Every Treehouse of Horror episode, ranked

Every “Treehouse of Horror” episode is simply named “Treehouse of Horror” plus the episode number in Roman numerals, so for the sake of this list we will call every episode by the Roman numeral. Are we just trying to avoid talking about the worst “Treehouse” ever? Perhaps a bit. We will say that “The Diving Bell and the Butterball” is almost certainly the worst segment they’ve ever done.

There is a pretty fun segment in this one where the Simpsons meet the ghosts of the “Tracey Ullman Show” versions of themselves. However, the other two segments are total bores, so it still finishes pretty far down the list despite the chance to revisit Homer’s original voice.

“Treehouse of Horror” episodes got less Halloween-y as time went on, which is how you get a “The Cat in the Hat” segment in a Halloween episode. Granted, they did turn it into something dark, which is at least imaginative. Nevertheless, there’s not a lot to recommend here.

This is an exercise in mediocrity. None of the three stories are bad, but none of them are good either. They are all shrugs, though the “Jurassic Park” parody with the older residents of Springfield is a bit silly.

This one is notable, because Sideshow Bob finally (non-canonically, of course) kills Bart. That’s significant, but the segment actually isn’t that funny. The “Chronicle” parody likely won’t age well either, as that movie has already been forgotten.

This is a real shrug of an episode. While it is one of the most-recent episodes, we've already forgotten almost all of it. Then again, that also means nothing was too bad as well, right? Just pure mediocrity.

The “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” parody is fun, even if it has nothing to do with Halloween. On the other hand, “Heck House,” which is kind of a riff on “Se7en,” is pretty lousy. All in all, nothing special.

Two of the segments in "XXXIV" are quite solid, but we will knock one of them a smidge for the oh-so-of-the-moment nature of being about NFTs. They weren't thinking long-term with that one. Also, the other segment is a generic serial killer riff. That makes for a decidedly up-the-middle offering, worth watching once, but not really worth revisiting.

On a couple of occasions “The Simpsons” has busted out different animation styles for Halloween. While their “Coraline” parody isn’t as famous as one we will be getting to later, it is fun to see the Simpsons in that stop-motion animation style.

No, there is nothing pornographic about this episode. It just happens to be the 30th “Treehouse of Horror.” Despite being a milestone, it’s nothing remarkable as an episode. The “Heaven Can Wait” parody that involves a riff on swiping on dating apps is pretty clever, but the “Stranger Things” parody feels perfunctory.

We bet Daniel Radcliffe had fun swapping YA roles by appearing as a parody of Robert Pattinson’s character in “Twilight.” Also, while a “Dead Calm” parody is a weird pull, that segment isn’t too shabby either. And the “Jumanji” parody came before the reboot, making it feel old school for the time.

It took them this long to do a Halloween story where Homer is the Blob? That one turned out alright. Weirdly, the best of the three stories has to do with the Golem from Jewish mythology, which is far from a Halloween thing.

This was the first “Treehouse of Horror” that showed the episodes slipping. The first 11 are all at least pretty good. “Treehouse of Horror XII,” though, is pretty lame. We do like the one with the smart house, because there is a funny Chandler from “Friends” joke and a nice turn from Pierce Brosnan.

The 31st edition has two decent segments, and one really fun one. That would be "Into the Homerverse." It's a parody of "Into the Spider-Verse," and "The Simpsons" has excelled at parodying other animation properties in recent years when it comes to "Treehouse of Horror."

There’s a decent-enough “Mad Max: Fury Road” riff in this episode, and they did something kind of funny with a “Kingsmen” parody. Hey, that more than the “Kingsmen” movies have been able to do themselves, frankly. Notably, this was the 600th episode in the show’s run.

“The Simpsons” went to the zombie well again, but zombies have changed so much in the zeitgeist they were able to do something different. We also like the “Sweeney Todd” one not so much for the story, but because they got meta and had it presented as a play.

The animation of "Denim," a parody of "Venom," is fun and ambitious. That's worth a lot, especially given this was the 35th edition of "Treehouse of Horror" the other two segments are totally fine as well. For going for the gusto and doing "Denim" we are putting this one in the top half of the rankings.

The clones story is fun, one of the better ones beyond the “classic” run of the shows. On the other hand, the “Island of Dr. Moreau” parody is lame, so they kind of balance each other out around a third segment we can barely remember.

They needed to do a “Dead Zone” parody with Ned Flanders simply for the title “The Ned Zone.” It’s actually pretty good as well, riffing on Homer’s stupidity to an epic degree. In fact, all three stories in this episodes are at least decent, which got harder for the show as it went on.

