Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36, episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV”
While The Simpsons season 36’s Treehouse of Horror Halloween special wasn’t perfect, the outing’s best segment did make an ingenious decision by returning to a classic source of inspiration. The Simpsons’ annual Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials have been around for almost as long as the show itself. The first, season 2, episode 3, “Treehouse of Horror,” aired in 1990 and The Simpsons has provided one of these horror anthology parodies per year ever since. Some, like "Treehouse of Horror XV,” or “Treehouse of Horror X,” mark the beginning and end of eras in the show’s storied history.
The Simpsons season 36 episode 4 finally offers an answer to one mystery that has surrounded Homer since the iconic series began over 35 years ago.
Others are a mixed bag of forgettable spoofs, some of which don’t even focus on the horror genre. Season 36, episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV,” falls between these two extremes. Like the last two seasons of the series, The Simpsons season 36 has been a marked improvement on the show’s critical nadir, seasons 30-33. However, out of all 38 Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV” isn’t among the greatest. That said, the outing does include one of the best standalone segments in years, and the reason that this story works so well is the show’s history.
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXXV’s “Fall of the House of Monty” Is Based On Edgar Allan Poe's Stories
Treehouse of Horror Famously Adapted “The Raven” In 1990
Back in 1990, “Treehouse of Horror” ended with an ambitious segment that parodied Edgar Allan Poe’s iconic Gothic poem “The Raven.” Compared to the preceding parodies of The Amityville Horror and The Twilight Zone, this segment was surprisingly creepy. There were plenty of jokes, but guest star James Early Jones’ narration, combined with the dark story of the poem, meant the segment had a genuinely creepy atmosphere. In “Treehouse of Horror XXXV,” The Simpsons season 36 adapted Edgar Allan Poe for a second time, and the result was another atypically creepy segment that stood head and shoulders above its competitors.
The story benefits from the rich history of
The Simpsons
itself via numerous clever Easter eggs for longtime viewers.
Compared to “The Raven,” “Fall of the House of Monty” is a much busier segment. Although its title and basic setup are borrowed from Poe’s short story "The Fall of the House of Usher," there are also nods to "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Business Man," and "The Masque of Red Death." Despite this, and the fact that The Simpsons season 36 Treehouse of Horror Halloween special arrived in November, the segment is a triumph. Filled with allusions to Poe, the story also benefits from the rich history of The Simpsons itself via numerous clever Easter eggs for longtime viewers.
Treehouse of Horror XXXV’s Edgar Allan Poe Parody Is The Episode’s Standout
The Simpsons’ Second Poe Spoof Takes Its Scares Seriously
Like “The Raven,” “Fall of the House of Monty” is filled with atmosphere and genuinely creepy moments. Moe leaping to his death for the sake of eating a few peas on the way down is comically zany, but Homer’s death in a vat of boiling corn syrup is authentically chilling. Similarly, the ghostly apparitions that visit Burns ensure the haunting is hilarious by yelling “Jump scare!” whenever they startle him. However, the sight of their ghostly forms passing through a banquet that Burns made as a peace offering and turning it into piles of rotten, maggot-filled food is surprisingly grotesque.
By taking its horror elements comparatively seriously, “Fall of the House of Monty” excels where the episode’s earlier and later segments fall flat. A Pacific Rim parody based on the vaguest possible idea of political division falls flat as it attempts to center politics while simultaneously avoiding anything that could be construed as a political statement. The Venom spoof “Denim” isn’t as bad, but it mostly relies on gags about Homer’s symbiotic jeans having a mind of their own. In contrast, “Fall of the House of Monty” tells an entire story, and it draws from numerous sources.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Poe Adaptation Parodies A Netflix Hit
Treehouse of Horror XXXV Spoofs Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher
Not only does the segment function as a love letter to Poe’s work, but “Fall of the House of Monty” also parodies Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher. That miniseries was an atypically broad, darkly comedic offering from the horror legend that updated Poe’s story to center on a modern pharmaceutical dynasty and their gruesome deaths. Much like The Simpsons season 36 episode 4, “Shoddy Heat,” “Fall of the House of Monty” paired Burns with Agnes Skinner as his resentful lover. However, some of its plot beats were borrowed not from Poe, but from the Netflix show.
A warning from a ghost, who informs Burns about the future ill effects of his corn syrup empire, is illustrated similarly to the human cost of the Usher family’s pharmaceutical fortune.
The explosion in Burns’ corn syrup factory that claims the lives of Homer and the rest of the workers is framed like The Fall of the House of Usher’s memorably gruesome warehouse rave, although the victims are much more sympathetic in The Simpsons. Similarly, a warning from a ghost who informs Burns about the future ill effects of his corn syrup empire is illustrated similarly to the human cost of the Usher family’s pharmaceutical fortune. Where the Usher family profited off the addiction that their painkillers caused, resulting in a global opioid epidemic, Burns made his fortune from the divisive food additive.
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXXV’s “Fall of the House of Monty” Builds On Its Past
The Segment Is Strengthened By Constant Simpsons References
AlthoughThe Simpsons season 36’s Grampa age plot hole proves that the series clearly isn’t overly concerned with consistent canon, one of the best things about “Fall of the House of Monty” is its references to earlier episodes of the show. The Simpsons uses its own history to its benefit in “Fall of the House of Monty,” whether it is Agnes using the phrase “Embiggen” or Burns’ Escher-esque mansion featuring the impossible small hallway from Flanders’ badly rebuilt house. The geometrically impossible hallway built by Barney in season 8, episode 8, “Hurricane Neddy,” resurfaces here.
Re-contextualization of existing jokes proves that
The Simpsons
can use the lore of the show ingeniously.
This time, the construction is part of Burns’s nightmarish chase through his mansion. This re-contextualization of existing jokes proves that The Simpsons can use the lore of the show ingeniously. YouTube creator SuperEyepatchWolf drew attention to this phenomenon when he noted that season 34, episode 4, “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII,” featured a sequence titled “Simpsons World” wherein the show affectionately parodied its own history and fandom. With that segment and “Fall of the House of Monty,” The Simpsons has proven that the show can use its iconic earlier jokes to enrich and deepen the show’s new offerings.
New episodes of
The Simpsons
air at 8 pm on Sundays on Fox.
English (US) ·