The Simpsons is turning its annual Treehouse of Horror tradition into something much bigger for 2026, with two horror-themed episodes airing in October, a 31-day countdown calendar, new collectibles, the complete Treehouse of Horror comic series arriving in one massive box set and enough themed food to keep Homer occupied well past Halloween.
The centerpiece remains Treehouse of Horror XXXVII, which premieres Sunday, October 25 on Fox. That date has some history behind it. The original Treehouse of Horror aired on October 25, 1990, putting this year’s installment exactly 36 years after viewers first watched Bart and Lisa trade scary stories from the family treehouse.
Treehouse of Horror XXXVII once again consists of three separate stories, with this year’s collection pulling from some familiar horror and fantasy territory. One segment finds Marge facing a strange marital problem after Homer enters the shed and seemingly emerges as a different husband. Another mixes Freaky Friday with Stephen King’s Pet Sematary as Bart and Santa’s Little Helper wind up swapping bodies.
The third story jumps ahead to teenage versions of Bart and Lisa, who discover that Homer vanished years earlier and has become trapped inside an endless collection of dangerous driver’s education films thanks to witchy versions of Patty and Selma.
There will also be a stop-motion sequence created by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios that spoofs Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Tiffany Haddish guest stars in the episode as Marge’s best friend, while David Silverman directs from stories written by Joel H. Cohen, Jessica Conrad and Tim Long.
Treehouse of Horror XXXVII isn’t the only Springfield nightmare airing this month. One week earlier, Fox will debut Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening on October 18. The standalone horror episode brings a killer to Springfield with the promise that no member of the Simpson family is safe.
Kidrobot is adding another batch of Springfield monsters with its Treehouse of Horror Blind Box Mini Figure Series 2. There are 13 characters in the assortment, including Homerzilla and the Evil Krusty Doll, along with two mystery chase figures. Each blind box contains one approximately 3-inch vinyl figure.
The Halloween celebration is making another trip back to the printed page on October 13. Abrams ComicArts is releasing The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus 3-Volume Box Set, bringing the complete run of Treehouse of Horror comics together for the first time.
The $125 set collects all three hardcover omnibus volumes inside a new glow-in-the-dark slipcase and includes three frameable prints and a double-sided poster. The original comics began at Bongo Comics in 1995 and eventually ran for 23 issues, allowing guest writers and artists to take Springfield into stories involving monsters, science fiction and horror without worrying too much about what happened to anyone by the final page.
A much more limited edition will be sold through Abrams, with 500 copies featuring Matt Groening’s signature and an original sketch in the first volume.
For fans who would rather spend all 31 days of October with Treehouse of Horror, JAKKS Pacific has taken that idea literally. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Countdown Calendar contains 31 numbered compartments, each hiding a 1.5-inch figure or accessory inspired by the Halloween specials. The package opens into a display scene for the collection, while the artwork calls all the way back to the first Treehouse of Horror with Homer and Bart’s raven from the show’s adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven.
Treehouse of Horror has also escaped television and comic shelves this Halloween.
Jack in the Box launched a limited-time Simpsons menu in September centered around its Munchie Meal of Horror. The promotion includes Treehouse-themed versions of several menu items, Forbidden D’oh!nut Holes and six glow-in-the-dark collectible cups featuring Simpsons characters in Halloween designs.
Universal Studios is getting involved as well. Both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando have Treehouse of Horror-inspired food available during Halloween Horror Nights this year. Hollywood’s Springfield menu includes the Sloppy D’oh, Worst.Brat.Ever!, Road Scrapin’s fries, Pumpkin Spice Cold Boo and the Mmm…Forbidden Pumpkin Donut.
It has been a long journey from Bart and Lisa sitting in a treehouse telling each other scary stories.
The first special gave audiences Bad Dream House, Hungry Are the Damned and The Raven, while also introducing Kang and Kodos, who would become fixtures of the Halloween episodes. Treehouse of Horror eventually abandoned the original framing device, but the freedom to turn Springfield into whatever horror story the writers wanted never went away.
Thirty-six years later, Treehouse of Horror has become big enough to fill far more than one Sunday night in October.
Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening airs October 18, followed by Treehouse of Horror XXXVII on October 25 on Fox.
