With over three decades past since the first episode of the popular family sitcom The Simpsons aired, the latest season symbolically presented us with episode 666, packed with appropriately creepy content. Of course, we're talking about yet another Simpsons Halloween Special officially named Treehouse of Horror, which continues the series' spooky annual tradition kicked off way back in season two.
As you probably know, each one of these non-canon episodes is made up of three segments exploring creepy and often supernatural themes. And although these are often just funny spoofs of popular horror and science fiction books and movies, there are moments when these episodes serve us an unexpected dose of trauma and gore. So, in case you're all out of ideas for the upcoming Halloween, and you also happen to be a huge Simpsons fan, do check out the list of the 10 Treehouse of Horror skits that are just too dark to unsee.
10 Easy Bake Coven, Treehouse of Horror VIII
This parody of the movie The Crucible irresistibly reminds of the stories about evil witches that were used to frighten us as children. On top of that, the skit offers a reference to Salem Witch Trials. Of course, in the spirit of The Simpsons, the story is full of dark humor and Homer's amusing statements, yet that doesn't take away from the eerie fact that the skit is about witches going door to door asking frightened parents to give them their children so they could eat them for dinner.
9 Time and Punishment, Treehouse of Horror V
We're used to watching Homer in awkward situations, so we're not surprised when we see him panicking after getting his arm stuck in a toaster in "Time and Punishment." While trying to fix it, Homer accidentally upgrades the toaster into a some kind of time machine that transports him into the era of dinosaurs. After that, each attempt in trying to come back ends up in a different disturbing scenario in the present, due to him altering the past. And while Homer is learning the meaning of the Butterfly Effect, us viewers are equally terrified by the world in which Ned Flanders controls the citizens of Springfield by subjecting them to frequent frontal lobotomies.
8 Wanted: Dead, then Alive, Treehouse of Horror XXVI
The Simpsons episodes featuring Sideshow Bob are always creepy to some degree, but his Halloween Specials are especially dark. In Wanted: Dead, then Alive, Bob finally kills Bart, not just once but multiple times. Why? Well, it seems that merely one mutilation of Bart's corpse and then drinking his blood didn't quite do the trick. So, with the help of the reanimation machine, Bob manages to revive Bart before once again murdering him in a completely new and original way. Definitely not a pleasant skit to watch, especially considering the ever-present graphic violence (Bart's intestines). Might wanna skip this one if you're watching with children.
7 BFF R.I.P., Treehouse of Horror XXVII
The sheer thought of ghosts is quite unpleasant to many, especially malignant spirits. However, the entity that in this skit kills Lisa's best friends is not really a ghost but her imaginary friend. From the very beginning, the skit starts off in a morbid tone, with the lawn mower mysteriously starting itself and brutally murdering Lisa's friend Janey. After that follow the deaths of twins Sherri and Terri, then Lisa's counselor. Finally, the imaginary Rachel suffocates Milhouse with a plastic bag. Luckily, Lisa manages to save her parents from a violent and indignant Rachel who tries to massacre them with a mixer (among other things). If we take all of the on-screen deaths into consideration, it's impossible to describe this skit as anything other than tragic.
6 Nightmare cafeteria, Treehouse of Horror V
The thing that makes this segment incredibly dark is the fact that it was shown from the perspective of the helpless children trying to escape detention so they wouldn't be murdered and eaten. Sound like your typical school day? The scenes are filled with gory details, violence, and cannibalism, but worst of all are the creepy professors with evil intentions. Need another reason to watch this episode? Six words: fog that turns people inside out.
5 Terror at 5 1/2 Feet, Treehouse of Horror IV
The skit starts off with just another one of Bart's nightmares of the school bus crashing. However, the real psychological horror begins when, together with the rest of the Springfield Elementary School students, Bart finds himself in the very same bus. This time for real. You see, Bart is the only one who seems to notice the evil gremlin trying to destroy their bus, but no one believes him in spite of the obvious damage. In fact, Bart's paranoid behavior was interpreted as ripe for asylum, and as the bus arrives to the school, Bart's put inside a straitjacket and left to deal with the mental image of Mr. Flanders' head in the arm of the bus gremlin.
4 MMM...Homer, Treehouse of Horror XXVIII
This skit is so disturbing that The Simpsons had Lisa warn us with the words: "What you're about to see is so disgusting, you'll watch Game of Thrones to calm down!" Yep, this is because watching Homer mutilating and eating his own flesh is nothing short of extremely grotesque and uncomfortable. Homer's self-cannibalism odyssey begins accidentally, with a cut off finger that just so happens to end up on the grill. And, piece by piece, Homer eats himself into an early grave and visits Jesus in heaven.
3 The Exor-Sis, Treehouse of Horror XXVIII
There is something very upsetting in the sight of a cute baby speaking in a deep male voice and killing customers during a cocktail party, agree? You see, after Homer, instead of ordering Pizza, accidentally orders cursed Pzuzu statues, the possessed Maggie kills Dr. Hibbert, Flanders, and Helen Lovejoy. Inspired by the movie The Exorcist, this dark comedy skit entertains the audience with jokes at the expense of the Catholic church and its priests, but it's really the demonic possession of little Maggie that sent shivers down our spines. And the exorcism scenes aren't any less dark either, especially as the youngest member of the Simpsons family hovers above its crib and rotates her head full circle. Apart from all that, there's also the creepy Pazuzu lullaby whose verses you'll hardly be able to get out of your head. "When Pazuzu's eyes are staring, then the moonlight will turn red, cuz Pazuzu's in your nightmares, until we all are dead."
2 The Thing and I, Treehouse of Horror VII
The goosebumps brought upon by disturbing sounds, unusual shadows, and mysterious laughter surely didn't just come over Bart and Lisa Simpson but many fans behind the small screens as well. You see, this skit reveals the dark side of Homer and Marge, which they have been keeping locked up on their attic for years and feeding with fish heads. We are, of course, talking about Hugo - Bart's evil formerly conjoined twin who will, in the skit's most intense moment, try to sew itself back to Bart's body. The plot twist that follows brings a small dose of irony into this Basket Case and The Hunchback of Notre Dame parody.
1 The Shinning, Treehouse of Horror V
At the very beginning of the Treehouse of Horror V episode, Marge Simpson warns us that "this year's Halloween show is very very scary," because, what followed has to be one of the darkest and most twisted skits in the series' history - "The Shinning." Of course, it's not hard to point out which horror movie is being parodied by the skit, with all the original iconic elements being present, such as the bloody river that flows from the lift. But, probably the most eerie is Homer and his insane fit that turns him into a deranged killer trying to murder his family with an axe. Because, you know, "no TV and no beer make Homer go crazy." The skit is rich with witty references and funny moments, but it's Homer's twisted and possessed behavior that gives it such a chilling and creepy atmosphere.