The 15 Best Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Episodes, Ranked
Every October since 1990, The Simpsons has thrown its rules out of the window for one night. Characters die, aliens invade, Springfield gets destroyed, and none of it counts. The Treehouse of Horror episodes are the longest-running Halloween tradition on television, and with Treehouse of Horror XXXVII airing on FOX tonight, October 25, 2026, there is no better time to look back.
I have watched every season of The Simpsons, and these anthology episodes are still my favorite part of the show. Here are the 15 best Treehouse of Horror episodes, ranked, counting down from 15 to 1, with season and episode numbers, all segments and why each one earns its spot. Treehouse of Horror episodes are non-canon, so you can watch them in any order. Want a spooky game for after the episode? Our Silent Hill timeline explained is a good place to start.
Table of Contents
The Ranking: From 15 to 1
I ranked them by the strength of all segments, not just the best one, plus how quotable and rewatchable they are. Air dates are the original U.S. broadcasts on FOX.
15. Treehouse of Horror XXIV
- Season and episode: Season 25, Episode 2
- Original air date: October 6, 2013
- Segments: “Oh, the Places You’ll D’oh!”, “Dead and Shoulders”, “Freaks No Geeks”
In a Dr. Seuss-style Springfield, the Fat in the Hat takes Bart and Lisa out on a Halloween rampage; Bart’s head ends up attached to Lisa’s body after an accident; and the family become performers in a 1930s circus sideshow inspired by Tod Browning’s Freaks.
Why it ranks here: It makes the list for its opening alone: Guillermo del Toro conceived a mash-up of horror and sci-fi classics that includes all of his own films. Animators Dmitry Malanitchev and Charles Ragins won Emmys for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for this episode.
14. Treehouse of Horror XXXII
- Season and episode: Season 33, Episode 3
- Original air date: October 10, 2021
- Segments: “Barti”, “Bong Joon Ho’s ‘This Side of Parasite'”, “Nightmare on Elm Tree”, “Poetic Interlude (aka “The Telltale Bart”)”, “Dead Ringer”
The first Treehouse of Horror with five segments: a Bambi parody, a Parasite spoof in which the Simpsons scheme their way into Rainier Wolfcastle’s household, a living tree taking revenge after Homer chops down the treehouse, an Edward Gorey-style poem and a Ring parody for the TikTok age.
Why it ranks here: The Parasite segment is one of the sharpest film parodies of the modern era, and it nails the class war twist of Bong Joon Ho’s film while still feeling like The Simpsons.
13. Treehouse of Horror XIX
- Season and episode: Season 20, Episode 4
- Original air date: November 2, 2008
- Segments: “Untitled Robot Parody”, “How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising”, “It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse”
Transformers wage war in Springfield, Homer is hired by advertisers to kill celebrities so their likenesses can be used for free, and Milhouse’s belief brings Bart’s made-up Grand Pumpkin to life, with deadly results.
Why it ranks here: “It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse” is one of the best segments of the post-classic era: a pitch-perfect Peanuts parody with a monster that is equal parts silly and scary. The opening with Homer and the rigged 2008 voting machine is an all-timer too.
12. Treehouse of Horror XIV
- Season and episode: Season 15, Episode 1
- Original air date: November 2, 2003
- Segments: “Reaper Madness”, “Frinkenstein”, “Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off”
Homer kills the Grim Reaper with a bowling ball and has to take over the job himself; Professor Frink brings his dead father back to life, played by Jerry Lewis; and Bart and Milhouse find a stopwatch that can freeze time.
Why it ranks here: All three segments were written by the legendary John Swartzwelder, and it shows. Jerry Lewis, whose Nutty Professor inspired Frink, voicing Frink’s father is perfect casting.
11. Treehouse of Horror IX
- Season and episode: Season 10, Episode 4
- Original air date: October 25, 1998
- Segments: “Hell Toupée”, “The Terror of Tiny Toon”, “Starship Poopers”
Homer gets a hair transplant from executed criminal Snake and is possessed by it, Bart and Lisa are trapped inside an extremely violent Itchy & Scratchy Halloween special, and Marge reveals that Maggie’s real father is the alien Kang.
Why it ranks here: “Starship Poopers” ends with a Jerry Springer episode that is as absurd as anything the show has done, and Robert Englund voicing Freddy Krueger in the opening is a treat for horror fans.
