• Directed by: Carlos Baeza
• Written by: Al Jean & Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky, Sam Simon & Jon Vitti
• Airdate: October 29, 1992

     The episode begins with, this time, Homer walking out onto the stage, filling in the outline of the famous Alfred Hitchcock silhouette. He warns people that the episode is very scary and that they should turn their televisions off. When the audience doesn't oblige, Homer calls them chicken and begins to mock them before the screen is turned off on him.
     This year, the wraparound involves the Simpsons hosting a Halloween party and telling stories once Homer ruins a game. The first story is told by one Lisa.

Clown Without Pity
     It's Bart's birthday, which means, being the great parent that he is, Homer forgot to get him a present. He heads down to the House Of Evil Shoppe to find a gift. The shopkeeper hands him a Krusty doll but warns him of its evilness. This leads into one of the greatest back and forth sequences of the show's history. Returning home, and knocking Milhouse out in the process, Homer gives Bart his present.
     While watching T.V, Krusty the Doll threatens to kill Homer, coming after him with a knife, but his plan is foiled when the rest of the family enters the room. He is attacked again later that day while taking a bath. Later, as Krusty the Doll is talking to a Malibu Stacy cheerleader doll, Homer captures him and drops him in a bag of socks. He tries to get rid of the doll in a pit in what appears to be the middle of the forest, but the doll gets home the same way Robert De Niro hitches rides. Back at home, the doll attempts to drown Homer in the dog's water dish and Marge calls the doll's help line. It is revealed that someone had switched the doll from "Good" to "Evil."
     A loving Krusty doll is then used to do chores for Homer. He heads home after one night of work (home being Lisa's dollhouse) and spends the night with his Malibu Stacy girlfriend/wife.

     Grampa tells the next story after Homer's ridiculous failed attempt.

King Homer
     Marge is hired by Mr. Burns as bait to capture a giant ape by the name of King Homer. Burns hopes to take the giant ape back to Springfield and put it on stage alive or, if the ape is dead, sell it as stew to the army. Homer is eventually captured (after eating Smithers) and taken back to the city, put on stage for show as intended.
     As the media takes photos, Homer becomes enraged and breaks free. He kidnaps Marge and begins to climb a large building, only making it up a few feet before collapsing. Marge, having had an emotional connection to the dumb animal, decides to marry it, even after he eats her father at the wedding.

     Back in the wraparound, Marge attempts to give the kids fruit before a headless zombie breaks in the door and scares the crap out of everyone. But it's not a real zombie, oh no, it's just Ned Flanders. Oh, that silly Ned! I'm sure your God is proud of you for dressing up as an undead minion of Satan. Having served his purpose, we move on from Ned to Bart's tale.

Dial Z For Zombie
     After doing a report on a preschooler's book, Ms. Krabappel makes Bart read another book. In the library he notices something he hasn't seen before, the large occult section. Taking out a book on zombies, he reads the rules of zombie-isms to Lisa, who is distraught as tonight is the four year anniversary of Snowball I's death. This gives Bart the idea to raise the cat from the dead, because we all know that's worked out well for others in the past.
     Instead of bringing the cat back, Bart accidentally raises the human dead. The zombies attack the town and the Simpsons decide to hit up the "book depository" in order to find a spell that reverses the effect. Before they get there though, Homer kills zombie Flanders and follows it up with an exchange with Bart that has become undoubtedly one of the greatest moments and oft-repeated quotes in the shows history. In the school, Homer kills a few undead famous people (ie: Einstein, Shakespeare, and Washington). In the occult section, after accidentally turning Lisa into a snail for a few seconds, Bart is able to reverse the spell, sending the undeads back to the deads.

     The episode ends with a subtle kick to the audience, referencing them as zombies.

     Going in Treehouse of Horror order, ToH III is where you can really tell that the writing crew was on fire. There are barrages of jokes, references and one-off gags that all feel fresh whenever you re-watch. The Clown Without Pity and Dial Z For Zombie have a joke seemingly every second, while the King Homer story is a lot more subtle and slower in its execution but still contains amazing quotes. The wraparound has its share of gags as well and, with it being a costume party, gave the writers and animators the ability to work in many great film and television characters in the room.

     Clown Without Pity is the Simpsons take on the killer doll genre. The tale starts off well, with Homer acknowledging the fact that he forgot to get Bart his present, but "don't worry, I'll go get you one right now." The shopkeeper from the store where Homer purchases the doll is a reference to the shopkeeper in Gremlins and contains one of my (and probably others) favourite back and forth bits of dialogue in the show's history. It was writing like this, sharp, subtle and hilarious, that made the early Simpsons such an achievement in comedic writing and timing.

