Springfield is getting another Halloween makeover, and this year’s Treehouse of Horror is borrowing from some familiar horror favorites.
Fox has released a new batch of images from The Simpsons’ upcoming “Treehouse of Horror XXXVII,” offering a closer look at the annual Halloween special ahead of its premiere on Sunday, October 25. The images reveal a nod to Ari Aster’s Hereditary, along with more of the stop-motion opening inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The Nightmare Before Christmas tribute is one of the more elaborate additions to this year’s special. Produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, the animation studio behind Robot Chicken, the opening transforms Springfield’s residents into characters from Halloween Town. Bart takes on Jack Skellington’s pinstriped look, Marge becomes Sally, and Santa’s Little Helper appears as Zero, Jack’s ghostly dog. Homer also gets a Halloween Town makeover as the Mayor. Check out Stoopid Buddyy Stoodios’ sculpts of the characters:
The stop-motion sequence brings the characters into the handmade animation style associated with Henry Selick’s 1993 film, giving The Simpsons an opportunity to revisit one of Halloween’s most recognizable movies.
The episode itself will feature three separate stories, continuing the anthology format that has been part of Treehouse of Horror since 1990.
One segment finds Marge dealing with a strange marital problem when a shed begins producing replacement husbands. The story takes inspiration from Holly Gramazio’s novel The Husbands, with Marge discovering that her domestic life can change considerably depending on who walks out of the shed.
Another story sends Bart and Santa’s Little Helper into a supernatural adventure involving a body swap. The segment combines elements of Freaky Friday and Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, putting Bart and the family dog in a situation that could have some unpleasant consequences.
The final segment jumps ahead to teenage versions of Bart and Lisa, who discover that Homer has been trapped inside a collection of driver’s education films. Patty and Selma also appear as witches, complete with DMV traffic cones serving as their hats.
The new images add Hereditary to the episode’s collection of horror references, although Fox hasn’t detailed exactly how Ari Aster’s 2018 film fits into the stories.
“Treehouse of Horror XXXVII” is directed by longtime Simpsons animator David Silverman, with stories written by Joel H. Cohen, Jessica Conrad and Tim Long.
The special arrives exactly 36 years after the original Treehouse of Horror premiered on October 25, 1990. That first Halloween episode introduced the show’s annual tradition of placing Springfield’s residents in stories involving monsters, supernatural encounters and parodies of familiar horror movies.
This year’s Halloween programming has already included Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening, which aired October 18 and brought a slasher-style story to Springfield.
Treehouse of Horror XXXVII premieres Sunday, October 25, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
