• Directed by: Wes Archer, Rich Moore, David Silverman
• Written by: John Swartzwelder, Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky, Sam Simon & Edgar Allan Poe
• Airdate: October 25th, 1990

          Our very first Halloween special begins with Marge stepping out onto a stage and warning viewers about how frightening the following episode will be. After all is said, and not necessarily done, we are thrown into the wraparound. Bart, Lisa and Maggie sit in the treehouse and tell scary stories to each other as Homer listens in. Bart takes the flashlight and takes us into the first tale of terror.

Bad Dream House
     The Simpsons move into a cheap, eighteen bedroom house which holds an evil presence. The walls in the kitchen bleed, there's a vortex to another dimension, and the light cord (probably quite enthusiastically) attempts to strangle Bart. Marge worries and wishes to leave, but Homer insists she "sleep on it."
     That night, the house almost makes Lisa, Bart, Maggie and Homer kill each other, but Marge's breakdown causes the house to lose its hold on the family members. Lisa tells the house that they could all live together in peace and the house asks them to step outside as it thinks about it. The house then decides to kill itself rather than live with the Simpsons.

     Lisa insists Bart's story wasn't scary, so of course Bart, being a man, tries to prove her wrong by telling another tale.

Hungry Are The Damned
     The story begins with the now infamous "getting the BBQ ready" in the backyard gag. Suddenly, a UFO appears and brings the family on board. There we meet Kang and Kodos (and now to a lesser extent, Serak The Preparer).
     There they are fed and shown around the spaceship, including the aliens having Pong! The family is then fed again, with the aliens not eating causing Lisa to become suspicious of the events. After dinner, the family is weighed as Lisa goes snooping around. In the kitchen she finds a cook book labeled "How To Cook Humans," which turns out to simply be a cookbook for humans but covered in too much space dust. As we all know, aliens with intergalactic travel technology knowledge have never heard of a duster. The accusations make Serak The Preparer cry and the family is taken back to their home, where they agree that Lisa is too smart for her own good.

     For the last tale, Lisa reads Bart "The Raven." I'm sure most of you know how it goes, and the story is pretty much presented word for word, so excuse me as I decide not to write a description.

     The first Treehouse of Horror is pretty mediocre. It's not all that humourous or filled with jokes, and most of the "funny" moments are now more "smile to oneself" than laugh or chuckle out loud, with all of the stories coming together well and having their own moments. It isn't a must see, but it is good for nostalgic purposes and comparing how quick and easy the writers would adapt to this new idea and format. I've always used to like the Raven portion of the episode the most, mainly because I love that poem, but re-watching it, I have to say that Bad Dream House is the one that I enjoyed the most out of the three.

     Bad Dream House is a good little take on the haunted house style horror films, mostly Amityville Horror. It also has my favourite moment in the entire episode, the phone conversation Homer has with the realtor. Hungry Are The Damned is more of a B-movie style bit, which I now found oddly slower than I remembered, though the BBQ gag is still great (and later inspired a twist of sorts in a later episode). The Raven is The Raven.
     One thing that I cannot forget to do before moving on is mentioning James Earl Jones. He has roles in all three bits (the mover, Serak, and the Narrator) and delivers in all three (even though he only has one line in Bad Dream House, it is one of the best). I love his Serak as well, and his narration of The Raven alone makes it so much more amazing.

Favourite Quotes And Bits

Bad Dream House
Homer: And here's a tip for your troubles.
Moving Man: A buck… I'm glad there's a curse on this place.
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House: Get out!
Marge: What on Earth was that?
Homer: Probably just the house settling.
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* Marge is unfazed by the bleeding walls.*
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* The family is certainly calm when Bart is being strangled.*
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House: They are all against you, Bart. You must kill them all. They all must die.
Bart: Are you my conscience?
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Homer (on the phone with the realtor): Mr. Plott, Homer Simpson here. When you sold us this house, you forgot to mention one little thing. You didn't tell me it was built on an Indian Burial Ground! No, you didn't! Well, that's not to my recollection! Yeah? Well, alright, good-bye. (hangs up) He says he mentioned it five or six times.
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Hungry Are The Damned
Marge: You speak English?
Kang: I am actually speaking Rigelian. By an astonishing coincidence, our languages are exactly the same.
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* Radish Rosettes are hard to make.*
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Homer: Nobody, but nobody, eats the Simpsons!
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Wraparound
Bart: Wait a minute, that's a school book.
Lisa: Don't worry, Bart, you won't learn anything.