     King Homer is a different direction than Clown Without Pity and, later, Dial Z. It is still very funny, but it goes for the more subtle jokes than the laugh-out-loud ones. The characters were chosen right for their roles, especially Burns, who has some great lines and movements in this bit. There is also the infamous "We all know what you think" line directed at Smithers in this tale, which is delivered so dry and off-handedly by Harry Shearer that it comes off not as a nudge-nudge to the continuing joke of Smithers' sexuality, but more like Burns' regretting asking the question because he should've known what Smithers' answer was going to be. The look and feel of the tale is also fantastic, a great throwback emanating the 30's style impeccably. I haven't seen this episode in a long time and remembered this section as being kind of dry. I don't know why I thought that, because it is just as enjoyable as the other two tales. Maybe it was simply because it was put in between two tales that focused more on laughs.

     The last story is one of the most oft remembered segments in Treehouse history, and one that is filled with so many quick gags and jokes that your head will spin like Skinner's while it's being kicked back and forth by the bullies in the street. One of my favourite, subtler gags I found this time around was that once he raised the dead, Bart doesn't appear to be so shocked. As if he knew that this was an unavoidable possibility. Homer's heroic run is also great, starting from the murder of Flanders' (which may rank as one of the most quoted moments ever from the series), to the relentless taking down of cultural figures. It is a great rollercoaster ride that sets up quick and never lets you catch your breath.

     Re-watching this again, after so long, has made me realize that this is one of my favourite Halloween specials the show has produced. Clown and Dial Z move by at such a quick pace that it's almost impossible to absorb all of the jokes at once, while King, though not as quick, also has great gags in its short time. It's also worth mentioning that each segment has given the series one major gag that has entered the mix of people's favourite jokes. Clown has the back and forth between Homer and the Shopkeeper, King has that specific Burns and Smithers exchange near the beginning, and Dial Z has the Flanders murder follow-up line. You look back at episodes and moments like the ones contained here and you wonder how the hell people could fit so many jokes into such a small amount of time, and back to back to back to back…. to back. Not to mention the wraparound has its own gags, and the episode starts off with one that many may have taken a while to really notice. When Homer stands into Hitchcock's silhouette outline, you see that his stomach is larger than that of Hitchcock's himself. I cannot praise this Treehouse more. It's one of the all-time best.

Favourite Quotes And Bits

Homer: Good evening. I've been asked to tell you that the following show is very scary, with stuff that might give your kids nightmares. You see, there are some crybabies out there—religious types, mostly—who might be offended. If you are one of them, I advise you to turn off your set now. Come on, I dare ya! Chicken! (chicken noises, TV is turned off) Oh.

Clown Without Pity
* "Your One Stop Evil Shop" *
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(Homer is in the process of buying the Krusty doll)
Shopkeeper: Take this object, but beware—it comes with a terrible curse.
Homer: Ooh, that's bad.
Shopkeeper: But it comes with free frogurt.
Homer: That's good.
Shopkeeper: The frogurt is also cursed.
Homer: That's bad.
Shopkeeper: But you get your choice of free topping.
Homer: That's good.
Shopkeeper: The toppings contain potassium benzoate. (Homer stares blankly) That's bad.
Homer (pause): Can I go now?
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Grampa: That doll is evil, I tells ya! Evil! E-E-Evil!
Marge: Grampa, you said that about all the gifts.
Grampa: I just want attention.
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(Homer is escaping the killer doll, running from the tub naked through the kitchen and past Selma, Patty and Marge)
Patty: There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality.
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Homer: Marge, the doll's trying to kill me and the toasters been laughing at me!
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Wraparound
(Homer has the flashlight as he finishes up his story)
Homer: -- so then his wife comes through the door!
Bart: So?
Homer: Did I mention she was dead?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Well, she is. And she hit him in the head with a golf club!
Bart: And?
Homer: Don't you remember? He went golfing all the time and it really bugged her.
Lisa: You said he went bowling.
Homer: D'oh!
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King Homer
(about Marge)
Burns: What do you think, Smithers?
Smithers: I think women and seamen don't mix.
Burns: Oh, we know what you think.
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Carl: I heard we're going to Ape Island.
Lenny: Yeah, to catch a giant ape. I wish we were going to Candy Apple Island.
Man: Candy Apple Island? What's there?
Carl: Apes, but they ain't so big.
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Burns: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Homer, the Eighth Wonder Of The World!
Barney: Wow, look at the size of that platform!
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Dial Z For Zombie
Bart: From A- Apple to Z- Zebra, Babies First Pop Up Book is 26 pages of alphabetic adventure.
Krabappel: Bart, you mean to tell me you read a book intended for preschoolers?
Bart: Well, most of it.
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Lisa: Bart, you cast the wrong spell! Zombies!
Bart: Lisa, please, they prefer to be called "the living impaired."
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Lisa: Dad, we did something very bad!
Homer: Did you wreck the car.
Bart: No.
Homer: Did you raise the dead?
Lisa: Yes!
Homer: But the car's okay?
Bart: Uh-huh.
Homer: Alright then.
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Flanders: Hey, Simpson, I'm feeling mighty peckish. Mind if I chew your ear?
(Homer shoots him)
Bart: Dad, you killed zombie Flanders!
Homer: He was a zombie?
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(the family sits on the couch, watching TV)
Marge: I'm sure glad we didn't get turned into zombies.
Bart: Shh, TV.
(sounds of thudding)
Homer: Man fall down. Funny.