“Treehouse of Horror XVI” aired one year after the one we just wrote about and, honestly, we basically have the same things to say about it. All three segments are decent, but none of them are really funny or particularly memorable. The story where all the people in Springfield are turned into their Halloween costumes is kind of fun, to be fair.

The segment where Homer becomes the Grim Reaper is honestly a top 20 “Treehouse of Horror” story. That one is so fun and we would happily watch it over and over. Unfortunately, the other two aren’t good, and “Stop the World I Want to Goof Off” is straight-up bad. That’s why it’s only ranked this high.

We did not expect, in 2022, for one of the biggest, most-popular "Treehouse of Horror" segments to air. Then, "Death Tome" took the internet by storm. However, our favorite segment was not the anime-style "Death Note" riff. No, it's the "Westworld" parody deeply indebted to the history of "The Simpsons."

The morbid twist on “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” was a long time coming, and it’s genuinely really funny. There’s also a solid segment about using dead celebrities in advertisements which is an original story. Those are less common, but this one works.

We are in a place where the episodes are getting pretty good, so there is more positive stuff to say. Even the weakest of the three segments in “XXIII,” a parody of “Paranormal Activity,” is decent. The time travel  and the black hole stories are genuinely good, though. This was a real step up for “Treehouse of Horror” after some middling years.

This is the one that started it all. On the one hand, it set the precedent and began a legacy. On the other hand, it’s not all that funny. They basically just do a reading of “The Raven” with barely any jokes involved. While we must acknowledge the original “Treehouse of Horror,” which literally involved scary stories being told in a treehouse, but the humor is a smidge lacking.

Look, the Jerry Springer segment is corny as all get out and we don’t like it. It’s the weakest segment of the first 12 seasons. On the other hand, “The Terror of Tiny Toon,” where Bart and Lisa are sucked into the TV, is really good and features a delightful appearance from Regis Philbin.

While the second “Treehouse of Horror” episode is a step up from the first edition, it’s still working out the kinks. This time the stories are more imaginative and the episode is more ambitious, but it is still tied to the reality of the show. Every story is somebody’s nightmare from eating too much candy. Eventually, the show would eschew all the pretense and just show the stories.

Homer as a ghost is pretty fun, and the dolphins taking over is kind of delightful too. We also like the “George Cauldron” joke from the parody of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It takes the whole “making up a fake name based on things in the room” and twists it at a time when that hadn’t really been done much yet, if at all.

Speaking of dated, this episode features both a Xena appearance (well, technically Lucy Lawless) and a Y2K segment. That being said, the Y2K story is a solid one, and the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” story is fun too, thanks mostly to the Sugar Crisp jingle.

This is the first solidly good “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. All the kinks were worked out. We get the first zombie story, we get a King Kong story, and, best of all, there’s the evil Krusty the Clown doll segment. It’s a good reminder to make sure any doll you buy isn’t set to “evil” in the factory.

This is the only Halloween episode Conan O’Brien worked on, and he is thus likely responsible for Homer’s iconic “dogs playing poker” freakout. We think the segment of Homer selling his soul is a little overrated, but Bart on the bus with the gremlin is a standout and all in all this is an enjoyable watch, even with something as simple as a Dracula riff being included.

The first two segments are top notch. Homer believing he’s the last man on Earth? Bart in a parody of “The Fly?” Both classic segments. One of the best “Treehouse of Horror” lines is when Homer realizes that the fly-headed monster in the house is part Bart because “the pants are a dead giveaway.” Unfortunately, the third segment is only decent, so it can’t be any higher.

All three of these segments are classics. Granted, one of them is mostly for the animation. This is the one where the Simpsons go into the third dimension, which ends with Homer in the real world walking into an erotic cakes store. That being said, the best of the three is the “Nightmare on Elm Street” riff. Lousy Smarch weather.

Honestly, “Nightmare Cafeteria” is only decent, but it does finish off the Groundskeeper Willie runner. The first two segments are both great, though. First is “The Shinning,” which is full of memorable moments. Then there’s “Time and Punishment,” where Homer travels through time thanks to his toaster and changes the future repeatedly. Those two make this a really good episode, and the second-best “Treehouse of Horror.”

And yet, only one episode could be on top. “Citizen Kang” is the best “Treehouse of Horror” segment, and this is the episode that it comes from. Somehow, a story involving the 1996 Presidential Election is still a delight. And let’s not forget the other two segments, the one with Hugo, Bart’s evil twin, and Lisa creating life in a tub. If you don’t like this episode, well, don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.