Some holiday traditions wear out their welcome fairly quickly, like itchy Christmas sweaters or those chalky candy hearts on Valentine's Day. Others, such as The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, bring kooky, non-canon scare fare from America's favorite dysfunctional family. Since 1990, Marge, Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie have spoofed classic tales of terror from film, television, and literature to the delight of millions.This year, they celebrated their 28th Treehouse. Filled with the usual ghoulish delights, each segment skewered fear staples, including demonic possession in œThe Exor-Sis, a redux of Neil Gaiman's hauntingly charming modern fable, Coraline as œCoralisa, and the most amusing taboo, cannibalism, in œMmm...Homer, featuring celebrity œcooker-upper Mario Batali. Since this is The Simpsons, pop cultural references abound like wildflowers after a mmm...springy (*drool*) day.Here are every Easter egg and reference from Treehouse of Horrors XXVIII.
Candy Tales
The opening segment tips its hat to a familiar and favorite Halloween sight: a candy bowl awaiting the sticky hands of trick-or-treaters. In addition, the computer-generated animation style also spoofs long-running Bible-based series Veggie Tales, which relates the adventures of CGI vegetables like Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, and Junior Asparagus.
Appropriately, Veggie Tales inaugural direct-to-video release was œWhere's God When I'm S-Scared? and contained the segment, Tales from the Crisper. In it, the young asparagus gets freaked out watching a horror movie, before his parents calm him down and he meets the actor who plays œFrankencelery. Somehow, though, we doubt the two shows have much of a crossover audience, especially with Simpsons Halloween specials spoofing the Catholic Church and cannibalism.
Sweet, Sweet Candy
In the CG-candy intro, the Simpson family are all anthropomorphized candy¦ aside from Lisa, who's a healthy apple. For instance, Homer is an Oh Homer! (or Oh Henry! bar) and Bart is a "Barterfinger" - which Homer and Marge both joke means he's safe, because œnobody wants a Butterfinger, er, Barterfinger. The gag enjoys an added layer of meta-humor, since Bart and his family, to a lesser degree, were the spokes-cartoons for Butterfinger candy from 1988 on. After all, œnobody better lay a finger on my Barterfinger.
Additional family members represent different sweets: Homer sacrifices Grandpa Simpson, a packet of Senior (Junior) Mints, to save himself. Plus, Marge is a Marge (Mars) Bar and Maggie is a Ring Pop, with the lollipop standing in for her pacifier. The Simpson kids' cohorts also get in on the action, with Milhouse and Martin Prince as boxes of Nerds and Nelson Muntz as a Nelson (Nestle's) Crunch. Not to be left out, Patty and Selma are York Peppermint Patties, Moe is a Bazooka (Joe) Moe, and Superintendent Chalmers is a Chalmond (Almond) Joy. Alien adversaries Kang and Kodos also make an appearance as domed lollipops.
An Un-apple-peeling Urban Legend
During the candy bowl segment, Lisa bemoans how nobody wants her because she's an apple, griping about people being afraid of finding a razor blade in her. Marge tries to cheer her up, suggesting someone might dip her in caramel. Still, Lisa's sharp-tongued gripe refers to a dark yet widely accepted urban legend.
Throughout the 60s and'70s, stories made the rounds about unlucky trick-or-treaters receiving a lethal candy apple laced with poison, pins, or razor blades, courtesy of a neighborhood sadist. Fortunately, the horrific tales were little more than sensationalist news stories meant to warn kids of potential dangers and stir up circulation around Halloween. Despite a lack of proof, parental paranoia pushed suspicion on many an innocent holiday foodstuff (and oddball neighbor). As a result, many hospitals and schools offered free X-rays for concerned parents and inadvertently led, at least in part, to a preference for pre-wrapped Halloween treats.
Does anyone else smell a sweet, sweet, candy company conspiracy?
Simpson's Easter Special
Upon surviving the Halloween giveaways, the candy Simpsons wind up as leftovers in the pantry, next to a chocolate Easter bunny. The rabbit laments his forgotten treat-status, so, naturally, Homer condoles him by chomping down on him. While the family feasts on the forlorn bunny, the scene cuts away to a candy-coated œSimpsons Easter Special logo. Moments later, the pastel font is splattered in chocolate gore, reforming into the classic Treehouse of Horror title.
Although The Simpsons have several episodes centered around the spring holiday, they've never had a proper Easter special per se.
