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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.
 
Many of the shorts were inspired by more traditional horror -- there is even a [[Dramatic Reading]] of [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s "[[The Raven (Literaturepoem)|The Raven]]" in the first Treehouse episode.
 
An annual ''Treehouse Of Horror'' comic book is published by [[Bongo Comics]].
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* [[Abnormal Limb Rotation Range]]: Happens to Homer to parody ''[[The Exorcist (Film)|The Exorcist]]'' in "Treehouse of Horror XVI".
* [[All Just a Dream]]: A few stories end with it being revealed to be a dream or fantasy of one of the characters. The "Treehouse of Horror II" stories were explicitly set-up as nightmares that Lisa, Bart, and Homer have as a result of eating too much Halloween candy. {{spoiler|Though Homer's leads into a [[The End - Oror Is It?|Or Is It?]] moment.}}
** "Nightmare Cafe" from the fifth episode features this ending.
* [[An Arm and Aa Leg]]: In the cold opening of TOH XXII, Homer does this to ''most'' of his limbs {{spoiler|after his arm gets trapped under a boulder,}} in a direct parody of [[One Hundred and Twenty Seven127 Hours (Film)|Aron Ralston's plight]] - This ends in total [[Nightmare Fuel]]...
* [[And Now for Something Completely Different]]: Some recent TOH take a break from horror stories and focus on science-fiction or comic books, or [[Up to Eleven|fairy tales]], with a darker spin...
* [[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.
** Also, in the [[Cold Opening]] spoofing ''[[One Hundred and Twenty Seven127 Hours (Film)|One Hundred and Twenty Seven Hours]]'', he eats most of his limbs. He comments that he tastes good at one point.
* [[Becoming the Costume]]: In one short, a witch curses the townspeople into being whatever their costume is during a Halloween party.
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Ned Flanders turning evil ([[Villain Withwith Good Publicity|or being secretly already evil]]) is a frequent plot. So far he's been Satan; a global dictator in an alternate timeline; a werewolf; Satan ''again'' and a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] serial killer.
{{quote| [[Lampshade Hanging|"It's always the one you least suspect."]]}}
* [[Bloodier and Gorier]]: Used to set the Halloween episodes apart from the usual episodes.
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** 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"}}.
* [[Double-Speak]]: Parodied in an episode, where, in a ''[[Strangers On a Train (Film)|Strangers Onon a Train]]'' parody, Bart and Lisa agree to "prank" each others' teachers and "ding-dong-ditch" them. Of course, by prank, Bart means kill, and by ding-dong-ditch, he means throw the ding-dong in a ditch.
* [[Downer Ending]]: A lot of TOH shorts have these...
* [[Evil Twin]]: Hugo {{spoiler|is a subversion. Bart turns out to be the evil twin}}.
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'''Satan (Flanders)''': Hey, listen, I did a favor for ''you''!<br />
'''Nixon''': Yes, master. }}
* [[Leaning Onon the Fourth Wall]]: In ''Homer³'':
{{quote| '''Homer:''' ''(trapped in a CGI world)'' Man, this place looks expensive. I feel like I'm wasting a fortune just standing here. ''([[Beat]] -- he scratches himself)'' Well, better make the most of it. ''(burps)''}}
* [[Millennium Bug]]: Happens in TOH X, on a [[Downer Ending]], but this happened to [[Nightmare Fuel|air]] in 1999...
* [[Nautical Knockout]]: The way they kill ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' in ''XXI''.
* [[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]]:
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* [[Self-Deprecation]]: In one segment, D-list celebrities are going to get shot into the sun. Tom Arnold voices himself here and proves to be a good sport.
* [[Shout-Out]]: See the ever so convenient [[Whole-Plot Reference]].
* [[Smart People Know Latin]]: In the parody of ''[[A Nightmare On Elm Street (Film)|A Nightmare Onon Elm Street]]'', Nerd and [[TV Genius]] Martin is seen [[Asleep in Class]] dreaming about conjugating Latin verbs.
* [[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.
* [[Take Me Instead!]]: Homer offers himself to a zombie horde so that his family can escape. He's ultimately rejected, as he doesn't have a brain for the zombies to eat.
** 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 Teaser]]: The first two and the fifth had homages to ''[[Frankenstein (Filmfilm)|Frankenstein]]'', with Marge addressing the audience. These Cold Openings were common place after the framing stories were dropped, though each varies in length and characters.
* [[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...
* [[Vampire Monarch]]: In a parody of ''[[Bram StokersStoker's Dracula (Film)|Bram Stokers Dracula]]'', in order to de-vampirize Bart they have to kill the head vampire. Lisa figures Burns to be it since he bit Bart. So the family sneak back into his castle and stake him. However...
{{quote| '''Lisa''': (At the end of the end when the family reveals they're vampires) What?! No we killed Mr. Burns!<br />
'''Homer''': You have to kill the ''head'' vampire.<br />
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