10. Treehouse of Horror XXXIII
- Season and episode: Season 34, Episode 6
- Original air date: October 30, 2022
- Segments: “The Pookadook”, “Death Tome”, “Simpsons World”
Marge reads Maggie a bedtime story about a murderous spirit in a Babadook parody, Lisa finds a notebook that kills anyone whose name she writes in an anime-style Death Note spoof, and the Westworld parody Simpsons World has android versions of the family reenacting old episodes for park visitors.
Why it ranks here: This is the best modern Treehouse of Horror, and it won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. “Death Tome” was animated by DR Movie, the South Korean studio that assisted with the animation of the original Death Note anime.
9. Treehouse of Horror X
- Season and episode: Season 11, Episode 4
- Original air date: October 31, 1999
- Segments: “I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did”, “Desperately Xeeking Xena”, “Life’s a Glitch, Then You Die”
The Simpsons accidentally run over Ned Flanders in the fog and are haunted by an unseen witness; Bart and Lisa gain superpowers and must rescue Lucy Lawless from the Comic Book Guy’s alter ego, The Collector; and Homer, the plant’s Y2K compliance officer, causes the end of the world on New Year’s Eve 1999.
Why it ranks here: A perfect 1999 time capsule, from Y2K panic to the superhero craze, with a great werewolf twist for Flanders and Lucy Lawless playing herself.
8. Treehouse of Horror I
- Season and episode: Season 2, Episode 3
- Original air date: October 25, 1990
- Segments: “Bad Dream House”, “Hungry Are the Damned”, “The Raven”
The Simpsons move into a haunted house inspired by Poltergeist and The Amityville Horror, the family is abducted by the aliens Kang and Kodos in a story inspired by The Twilight Zone’s “To Serve Man”, and Lisa reads Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” with Homer as the narrator and Bart as the bird.
Why it ranks here: The one that started it all. It introduced Kang and Kodos, opened with a warning that it might be too scary for children and was the first episode scored by Alf Clausen. James Earl Jones appears in all three segments and narrates “The Raven”, which is still surprisingly faithful to Poe.
7. Treehouse of Horror VIII
- Season and episode: Season 9, Episode 4
- Original air date: October 26, 1997
- Segments: “The HΩmega Man”, “Fly vs. Fly”, “Easy-Bake Coven”
Homer is the last survivor in Springfield after a neutron bomb hits the town, Bart uses Professor Frink’s teleporter to switch bodies with a housefly, and Marge is accused of witchcraft in the Puritan Springfield of 1649.
Why it ranks here: The opening with the Fox censor is one of the funniest cold opens in the series, and “Fly vs. Fly” is a perfect parody of The Fly. “Easy-Bake Coven” even explains how trick-or-treating started.
6. Treehouse of Horror II
- Season and episode: Season 3, Episode 7
- Original air date: October 31, 1991
- Segments: “The Monkey’s Paw”, “The Bart Zone”, “If I Only Had a Brain”
Told as nightmares of Lisa, Bart and Homer: Homer buys a monkey’s paw whose wishes all backfire, an all-powerful Bart turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box in a parody of The Twilight Zone’s “It’s a Good Life”, and Mr. Burns puts Homer’s brain into a giant robot.
Why it ranks here: This is the episode that turned the format into a tradition. It was the first to use the “scary names” gag in the credits, and “The Bart Zone” has a surprisingly sweet ending.
5. Treehouse of Horror III
- Season and episode: Season 4, Episode 5
- Original air date: October 29, 1992
- Segments: “Clown Without Pity”, “King Homer”, “Dial ‘Z’ for Zombies”
Homer buys Bart a cursed Krusty doll that tries to kill him, Homer is a giant ape captured by Mr. Burns in a black-and-white King Kong parody, and Bart accidentally raises the dead from the Springfield cemetery with a book of magic.
Why it ranks here: Three stone-cold classics. The evil Krusty doll is pure nightmare fuel, “King Homer” looks fantastic, and “Dial ‘Z’ for Zombies” gave us Homer and his shotgun, Zombie Shakespeare and Flanders as a zombie.
4. Treehouse of Horror VII
- Season and episode: Season 8, Episode 1
- Original air date: October 27, 1996
- Segments: “The Thing and I”, “The Genesis Tub”, “Citizen Kang”
Bart discovers he has an evil twin named Hugo who has been kept in the attic, Lisa’s school project accidentally creates a tiny civilization in a petri dish, and Kang and Kodos impersonate Bill Clinton and Bob Dole to win the 1996 presidential election.