Maggie's œFirst Words
Maggie's general lack of speech is a long-running gag from the show's early days. During 'The Exor-Sis' segment, Maggie is possessed by the ancient demon Pazuzu. Upon levitating down the staircase, the red-eyed toddler exclaims in a gravelly voice similar to Mercedes McCambridge, who voiced the possessed Linda Blair in the film: œNo one leaves alive! After her œfirst words, Homer asks if anyone recorded them on their phone. Lenny instantly replays a video of a demon-red Maggie, as she floats, surrounded by flames. He then exclaims œshe's got red eye, a lark on red-eye reduction.
Technically, these aren't Maggie's first words. The youngest Simpson first speech came during Bart's daydream (hence, non-canonically) in œBart vs. Thanksgiving, when she blames him for her wordlessness, saying: œit's your fault I can't talk. Her first Treehouse words arrived in Treehouse V vignette œTime and Punishment. When Groundskeeper Willie warns Homer about time travel, Maggie axes him in the back. She then utters in the legendary voice of actor James Earl Jones œThis is indeed a disturbing universe.
Maggie's genuine first word is œdaddy, from the fourth season episode œLisa's First Word.
Take That, Exorcist!
Bits and pieces of the archetypal horror film have worked their way into various shows over the years. However, The Simpsons have surprisingly never directly taken on The Exorcist in their imminent Halloween specials. To rectify this, the series goes all-out in the 28th spooktacular 'Exor-Sis' segment, which appropriately kicks off with the tune popularized by the original film, Mike Oldfield's eerie 'Tubular Bells.'
Throughout the sketch, the writers insert numerous references to the classic film, including the discovery of a demon doll in the Iraqi desert -- which bears Matt Groening's signature before being tagged with a œPazuzu sticker and shipped to Homer (who mistook Pazuzu for pizza). The spoof also cribs the cocktail party interruption by a floating Maggie, as well as the gruff, demonic, voice.
Needless to say, no Exorcist spoof wouldn't be complete without a few sequences with the archetypal 360-degree spinning head, including one where Maggie's bound to the crib and Homer plays a sort of spin-the-bottle game with Marge about who gets to change her (lava-filled) diapers. Much like the possessed Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), Maggie dispatches several characters like Ned Flanders and Dr. Hibbert in grotesque manners.
After the demon leaves Maggie, even Bart gets in on the action, with his head rotating around. However, the Pazuzu panics once inside the boy, claiming Bart has a darker soul than anyone it ever possessed. Bart's pure evil is another long-running joke throughout the Treehouses. Bart winds up controlling the minion of hell, who bemoans that it's œworse than working for David Schwimmer lampooning allegations from former co-stars that the Friends actor was difficult to work with.
No Exorcisms at Pepperdine
During the Exorcist lark, Mrs. Lovejoy is the first to decry Maggie as a demon (as well as Marge's generic cola party foul). After she's dispatched, to Marge's verbalized relief, Ned suggests performing an exorcism to Reverend Lovejoy. He replies œI'm afraid they didn't teach me those at Pepperdine. While Treehouse of Horror isn't canon, this suggests the good reverend got his divinity degree at the Malibu, California college¦ but apparently didn't minor in demonology.
œA Touch of Pazuzu
One of the most horrific sequences in The Exorcist involves the demon-infested tween girl Regan. Strapped to the bed for her own protection (and everyone else's), the priests desperately pray over her to expel the entity. However, Pazuzu isn't your dime-store variety hellion and resists in every way possible, including explosively vomiting a green-gray liquid upon the priests which the special effects team created with pea soup and oatmeal.
At the beginning of the 'Coralisa' segment, Marge remarks that Maggie still has a œtouch of Pazuzu. Homer snorts, saying œat least she didn't throw up all over the place, after which Maggie coats them and the kitchen with pea soup. Since the writing staff is notorious for their running gags, her projectile bile also knocks down Chief Wiggum later in the segment.
Exorcist Crossovers
What Exorcist parody would be complete without a little cross-promotion? The Simpsons' long-awaited takeoff required a requisite priest appearance. To play their Father Damien Karras stand-in, they drafted actor Ben Daniels. Appropriately, Daniels plays Father Marcus Keane on FOX's The Exorcist series. On the show, he portrays the œIrish Priest, who's not particularly knowledgeable about demonology but still drives Pazuzu from Maggie.
Original Exorcist director William Friedkin also guest stars on the show, but he doesn't join in lampooning his horror classic. Instead, he plays Dr. Kenneth Humphries, who counsels Homer (and Marge) about his cannibalistic addiction in œMmm...Homer.
