Jaws, Late Night with the Devil, and somehow Waterworld receive the “Treehouse of Horror” treatment in a fun, mostly funny Halloween installment 

One of the more compelling novelties of The Simpsons, a series that is now in its 37th season and rounding the corner on its 800th episode, is how certain elements have inherently changed over the course of nearly four decades of storytelling. The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror“ Halloween specials are nearly as old as the series itself, and their evolution has been particularly interesting. There are polarizing reactions to these episodes, doing riffs on non-horror media like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and stories that are more experimental than scary. There’s definitely a different energy to modern “Treehouse of Horror“ episodes, yet the anarchic tendencies remain. There’s a chaos to these installments that always makes them bewildering seasonal spectacles, whether they’re fully successful or not. “Treehouse of Horror XXXVI“ is a mixed bag, but there’s still a lot to love in it and some genuinely clever horror parodies that riff on old and new classics. 

“Treehouse of Horror XXXVI“ begins on a strong note with a Jaws-fueled parody titled “The Last Days of Crisco.“ However, there’s an especially anarchic introduction even before the first segment. Stan Kelly, a political cartoonist for The Onion, essentially recreates his infamous “Painful Procedural“ comic, which has been infinitely meme-ified as the “Sickos Haha Yes“ image. It’s truly surreal to see Matt Groening be put in the Sickos role, or why this, in particular, is being weaponized in a “Treehouse of Horror“ episode. That being said, it’s still in line with the chaotic “anything goes“ approach to the most recent “Treehouse of Horror“ episodes. Last year’s “Treehouse of Horror XXXV“ did the same thing with its lucha libre-inspired intro by Jorge R. Gutierrez. This year’s introduction isn’t necessarily better, but it’s absolutely the more unhinged of the intros and one that sets an appropriate absurdist baseline for the mayhem that follows.

“The Last Days of Crisco“ combines elements from both Jaws and The Blob in order to indulge in a very different style of body horror. The segment’s danger comes from a frightening Fatberg, a sentient grease monster who siphons this fat from his victims. The most interesting thing about this story is how it puts the spotlight on several solid supporting players, largely Lou and Moe. There’s still plenty of Homer and Bart in this segment, who basically do their best Rich Texan impressions as they fill the roles of affluent grease magnates who refuse to give in to this Fatberg fearmongering. Homer and Bart’s material works, but it’s Lou who really steals the show here, which is pretty rare for The Simpsons. 

There are some decent jokes in this story, not to mention some surprisingly graphic kills. Many of these individual pieces work in the moment, but the oddest thing about “The Last Days of Crisco“ is why these ideas are mashed together in the first place. It’s such an odd pairing of tones and sensibilities, right down to Homer’s ludicrous solution to this problem. It’s a relief that the “Smacken” doesn’t kill this grease monster and instead functions as playful misdirection. The actual circumstances behind the Fatberg’s demise are much more satisfying and signature Simpsons lunacy. It’s not easy to wrap up these “Treehouse of Horror“ segments that only get a handful of minutes to play around. “The Last Days of Crisco“ does the best with what it has and should at least have the audience laughing when it reaches its ending, even if so much of the story is confounding. Üter also meets a grisly end, which does conjure some peak “Treehouse of Horror“ nostalgia.

The machinations behind the episode’s first story may not make any sense, but the second entry is such a brilliant idea. Mashing up Krusty the Clown with the 2023 sensation, Late Night with the Devil, provides an entertaining opportunity to riff on one of the most exciting horror movies to come out in the past few years. “Clown Night with the Devil” pulls up lost footage of a cursed live taping of a very special Halloween episode of “The Krusty the Clown Show.” “The Last Days of Crisco“ had some gruesome kills that were all played for laughs, yet “Clown Night with the Devil“ is actually somewhat disturbing with some of its brutality. 

The concept of a possessed monkey tearing off someone’s face in front of a bunch of kids, only for the monkey’s head to get blown off with a shotgun, is pretty intense. Yes, this is The Simpsons, but this segment hits a little harder for its willingness to push some boundaries and create carnage that’s actually comparable to the terrors that are on display in the segment’s reference material. “Clown Night with the Devil“ even retains Late Night with the Devil’s creative mix of both black-and-white and color footage to really nail the point of its parody.

This is definitely the strongest of the episode’s segments, and there’s some fun meta commentary to take from it all that suggests that perhaps The Simpsons has only been on for 37 seasons because of some sinister deal with Satan. The majority of the episode’s guest stars are also concentrated in “Clown Night with the Devil,“ which includes Michael Keaton, Ike Barinholtz, and Idris Elba as the Devil. It would also be an interesting experiment to do a future Halloween episode that’s entirely a Krusty Halloween Special that’s filled with broad horror sketch comedy and variety acts. The abundance of additional holiday specials for FOX programs like The Simpsons and Family Guy makes such an idea increasingly possible. 

“Treehouse of Horror XXXVI“ rounds things out with an aesthetically ambitious Waterworld pastiche that’s called “Plastic World.“ Traces of Mad Max are also thrown in for good measure, but there’s a certain gonzo brilliance in what’s left of society desperately searching for dirt as their salvation. There are some real “Homer3“ vibes in “Plastic World“ as this dystopian future experiments with mixed media. All the episode’s plastic material is conveyed through real plastic, rather than the series’ standard animation. Ironically, “Plastic World“ is the episode’s most disposable segment. It seems like it purely exists to impress on a visual level. Even still, there are some clunkier moments that make “Plastic World“ look like an interstitial ad that would air between Nickelodeon programming. “Plastic World“ becomes an opportunity to showcase The Simpsons universe through a unique medium, but it’s hardly a scary story, despite its dystopian setup. It also lacks the hyperbolized bloodshed that punctuates the episode’s first two segments. 

“Treehouse of Horror XXXVI” isn’t The Simpsons’ best or worst Halloween special, but it at least manages to be memorable. This may seem like low-hanging fruit, but it’s become more of a challenge as the series moves closer to its 40th Halloween installment. “Treehouse of Horror XXXVI” isn’t The Simpsons at its smartest or most biting, but it’s an entertaining celebration of horror for the Halloween season.

The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror XXXVI” airs Sunday, October 19th at 8pm ET.