Why it ranks here: “Citizen Kang” is arguably the best political satire the show has ever done, and “Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others!” is one of the most quoted lines in Simpsons history. “The Genesis Tub” was also one of the first uses of computer animation on the show.
3. Treehouse of Horror VI
- Season and episode: Season 7, Episode 6
- Original air date: October 29, 1995
- Segments: “Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores”, “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace”, “Homer³”
Springfield’s giant advertising mascots come to life after Homer steals Lard Lad’s doughnut, Groundskeeper Willie hunts the children in their dreams in a Nightmare on Elm Street parody, and Homer gets trapped in a strange three-dimensional world behind the bookcase.
Why it ranks here: “Homer³” was groundbreaking: a fully computer-animated segment made with Pacific Data Images that still feels ambitious today, and its ending was the first live-action scene in Simpsons history. Add Paul Anka singing “Just Don’t Look” and a dream-stalking Willie, and you get one of the most inventive episodes ever.
2. Treehouse of Horror IV
- Season and episode: Season 5, Episode 5
- Original air date: October 28, 1993
- Segments: “The Devil and Homer Simpson”, “Terror at 5½ Feet”, “Bart Simpson’s Dracula”
Homer sells his soul to the devil, who looks exactly like Ned Flanders, for a single doughnut; Bart sees a gremlin destroying the school bus in a parody of The Twilight Zone’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”; and the family visits Mr. Burns’ castle in Pennsylvania, where Burns turns out to be a vampire.
Why it ranks here: Devil Flanders, Homer’s trial and his head turning into a doughnut: this is peak Simpsons. It was co-written by Conan O’Brien in his final assignment for the show, and “Bart Simpson’s Dracula” is a perfect send-up of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with a Lost Boys twist.
1. Treehouse of Horror V
- Season and episode: Season 6, Episode 6
- Original air date: October 30, 1994
- Segments: “The Shinning”, “Time and Punishment”, “Nightmare Cafeteria”
The Simpsons become caretakers at Mr. Burns’ mountain lodge, where no TV and no beer drive Homer insane; Homer turns his broken toaster into a time machine and keeps changing the present; and Springfield Elementary solves its overcrowded detention problem by eating the students.
Why it ranks here: For me, this is the greatest Treehouse of Horror of all time. “The Shinning” is one of the best parodies the show has ever produced, “Time and Punishment” may be the funniest time travel story on television (Ned Flanders as lord and master of the world!), and “Nightmare Cafeteria” is gloriously grim. Not a wasted second.
Honorable Mention: Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It
Not a classic three-segment episode, so I kept it out of the main ranking, but “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It” (Season 34, Episode 5, aired October 23, 2022) deserves a mention. Written by Cesar Mazariegos and directed by Steven Dean Moore, it is a full-length parody of Stephen King’s It and It Chapter Two.
Treehouse of Horror XXXVII: When It Airs in 2026
Treehouse of Horror XXXVII (Season 38, Episode 4) airs on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 8:00 PM ET/PT on FOX and streams the next day on Hulu. Directed by David Silverman and written by Joel H. Cohen, Jessica Conrad and Tim Long, it opens with a stop-motion homage to The Nightmare Before Christmas made by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, the studio behind Robot Chicken. According to FOX, Marge gets a horrifying new perspective on marriage, Bart and Santa’s Little Helper embark on a bone-chilling adventure and Homer takes a driving lesson. Tiffany Haddish and Jeff Probst are guest voices.
It is not the only Halloween episode this season: “Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening” (Season 38, Episode 3) already aired on October 18, 2026. Once I have seen XXXVII, I will decide if it earns a spot on this list.
Final Words
After 37 editions, Treehouse of Horror is still the most creative corner of The Simpsons. The golden run from II to VIII is almost untouchable, but episodes like XXXIII and the Parasite parody in XXXII prove the tradition still has bite. If you only watch one this Halloween, make it Treehouse of Horror V. And for more TV and movie coverage, including our Clayface review, check out our Movies & Shows section.
What is your favorite Treehouse of Horror episode, and which segment did I rank way too low? Let me know in the comments.
Want to stay in the spooky mood with a controller in your hand? Here are the best Halloween games to play in 2026.
Keep the adventure going! More Movie & Show coverage here: Movies & Shows
Pictures: apasciuto (Flickr), CC BY 2.0, Scott Jones (Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0, Eliedion, CC BY-SA 4.0, all via Wikimedia Commons
