"Treehouse of Horror VIII", titled onscreen as "The Simpsons Halloween Special VIII", is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. It first aired on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

in the United States on October 26, 1997. In the eighth annual ''

Treehouse of Horror ''Treehouse of Horror'' is a series of annual Halloween-themed anthology episodes of the American animated sitcom and spin-off of ''The Simpsons''. Also known as ''The Simpsons Halloween Specials'', each episode typically consists of three se ...

'' episode,

Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is the main protagonist of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' who is part of the titular family. Homer made his television debut in the short " Good Night" on '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' on April 19, ...

is the last Springfieldian left alive when a

neutron bomb A neutron bomb, officially defined as a type of enhanced radiation weapon (ERW), is a low-yield thermonuclear weapon designed to maximize lethal neutron radiation in the immediate vicinity of the blast while minimizing the physical power of the b ...

destroys Springfield until a gang of

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...

s come after him, Homer buys a transporter that

Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

uses to switch bodies with a housefly, and

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...

is accused of

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

in a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

rendition of Springfield in 1649. It was written by

Mike Scully Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...

, David X. Cohen and Ned Goldreyer, and was directed by

Mark Kirkland Mark Kirkland (born ) is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of ''The Simpsons'' since 1990, more than any other director. Career At the age of 13, Kirkland began making Super 8 mm film, super 8 films and working for his ...

Plot

Opening

A censor for the Fox network is sitting at his desk going through the show's script, censoring some things and explaining to the audience that the episode is rated TV-G with no violence or anything explicit. As he continues talking, a hand reaches with a sword from the rating and stabs him many times with the rating changing from TV-G to TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA to the fictional ratings TV-21 and TV-666. He falls on his desk dead and his blood spells the title, "''The Simpsons Halloween Special VIII''".

"The HΩmega Man"

After

Mayor Quimby Mayor Joseph Fitzgerald O'Malley Fitzpatrick O'Donnell "the Edge"/"Joe" Quimby, nicknamed "Diamond Joe", is a recurring character from the animated sitcom television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared ...

makes an offensive joke about France, the French president launches a

directly into Springfield, apparently killing everyone except

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, who had been inspecting a bomb shelter he was considering buying from Herman. Homer emerges and seems to be the only person in Springfield left alive. Initially grieving for his loved ones, Homer perks up, realizing that being the last person allows him to do everything he always wanted to. While dancing naked in church, he is confronted by a band of hostile Springfield citizens who have become mutants from the blast. Homer flees back home where he discovers that his family survived as their house was protected by its many layers of lead paint.

and the children kill the mutants with shotguns and then the family head off to steal some

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

"Fly vs. Fly"

Homer buys a matter transporter from

Professor Frink Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr. is a recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money (The Simpsons), Old Money". Fr ...

sees the family pets inadvertently go through the transporter together, resulting in a DNA mismatch. This gives him the idea to enter the teleporter with a fly, thinking that he will become a mutant superhero. However, the machine simply switches their heads around. Bart appeals to

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

for help, but she is chased by the fly and cornered in the kitchen. Bart tries to stop the fighting, but is eaten by the fly. Lisa then pushes the fly into the teleporter. Bart comes out the other end, fully restored. Homer furiously tries to kill Bart with an Axe while the family watches

"Easy-Bake Coven"

In 1649, the town is witness to many witch burnings. In the church, the townspeople try to figure out whom to condemn next. People begin accusing others and soon they erupt into chaos, until Marge intervenes. She tries to talk sense into the townspeople, but Moe accuses her of being a witch. Quimby assures her that she is entitled to due process which means she will be thrown off a cliff with a broomstick; if she is a witch she will be able to fly to safety, in which case the authorities expect her to report back for punishment. If she is not a witch, then she will fall to an honorable Christian death. After being shoved off the cliff, Marge flies up on the broomstick revealing that she really is a witch, turning

Chief Wiggum Chief Clancy Wiggum is a fictional character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sa ...

into a giant gopher and officers Lou and Eddie into a fairy and snowman, before returning to her sisters

Patty and Selma Patricia Maleficent "Patty" Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discotheque-Simpson ( ) are fictional characters in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. They are twin sisters and are voiced by Julie Kavner, who also v ...

. The sisters watch Ned and

Maude Flanders The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The writ ...

talking about how the witches eat children, which gives them the notion to do just that. They knock on the Flanders' door and demand their sons, but before they leave, Maude offers the witches

gingerbread men A gingerbread man is a biscuit or cookie made from gingerbread, usually in the shape of a stylized human being. However, other shapes, especially seasonal themes (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.), and characters are also common. History Gin ...

instead. The witches like these better than the children so they go to each house, getting goodies in exchange for not eating the children. As they fly off, the

Sea Captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the ship, inc ...

says that is how the tradition of

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

and

trick-or-treating Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". Th ...

started.

