The Simpson Halloween specials / Treehouses of Horror usually function as spoofs on different types of horror movies / TV programs.
The first tale focuses on Homer's quest to get himself a Colossal Donut, but when he buys one at the local convenience store, he's bummed out by it's not so colossal size and vows revenge on this false advertising. As he drives over to the store's giant mascot, the radio warns that weird things are happening due to a disturbance of some sort of scientific / supernatural origin (Night of the Living Dead, 1968) but isn't specific on the details. Homer steals the mascot's giant donut. Suddenly, lightning strikes and the huge advertising mascot comes to life and storms the town (Ghostbusters, 1984) as do several others in the form of billboards and sculptural structures. Soon, the citizens of Springfield are being crushed and devoured all over the place. Marge suggests when the Donut mascot comes to Homer's house looking for his donut that returning the monster's cherished item will make it stop killing (Leprechaun, 1993). Homer gives back the donut but the mascots continue rampaging. Lisa decides that maybe the advertising executives will know what to do.
The second tale begins with Bart and his dog playing Frisbee in the backyard when he is approached by Groundskeeper Willie who attacks him with a rake. Bart immediately wakes up from his dream, screaming, to find that the wound Willie inflicted upon him in his dream is still there (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984) - so it wasn't completely a dream. At school, he and other children discover that Willie visited all their dreams and attacked them but Principal Skinner refuses to admit the school is involved. Later that day, Martin is having a dream in which he is a Wizard Master (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, 1987) of Latin. Willie shows up, wraps his super-long tongue around him (Wes Craven's New Nightmare, 1994) and he suffocates to death in his school-class while everyone else takes a test (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 1988). Bart and Lisa tell Marge and Homer about this and they tell Bart and Lisa the whole truth about Willie. On Friday the 13th (Friday the 13th, 1980) some time ago, the parents set Willie on fire and he vowed revenge (The Burning, 1981). Lisa and Bart decide the only way to stop Willie is to go into their dream and force him into a final showdown.
The third tale has the Simpson household in utter terror because... Aunts Patty and Selma are stopping over to visit. Looking for a place to hide, Homer discovers a strange hole in the wall that leads to a gateway between universes (numerous Twilight Zone episodes / Phantasm, 1979). He goes inside it and gets lost, so he has to ask his family and friends for help. While there, he accidentally causes a rip in the dimension's fabric which causes it to begin to implode. Bart decides the only way to save him is to tie a rope around himself and go in (Poltergeist, 1982) the dimension to get Homer and have everyone pull him out in time to save him. Things don't go exactly as planned.
Altogether, this is one of the more entertaining Treehouses of Horror. Though the first 2 tales are not hysterically funny, they are still great horror spoofs. The third tale is actually very funny and one of the best individual portions of the Treehouse series. I highly recommend this Entry in the show's series.
The first tale focuses on Homer's quest to get himself a Colossal Donut, but when he buys one at the local convenience store, he's bummed out by it's not so colossal size and vows revenge on this false advertising. As he drives over to the store's giant mascot, the radio warns that weird things are happening due to a disturbance of some sort of scientific / supernatural origin (Night of the Living Dead, 1968) but isn't specific on the details. Homer steals the mascot's giant donut. Suddenly, lightning strikes and the huge advertising mascot comes to life and storms the town (Ghostbusters, 1984) as do several others in the form of billboards and sculptural structures. Soon, the citizens of Springfield are being crushed and devoured all over the place. Marge suggests when the Donut mascot comes to Homer's house looking for his donut that returning the monster's cherished item will make it stop killing (Leprechaun, 1993). Homer gives back the donut but the mascots continue rampaging. Lisa decides that maybe the advertising executives will know what to do.
The second tale begins with Bart and his dog playing Frisbee in the backyard when he is approached by Groundskeeper Willie who attacks him with a rake. Bart immediately wakes up from his dream, screaming, to find that the wound Willie inflicted upon him in his dream is still there (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984) - so it wasn't completely a dream. At school, he and other children discover that Willie visited all their dreams and attacked them but Principal Skinner refuses to admit the school is involved. Later that day, Martin is having a dream in which he is a Wizard Master (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, 1987) of Latin. Willie shows up, wraps his super-long tongue around him (Wes Craven's New Nightmare, 1994) and he suffocates to death in his school-class while everyone else takes a test (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 1988). Bart and Lisa tell Marge and Homer about this and they tell Bart and Lisa the whole truth about Willie. On Friday the 13th (Friday the 13th, 1980) some time ago, the parents set Willie on fire and he vowed revenge (The Burning, 1981). Lisa and Bart decide the only way to stop Willie is to go into their dream and force him into a final showdown.
The third tale has the Simpson household in utter terror because... Aunts Patty and Selma are stopping over to visit. Looking for a place to hide, Homer discovers a strange hole in the wall that leads to a gateway between universes (numerous Twilight Zone episodes / Phantasm, 1979). He goes inside it and gets lost, so he has to ask his family and friends for help. While there, he accidentally causes a rip in the dimension's fabric which causes it to begin to implode. Bart decides the only way to save him is to tie a rope around himself and go in (Poltergeist, 1982) the dimension to get Homer and have everyone pull him out in time to save him. Things don't go exactly as planned.
Altogether, this is one of the more entertaining Treehouses of Horror. Though the first 2 tales are not hysterically funny, they are still great horror spoofs. The third tale is actually very funny and one of the best individual portions of the Treehouse series. I highly recommend this Entry in the show's series.