The Simpsons’ Treehouse Of Horror Nailed Krusty’s Live Special, But It’s The Third Segment That May Keep Horrifying Me For Years To Come

by

Beware! The following contains spoilers for the newest “Treehouse of Horror” episode of *The Simpsons*, which recently aired on Fox and is available on Hulu.

Halloween isn’t complete until *The Simpsons* releases its yearly “Treehouse of Horror” episode! Thankfully, the 36th installment will air in 2025. Considering each episode has three spooky segments, that means over 100 hilarious spoofs of movies, TV shows, and classic stories have been created over the years.

The latest “Treehouse of Horror” episode (XXXVI) is consistently entertaining, with three distinct segments and a funny opening meme T-shirt. Like many of these episodes, the segments range from lighthearted and absurd to genuinely unsettling. The first segment is a darkly humorous take on America’s love of fried food, reminiscent of the movie *Jaws*, and seems to foreshadow the more serious tone of the final segment. Let’s enjoy these mozzarella logs while we discuss all three stories!

“Live” Krusty Specials Should Be A Yearly Ritual, With And Without The Horror

“Clown Night with the Devil” cleverly blends the nostalgic, slightly rough-around-the-edges appeal of classic Krusty the Clown shows with the spooky style of the 2023 hit *Late Night with the Devil*. It also draws inspiration from Jordan Peele’s *Nope* and many familiar elements from kids’ TV. Think of it as a Halloween special gone completely wrong, with the Devil – voiced by Idris Elba – causing chaos on a live broadcast. Michael Keaton and Ike Barinholtz make appearances, and it sounds like everyone involved had a great time.

I really enjoyed the stylistic choices, like the black and white sequences, and it seems like the people who made this segment had a blast. I hope they create another ‘live’ Krusty special for a future season, and maybe even make a whole episode in that style instead of just including it as part of a larger themed collection. I’d also love to see a longer Halloween special paired with a ‘Treehouse of Horror’ episode.

The show has successfully done this before, with funny parodies in 2022 and 2024, so the idea isn’t far-fetched – it’s more believable than a clown having a long TV career. I’d enjoy seeing more of Krusty’s parties with famous guests, but the recent episode, “Plastic World,” was a disappointing and unfortunately common type of story.

“Plastic World” Isn’t Really Horror, But It’s Terrifying All The Same

When *The Simpsons* tackles a serious issue with conviction, it can be surprisingly powerful. The episode “Plastic World” focuses on the growing problem of disposable plastic and its damaging effects on the environment. It illustrates this by imagining a future where the Earth is buried under layers of plastic waste – think Halloween buckets, soda bottles, fast food toys, and countless other single-use items, including an overwhelming number of ball pit balls.

It’s definitely an over-the-top way to introduce this concept, but that exaggeration creates a sense of impending doom – you just know the unbelievable will eventually become real. The scene where Lisa’s group meets inside a circle built from hundreds of car batteries feels less believable than the idea that so many discarded batteries even exist to *make* such a barrier. Milhouse’s joke about digging through layers of rubber ducks is surprisingly unsettling, and it really makes you wonder: where did all those ducks come from?

This section feels similar to the movie *Mad Max*, leading to some pretty violent scenes as Bart’s group tries to grab all the supplies. It’s not exactly a horror story, but the realistic consequences of this situation are genuinely frightening, don’t you think?

This eight-minute scene couldn’t fully explore the difficult challenges of living in that world, so it opted for a more playful ending. Homer and Marge, along with other characters, transform into strange, plastic versions of themselves, ultimately leading to a world filled with plastic Maggie clones – a bizarre yet visually interesting outcome. It’s a fun effect reminiscent of episodes like “Homer3” that showcased innovative animation techniques.

I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be another example of *The Simpsons* accurately predicting the future – that thought will definitely bother me. However, that’s just for this particular situation. I’m totally okay with the show predicting things like PBS personalities coming back to life.

Read More

2025-10-20 04:08