Catholic Jabs
In the segment, Ben Daniels' œIrish Priest does his best to exorcise Maggie. Before he can get started, though, he discovers a stowaway in his priest bag: everyone's favorite cantankerous pint-sized pixie, O'Reilly the Leprechaun. O'Reilly is famous as Ralph Wiggum's imaginary friend, who incites him to burn things. He also had Yoda officiate his wedding to the gypsy from the Treehouse XII chapter, œHex and the City.
To gauge Maggie's possession level, Daniel's character thrusts a children's book in front of her, causing Pazuzu to replicate the Fisher-Price See 'n Say Toy, saying œthe chicken goes [demonic screech and fireball]. He also asks Marge and Homer to cut the possessed child loose, prompting them to question him. He tries to put them at ease, saying œif you can't trust a Catholic priest with a child, who can you trust alluding to the Catholic Church's infamous cover-up of priestly child abuse.
No Escape from Jury Duty
When Pazuzu possesses Bart, Bart gains control of it. He then commands the demon to grow him a set of horns. Naturally, Homer mocks his new horns, joking that they're just nubs. To spite him, Bart sprouts massive antlers that impale Homer through the skull. He shrieks but quickly accepts his fate, hoping that his injuries will grant him a reprieve from jury duty. Using just about any excuse to get out of jury duty an American civic duty to serve as a juror in a criminal trial is a long-standing joke. However, the last scene shows Homer confined to the jury box, horn-impaled or otherwise. œDoh!
Sonic Appropriations
The Simpsons is renowned for their parodic tunes, such as fan favorites like Mr. Burns hilariously horrifying rendition of 'Be Our Guest,' from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, as 'See My Vest' or the musical version of Planet of the Apes featuring 'Dr. Zeus??' (to the tune of '(Rock Me) Amadeus' by Falco). Treehouse of Horrors XXVIII is no slouch either when it comes to spoofing songs.
The first installment, 'The Exor-Sis,' features a red-eyed, possessed Homer crooning a lullaby to his baby daughter. œWhen Pazuzu's Eyes Are Glaring, is a nod to the old standard, 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling' penned by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff, Jr., with music by Ernest Ball with its lyrics appropriately altered.
Later, during 'Mmm...Homer,' the balding patriarch once again regales the audience with another satirized song. His homebound gluttony-fest montage is set to Homer's tune of 'Left Alone Again,' an ironic nod to Willie Nelson's classic road song, 'On the Road Again.' Fans also get a bonus song, as hymnal standard 'Hallelujah' gets a deliciously blasphemous spin-off. When Homer first tastes himself, he's greeted by an epiphanous, inner-eyeball choir of the finger-shaped angels, who sing: œHey, you ate you. You tasted great, you.
Terrified Toy Story
While affected by Pazuzu, Homer creeps out Maggie with his disturbing song, but it also causes wreaks havoc on some living toys. A dolly flips her head upside down, and the wooden alphabet letters next to her flip into œ6-6-6. On the wall, the Happy Little Elves, often seen entertaining Maggie, bleed from their eyes. In addition, a Fisher-Price-esque farmer hustles his animals into the barn, and his wife scurries after, finding herself locked out. In addition, an aging version of Woody, the cowboy from Toy Story, puts one of his six-shooters in his mouth and ends his horror. Last but not least, an Etch A Sketch scrawls out œso long, suckers before wheeling itself off.
Button Eyes Caveat
The second segment, entitled 'Coralisa' is a takeoff of Neil Gaiman's darkly imaginative story Coraline, which was adapted into a 3-D stop-motion film by Laika Animation in 2009. In the story, Lisa discovers a poorly concealed doorway to an alternative world in her bedroom. The stop-motion animation realm which she calls impressive for a middle Treehouse segment features sweeter versions of her parents. They offer her a breakfast choice of tofu or kale and even play jazz with her (but she exclaims they're not better than me!). The only trouble is, they all have buttons for eyes (except Milhouse, who has one over his mouth). Much like the quirky story itself, though, Lisa's can join them under one condition: they have to sew button eyes onto her face. Naturally, she sacrifices her natural eyes.
In a twist on the tale, rather than having the Other Mother kidnap her parents, her real family becomes enamored with the parallel world. Whenever a family member disappears down the hole, ostensibly to search for Lisa, they don't return. The collected family members lead to a few gruesome consequences, especially when Homer decapitates Other Bart and Other Mother/Beldam morphs into an arachnid version, similar to the film. Still, everyone lives happily ever after as a bizarre, blended family.
Even Nelson Muntz gets in on the action as a zipper-mouthed spoof of Other Wybie (who had his mouth sewn shut). He ends the segment when Lisa unzips (and quickly rezips) his mouth for his trademark œha ha.