Production

"The HΩmega Man" was written by

, "Fly Vs. Fly" was written by David X. Cohen, and "Easy-Bake Coven" was written by Ned Goldreyer. Large portions of the "Fly vs. Fly" segment were cut, including the original ending where the fly also emerges from the teleporter, but is considerably larger and the Simpson family ride it to the mall. The producers had trouble with the censors over several segments in this episode. The opening segment of the episode, which features the aforementioned Fox Censor being stabbed to death, was pitched by

David Mirkin David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...

and had a difficult time getting through the real-life censors. They had issues with the size of the knife and the sound effects used. Originally, the TV-rating was supposed to stab Censor with a

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

, but Fox objected because it was too gruesome and was changed to a

cutlass A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It was a common naval weapon during the early Age of ...

. The censors also objected to an unaired scene where Homer does his naked church dance on an altar. The scene was reanimated so that Homer was dancing naked in the front row. This episode was the only ''

'' episode that was directed by

. It was also the last episode

Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...

worked on; he left the show to direct ''

The Iron Giant ''The Iron Giant'' is a 1999 American animated science fiction film directed by Brad Bird and produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation. It is loosely based on the 1968 novel '' The Iron Man'' by Ted Hughes (which was published in the United ...

'' at

Warner Bros. Feature Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...

. "Easy-Bake Coven" was storyboarded by Kirkland and the backgrounds were designed by Lance Wilder. Although

Kang and Kodos Kang and Kodos Johnson are a duo of fictional recurring characters in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Kang is voiced by Harry Shearer and Kodos by Dan Castellaneta. They are green, perpetually drooling, octopus-like alien ...

make brief appearances in every ''Treehouse of Horror'' episode, their brief appearance in this one was nearly cut. David X. Cohen managed to persuade the producers to leave the scene in.

Cultural references

As with the majority of the ''Treehouse of Horror'' episodes, numerous cultural references are made throughout the episode. "The HΩmega Man" is an extended homage to film ''

The Omega Man ''The Omega Man'' (stylized as ''The Ωmega Man'') is a 1971 American Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, postapocalyptic action film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston as a survivor of a pandemic. It was written by John W ...

'', which was one of Mike Scully's favorite movies as a child. In the same segment, Homer runs over

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...

and

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their pop ...

while fleeing the mutants pursuing him, mistaking them as mutants as the Winter brothers are both

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

. Homer does not seem to "get"

Gary Larson Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist who created ''The Far Side'', a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended on January 1, 1995, ...

's calendar. In the movie theater Homer watches a

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster. His comedic style, in both his stand-up material and acting roles, relies heavily on sarcasm and self-deprecation. For his roles on television, Spade h ...

Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. He was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' for fiv ...

comedy, just six and a half weeks after the episode aired Farley died of a drug overdose at age 33. The title "Fly vs. Fly" is a reference to the ''Mad'' magazine comic strip " Spy vs. Spy", while the segment itself is based on the film '' The Fly'', with elements from the

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

, primarily the telepod design. Lisa picks up a devil's tuning fork at Prof. Frink's yard sale. "Easy Bake Coven" makes a reference the TV show ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...

''; when Patty and Selma refer to Homer as "Derwood", Marge corrects them, "His name is Homer." In ''Bewitched'', Samantha's mother Endora often referred to Darrin as "Derwood" (among other things), whereupon Samantha often corrected her with "His name is Darrin." Selma's line If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cat" is a reference to the 1951 song ''

If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill, and Clem Watts and published in 1950. In the U.S, the best known version of the song was recorded by Eileen Barton in January 1950. Joe Lip ...

''. The animators rewatch the movie ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

'' several times when designing the characters and backgrounds for Sprynge-Fielde, 1649 A.D.

Edna Krabappel Edna Krabappel-Flanders ( ) is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Marcia Wallace. A Fourth grade, 4th-grade teacher, she teaches Bart Simpson's class at Springfield Elementary School. In the The ...

has a scarlet A embroidered on her chest as a reference to

Hester Prynne Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel ''The Scarlet Letter''. She is portrayed as a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors for having a child out of wedlock. The character has been called "among the first and mos ...

's punishment for adultery in the novel ''

The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a historical novel by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who concei ...

''.

Reception

In its original broadcast, "Treehouse of Horror VIII" finished 18th in ratings for the week of October 20–26, 1997, with a

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the #Nielsen TV ...

of 11.2, equivalent to approximately 10.9 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...

''. "Treehouse of Horror VIII" won a Golden Reel Award in 1998 for "Best Sound Editing – Television Animated Specials" for Robert Mackston, Travis Powers, Norm MacLeod and Terry Greene.

Alf Clausen Alf Faye Heiberg Clausen (March 28, 1941 – May 29, 2025) was an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of ''The Simpsons'', for which he was the sole composer between 1990 and 2017. Clausen ...

received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

nomination for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" for this episode, which he ultimately lost. ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' named

Comic Book Guy Jeff Albertson, commonly known as the Comic Book Guy (CBG), is a Recurring character, recurring fictional Character (arts), character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and Eisner Awards, Eisner-nominated Spin-off (media), spin-o ...

's line "Oh, I've wasted my life" as one of the quotes from ''The Simpsons'' that can be used in everyday situations. In a retrospective review for ''

'', Erik Adams praised

's score, "its mournful

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

like a fall breeze shaking the last leaves from the branches. The 'Treehouse' franchise is a yearly showcase for Clausen’s work, and he doesn’t disappoint here." The original "

" was the first episode scored by Clausen.

References

External links