]], where Homer suggests they resort to cannibalism after a 'few minutes' of being hunted, even though there's fruit all around them. Also in another episode where Marge is a witch and she and Patty & Selma decide they're going to eat Springfield's children as revenge for casting Marge out. At first it appears that Flanders has persuaded them that inventing trick or treating is preferable to doing so... then Marge comments she wishes they hadn't filled up so much on ''other'' kids before getting to the Flanders before burping, at which the three fly away.

* [[Jury of the Damned]]: "Treehouse of Horror IV" ("The Devil and Homer Simpson" segment), when Homer sold his soul for a doughnut, included a jury consisting of John Wilkes Booth, Lizzie Borden, John Dillinger, Blackbeard, Benedict Arnold, the starting lineup of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers (who, for your information, are arguably much worse than the rest of these guys), and [[Richard Nixon]] (who, at the time of the show's premiere, was still alive, making this dialogue a mix of [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]] and [[Hilarious in Hindsight]])

'''Nixon''': Yes, master. }}

* [[Millennium Bug]]: Happens in TOH X, on a [[Downer Ending]], but this happened to [[Nightmare Fuel|air]] in 1999...

* [[Negative Continuity]]: The Treehouse of Horror series does not connect in any way to the already negative continuity of the show.

* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]:

* [[Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here]]: Unless...<ref>You were in a Treehouse of Horror episode...</ref>

* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: Invoked in the re-telling of "The Raven" (when the protagonist finds "darkness there and nothing more" behind his chamber door) - only to be promptly dismissed.

'''Bart:''' [[Comically Missing the Point|Anything!]] }}

* [[Ominous Fog]]: The short featuring werewolf-Flanders parodies the hell out of this trope. "Guess I forgot to put the fog lights in!" Also, the short song with the fog that turned people ''inside out'' featured some [[Ominous Fog]].

* [[Parody Magic Spell]]: In one episode, Bart reads a spell from a magic book that's basically a list of odd brand names and famous surnames.

* [[Portal Door]]: Memorably in "Homer³":

* [[Prophecy Twist]]: Ned thinks in ''The Ned Zone'' that he must avoid his scary vision about Homer, instead {{spoiler|Homer causes a nuclear meltdown and Ned was forced to shoot him}}. Also see, [[For Want of a Nail]].

* [[Put Off Their Food]]: Parodied in "Treehouse of Horror IX". In the "Starship Poopers" segment, Homer and Lisa lose their appetite after seeing Maggie's fang. Homer then suddenly grabs Lisa's food and exclaims, "Wait, mine came back."

* [[Running Gag]]: Each story in "Treehouse of Horror V" features Groundskeeper Willie getting killed with an axe to the back after saying he'll help.

* [[Sapient Cetaceans]]: In one [[Treehouse of Horror]] episode, dolphins invade the land and take over. They can speak English.

* [[Schmuck Bait]]: In ''Bart Simpson's Dracula'', when Bart and Lisa are running up the stairs to escape Burn's vampire minions. Bart comes across a lever for a "Super Happy Fun Slide". He lampshades he knows its a trap, but figures what the hey and pulls it. ("When am I gonna be here again?") Leading to him sliding back down into the vampire lair, getting captured, bitten and turned. Homer nearly does the same thing later in the episode, but Lisa stops him.

** Inverted in another episode: "Don't eat me. I have a wife and kids. Eat them!"

* [[Take That]]: ''XXI'' contains one directed at the [[Tabletop Game]] ''[[Mouse Trap]]'', in which a parody called "[[Parody Names|Mouse Catch]]" is referred to as "the game so lame no one's ever finished it".

* [[The Maker]]: {{spoiler|Lisa Simpson did a school science experiment which created microscopic 'life'.}}

* [[Transformation Trauma]]: Cat-Marge and Werewolf Flanders.

** And when the family turned inside-out from the strange, viral cloud that got into their home due to cheap weather stripping.

* [[Troubling Unchildlike Behavior]]: Bart ''and'' Lisa in TOH XX...

'''Marge''': Well I do have a life outside this house, you know. }}

* [[When Animals Attack]]: Dolphins of all animals, and it was Lisa's fault it happened...

* [[Wingding Eyes]]: Parodied in the "Treehouse of Horror XV" segment "The Ned Zone": When Homer hears about Flanders's ability to predict peoples' deaths, his eyes turn into skulls, then dollar signs, then American flags and finally a dog chasing a cat before his normal pupils return.

'''Saint Peter:''' I'm afraid so, yes. }}

* [[Your Brain Won't Be Much of a Meal]]: In "Treehouse of Horror III", a zombie horde clamoring for "Braaaains" inspects Homer's head, then abandon him in disgust. Most ridiculously, the zombie taps Homer on the head and a very hollow sound is heard before it moves along.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Bongo Comics]]

[[Category:Horror Western Animation]]