Authorial Voice
While Treehouse XXVIII's lovingly satirizes Coraline, it also includes some literal authorial voice. In the episode, her cat Snowball V finally speaks after decades, voiced by Neil Gaiman himself. Lisa is shocked when her cat converses in perfect English, especially when he extolls the virtues of cats being emblematic of intelligence throughout the ages. Of course, seconds later he's distracted by Lisa's œshiny flashlight and chases its light around the tunnel. Later, Snowball also explains to Homer that he can talk in reality but chooses not to so he doesn't œmake the dog feel stupid. In response, Santa's Little Helper arfs sadly.
GoT Cool-off
Before the final segment, 'Mmm...Homer,' Lisa walks onstage to address the audience, a callback to earlier Treehouses, and more-so the theater warning that ran in advance of Frankenstein (1931). During the bumper, she tells the audience no one will be seated after the next section starts similar to many movie theaters pre-film messages. She also cautions that the upcoming episode is œso disgusting, you'll watch Game of Thrones to calm down. Clearly, Lisa's alluding to the popular HBO fantasy show's penchant for shocking its viewers with graphic and disturbing moments. Now that's saying something.
Cannibal Camp
The delightfully taboo 'Mmm...Homer' explores what happens after the notoriously lazy Homer runs out of food. He accidentally eats part of himself... finding himself delicious. During the segment, the writers spare no gastronomical goofs. The morbidly amusing moments include a butcher chart of Homer, which lays out the various cuts of meats like tenderloins or t-bones. In addition, Homer jokes to Ned Flanders that he's a œme-gan, a gag on the vegan lifestyle which eschews all animal products. He also asks his neighbor for œspaghetti and me-balls. Nuff said.
Classin' It Up
After his chopped-off finger lands on the grill, Homer discovers his flesh is addictively tasty. By the time his family returns from vacation, he's eaten a sizable portion of himself. To cover up his missing fingers, he dons a pair of oven mitts. When his family questions him about it, he claims he was watching Breakfast at Tiffany's and thought he œcould be more elegant.
Of course, Homer's referring to the classic film, an adaptation of Truman Capote's novella. In the film, Audrey Hepburn portrays œwealthy socialite, Holly Golightly, who started life as a poor farm girl named Lula Mae Barnes. In particular, Homer's gloves allude to her iconic look from the film and its poster, where Holly wears a pair of long, black evening gloves.
A Homer Trend
After Marge discovers Homer's self-cannibalistic lust cannot be sated, she pushes him into therapy. She leaves after realizing Homer is a lost cause, but celebrity chef Mario Batali, depressed over a lack of normal ingredients, soon realizes the joys of cooking Homer. While later living at Separation Arms Apartments, Marge and the fam are invited by Batali to the debut of his Homer-inspired restaurant œChez Homer (which used to be the Simpsons' house). However, one posh diner is only the beginning.
In a brief montage, we're treated to a slew of popular restaurants inspired by the Homer-pophagous trend. Included are sendups of Burger King (Homer King), El Pollo Rico (El Pollo Homo), KFC (Kentucky Fried Simpson), Der Wienerschnitzel (Der Homerschnitzel), and Taco Bell (Fatso Bell). Boy, they sure managed to stretch Homer out.
Horsefeathers!
At the conclusion to the gluttonous 'Mmm...Homer,' Lenny wonders how the food industry managed to stretch Homer out, despite his status as a sizable gent. Carl, ever the know-it-all, tells his compadre that they stretched him out with bits of Barney, Comic Book Guy, and horse meat. Lenny is horrified, screaming œhorse! while sipping a drink from Homer's skull,
The joke spoofs the infamous horse meat scandal which rippled across Europe in 2013. It was discovered that several suppliers to major brands like Aldi, Taco Bell, and Burger King contained up to one-third horse meat. Aside from the age-old taboo against eating equine flesh, beef suppliers have a long history of fluffing up their so-called 100% beef products with less-expensive horse meat.
Blood and Body
At the conclusion of the auto-cannibal segment, Homer rests atop the clouds alongside Jesus. He quips to his long-haired companion: œDo you know what it's like to have everyone eat of your body? Jesus rolls his eyes, sniping back œYeah, like every Sunday, pal. Of course, he's referring to the metaphoric (depending on who you ask) weekly ritual where Catholics and Christians everywhere drink wine (or grape juice) and eat a communion wafer, which symbolizes ingesting the body and blood of Christ and absolving the consumer of their earthly sins.
What was your favorite Easter egg or reference from the spooktacular Treehouse of Horrors XXVIII? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments.