Treehouse of Horror XXXVII (2026)
A day before the episode, the new intro fully was shown on the internet. By now everyone knows it's a parody of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Easily one of the best things about this Halloween episode. They made a Simpsons variation of the famous song. Both having the same composer to a degree made this something truly special.
This was quite a way to kick things off. I really loved how they mashed Simpsons characters with those from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I would say easily among my favorite intros for an 2020 Treehouse of Horror episode. I have no criticisms it's a great intro. It's really rewatchable I already seen it a lot before the actual Halloween episode.
The first segment is Bride's Shed Revisited. I won't waste anytime easily the worst of the three segments. This felt like a major missed opportunity. They were to focus rushing out what essentially was the concept. This is based on The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. In the story, a husband goes into the attic. Then came back as a different man.
They parodied that with Homer going inside their new built shed. They went through a lot of Simpsons characters. Even Survivor host Jeff Probst gets in on that. Yes he's voiced by the actual person in the episode. This largely lacked terror beyond Marge kept getting husband swapped. The most actual horror was the strange, mess up ending.
Personally I would've had each husband after Homer went in. Replaced by someone worst than Homer in some way. Which easily could've led into many interesting directions. Marge kidnaps Homer to force both of them into the shed. Although they get back together they actually replaced Ned Flanders. Oh okay that's a mess up joke I'll allow.
It's not enough being an Halloween Simpsons episode. Both Flanders sons shotgun blasted the couple. Where they get shotguns is beyond me!!! It's difficult to say if this either was rushed or they quickly ran out of ideas? I wouldn't even be surprise it later gets revealed being both. The most creativity was having the two famous aliens show up for a cameo.
This playing heavily on swapping out concept. It was similar to a few previous Treehouse of Horror stories. Intrusion of the Pod-y Switchers from Treehouse of Horror XXIX. My main example being Heaven Swipes Right from Treehouse of Horror XXX. We had plant aliens swapped places with Simpsons characters that worked a little better.
I saw more actual creativity with Heaven Swipes Right. Where Homer dies but through a loop hole came back to life through different people's bodies. This strangely felt like a spiritual successor to that. This wasn't a good start to the horror anthology. It's far from the absolute worst I seen though. It's still a difficult sell to rewatch again.
I also gotta mention a regular Simpsons episode that also dealt with swapping places. The Bob Next Door where Sideshow Bob swapped places with his cell mate. He moved into a house nearby the Simpsons house. He does attempt to get revenge once again against Bart. Yes this was parodying a movie called Face/Off.
Rather than simply swapped out the faces. He went a step further to completely replace his skin with his cell mate's. Which already sounds more like something from an actual Treehouse of Horror episode. I felt this particular Simpsons episode was worth mentioning here. Bride's Shed Revisited is just alright at best.
The second segment is Dog Boy Afternoon. Easily the best of the three segments. I was a bit confused when I first found out about it. Now I can say this was such a weird parody concept that worked!!! Homer takes Bart and Santa's Little Helper out to dinner. Of course, Homer gets careless that caused the dog to get hit by a vehicle.
Two of them thinking the dog died took the body to a graveyard. Which doesn't even hide what they're parodying here. By accident, Homer actually killed Bart with a shovel. I won't be surprise it's possible to kill someone like that in real life. But damn what a brutal accidental death!!! After both the bodies were buried, their souls swapped bodies.
Now both are back at the Simpsons house with Bart now in Santa's Little Helper's body upset with Homer. Lisa figures out the two swapped places. Homer was nearby quickly leaving things to a rather unpleasant situation. Homer attacked the dog whose now in Bart's body while Bart attacking him. After he bite Homer, his dad decides to put him down.
Homer almost gets away with murdering his own son. Until Lisa's quick thinking led to such a violent kill scene. Homer's corpse was buried in the same graveyard as Snowball I. Now the two swapped bodies we get to see around Christmas. It's amusing to see Homer in Snowball I's body lol. In a rather mess up way this was a fitting punishment for him.
I got a couple Treehouse of Horror episodes to compare here. Bad Dream House from the original Treehouse of Horror episode. Dial "Z" for Zombies from Treehouse of Horror III. The Island of Dr. Hibbert from Treehouse of Horror XIII. Two of those are obvious since a burial ground was used. How I fit The Island of Dr. Hibbert in largely similar to Simpsons becoming animals.
I should mention Geriatric Park from Treehouse of Horror XXIX that does something. Similar with the elderly becoming dinosaurs a disappointing parody of Jurassic Park. Before I bring up the one segment from Treehouse of Horror episodes this reminds me of. Dog Boy Afternoon is a parody of both Freaky Friday and Pet Sematary respectively.
Fly vs. Fly from Treehouse of Horror VIII is my main example. I mean how the hell could it not be? Both centers on Bart swapping places with a different creature. A major difference being Fly vs. Fly is science fiction while Dog Boy Afternoon more supernatural. I would say this is more mess up than Fly vs. Fly though.
They didn't hold back when they needed to get gory. A regular Simpsons episode I wanna compare is I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot. Where the Simpsons goes through a couple pets in a single episode. Most of them including the original Snowball II died. I personally don't enjoy this episode for a lot of reasons. The episode ends renaming Snowball V to Snowball II which the cat looked identical.
The final segment is Vehicular Dad Slaughter. Teen versions of Bart and Lisa were in the process getting their driver licenses. They kept wondering where their dad was for seven years? It turns out their twin aunts were witches that worked at the DMV. They get tricked being sent inside driver ed films that end badly.
They guided Homer to escape those films. Their aunts pulls some dirty tricks on the way. Yes they do escape while the aunts gets sent to a section of Hell for terrible DMV employees. I guess constantly causing others to wait in long lines wasn't bad enough. This actually had some creativity to keep things interesting.
Once again I got a couple Treehouse of Horror episodes to compare. Treehouse of Horror VI through Groundskeeper Willie gets killed virtually the same exact way in all three segments. The Terror of Tiny Toons because the same Simpsons kids gets trapped inside television shows. Although that was more playing off science fiction while stretching one's imagination.
In vice versa, this was more on the supernatural side of things. Send in the Clones in Treehouse of Horror XIII was a bit obvious. We see a lot of Homer clones including the real one died the same way. Where the government used helicopters to flew over giant donuts as bait. Tricking Homers to fall over a cliff I bet the aunts loved that!!!
I've Grown a Costume on Your Face from Treehouse of Horror XVI. A witch gets disqualified from a costume content. In rage, she cursed the town of Springfield becoming their costumes. Which ended up backfiring because Maggie dressed up as a witch. The witch indirectly created another witch but a baby one.
Wanted: Dead, The Alive from Treehouse of Horror XXVI has Sideshow Bob repeatedly killing Bart. He does get karma when Homer killed him. Then Bart making some changes caused a revived Sideshow Bob being an abomination. Be Nine, Rewind from Treehouse of Horror XXXI involves both Lisa and Nelson stuck in a death loop.
Which so happened to be Lisa's birthday party. Eventually the two broke the loop to return things back to normal. My main example was Easy-Bake Coven from Treehouse of Horror VIII. Marge gets discovered as a witch. Along with her twin sisters decided to devour children. Then they tried a gingerbread man to start collecting candy from the village.
Thus, suddenly became the first Halloween. A vastly different witch story with the same aunts. It also ends up Homer calling his daughter Lisa a witch. The village starts chasing her following egging his own house out of stupidity. This was a strange spiritual successor to that. I still slightly prefer it over Vehicular Dad Slaughter.
Unexpectedly I got two regular Simpsons episodes to come. Marge and Homer's marriage renewal wasn't official. The couple decides to get married again. The aunts kidnapped Homer in the style of Saw series I wish I was kidding. Days of Future Future being one I couldn't ignore. It's among their What If Future episodes.
In this particular future episode, the original Homer died. Then Professor Frink kept cloning Homer repeatedly. Every single clone dies not long after each other. Then the professor confirmed he can't clone him anymore. Yet he did recreate what essentially was him digitally. Now existing an AI program it's a weird Simpsons episode.
I did enjoy the surprise gore in Vehicular Dad Slaughter. I just wanted things to be a little crazier. It's notably more entertaining as well as harder to predict than Bride's Shed Revisited. It wasn't a bad one to end the Halloween episode on. The actual length was a bit more justified. Honestly, I felt they did a good job with the segment.
Earlier I promised how does this compare to the other 2020 Treehouse of Horror episodes? I would say it's not even close to Treehouse of Horror XXXIII, XXXV and XXXVI respectively. I felt you could stick with that awesome intro with Dog Boy Afternoon you're good. Honestly, it was an alright Halloween episode.
Especially following the newer bonus Halloween Simpsons episode I already reviewed. I felt that's still the best overall Halloween Simpsons story we gotten this year. But it does help this one not sucking as bad as some of the other episodes. I would say you might find some enjoyment. Otherwise it's a tough sell making it 50/50 to watch this Halloween Simpsons episode or not?
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