• Directed by: David Mirkin
• Written by: Conan O'Brien, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Greg Daniels, Dan McGrath, Bill Canterbury
• Airdate: October 28, 1993

     We join Bart in a parody of Night Gallery, surrounded by painting, as he welcomes us and exposits about the secrets that they hold. Marge comes in and, after telling Bart to warn people how scary the episode is, leaves Maggie with him. Bart introduces our first segment; The Devil and Homer Simpson.

The Devil and Homer Simpson
     Parodying The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Devil and Homer Simpson begins in a dream, with Homer attending a donut fashion show. Waking and peckish, he realizes the work donuts have all been eaten. Exclaiming he would sell his soul for a donut, he is visited by The Devil, who happens to be Ned Flanders. After making a deal that his soul would belong to Flanders once he finishes the treat, Homer, in a half-asleep state, accidentally does so one night. Flanders agrees to let the family hold a trial to get Homer back, but he must spend the day in hell beforehand. At the trial, after their lawyer Lionel Hutz magically disappears out the bathroom window, Marge gets Flanders’ own chosen jury to agree Homer’s soul belong to her because of a promise he had made on a wedding photo. Flanders curses Homer to a lifetime of having a donut head, with the cops all waiting for him to go to work the next day, coffees in hand.

Terror At 5 ½ Feet
     On the bus to school once he has a nightmare of his death in a bus accident, Bart notices the appearance of a gremlin on the side of the bus, tearing it apart. He attempts to make others on the ride to believe him, but, when no one does, he takes the situation into his own hands and eventually knocks the creature off the bus with an emergency flare they handily have. The creature is picked up by Flanders. Arriving at the school, the others see the bus is in absolute shambles, but Bart is still wheeled off to a mental hospital for being disruptive. The gremlin appears at the window of the ambulance’s backdoor, holding up the dismembered head of Ned as he says hello to Bart.

Bart Simpson’s Dracula.
     There’s a string of suspicious murders going on, one possibly of the supernatural sort. Meanwhile, the Simpsons are invited to the Pennsylvanian mansion of Mr. Burns. Realizing he’s acting quite odd, Lisa pulls Bart away to investigate during dinner. They find evidence of Burns being a vampire in the basement but are attacked by vampires, Bart falling victim to Burns himself. Lisa attempts to warn the family, but Bart is returned “absolutely normal.” At home, Bart, having turned his friends into vampires, attempts to convince Lisa to join him. With the rest of the family realizing Lisa was telling the truth, they return to Burns’ mansion to kill him, as the death of the head vampire will reverse the effect on the others. At home, Lisa learns she is the only one of the family that isn’t a vampire, the head vampire being Marge. The family moves in on Lisa and then stop, breaking the fourth wall to wish everyone a Happy Halloween before, in a parody of A Charlie Brown Christmas, harmonize ‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing.’

     The creators had quickly adapted to the format of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, the second and third instalments building on their mastery of handling the three-story structure and wraparound, with the third Treehouse being, in my mind, underrated in how loaded with great jokes and gags it is. With the fourth addition, the Treehouse of Horror’s had cemented themselves as amongst some of the funniest, breakneck-paced episodes of the seasons.
     Besides bringing the laughs, the episode is also host to great visuals and animation. The design of the paintings that Bart passes by are all worth paying attention to, wonderfully referencing classic works of art in ways that don’t seem overdone or reaching. They are simple, substituting members of the family in place of subjects. It’s a nice touch, showing that not everything in the episode has to be hilarious while still being neat references.
     The animation goes into exquisite, contained over-the-topness motions in some situations, perfectly encapsulating the manic mentality the characters are going through; from the about-to-break movements of Bart as he asks “sweet, trustworthy” Milhouse if he believes him about the gremlin, to Homer freaking out about the paintings of the dogs playing poker (this one reminding me a lot of Homer’s upcoming freak-out in next season’s ToH). It’s an episode filled with many wonderful moments in direction and design.

     The Devil and Homer Simpson hits the ground running with its wonderful, and slightly bizarre, donut fashion show. It’s the perfect way to open up this episode, a great indicator for the designs and animation that will be thrown at us in the next 23 minutes. This segment alone is home to quite a few fantastic pieces, with the look of Marge’s hair as it gets sucked towards the hell portal, the design of the fire cage Homer is kept in as well as the design of Homer himself during his punishment (the blank expression on his face prior to it starting is gold), to the animation on Ned as he transforms into the giant Devil after Homer makes him angry.
     Speaking of, the decision to make Ned the Devil falls into the space of being obvious, but still completely brilliant. Harry Shearer is brilliant and is obviously having the time of his life playing the giddy Prince of Darkness; one who still completely retains Ned’s persona. The dejected “oh” he lets out after Homer’s soul is awarded to Marge is absolutely perfect. He’s upset about it, but it’s no real, important loss to him. And since we’re discussing Harry Shearer, his lines as Mr. Burns and Mr. Smithers here are also absolutely hilarious.
     If there is one way to end talking about this section, it’s one that should be a given if you remember any lines from this episode. Phil Hartman, as always, in just a few lines, steals the segment here (and almost the entire show). Every line Lionel Huntz gives is perfectly written and performed with mastery by Phil. The simple pauses he takes are just as hilarious as anything he says, which is saying something as all of his lines are great.

     Terror At 5 ½ Feet is probably the weakest of the three segments in this episode, but that’s not to say that it isn’t funny, because it has moments that are laugh out loud hilarious. The problem with it is that it seems to be taking it’s time more, building from one set-piece to the next while the other two seem to be speeding along in terms of jokes per minute (or even line).
     The opening interaction between the family is hilarious, with a joke set-up from Homer that comes back around in a ridiculously easy but hilarious way. Hans Moleman in his AMC Gremlin being rnu off the road is also a joke that is simple but still hits perfectly, along with the always great gag of a vehicle not hitting a target but still exploding.
     We are also treated to some great dark humour here, with Willie and his mule along with the fate of Ned. Ned’s fate, by the way, is kind of horrifying and always stuck with me when I was a kid. With such an abundance of characters in such a small space of time, it’s great to see how well they are all handled, each of them having a moment to shine, even Ralph. Plus, it’s always great to see Uter.

     Bart Simpson’s Dracula shares a very important aspect in common with The Devil and Homer Simpson; the decision to use Burns as Dracula (with Smithers as Renfeld) is obvious but still genius. It almost works too well, with the hairdo and the castle and sheer eccentric-ness all lining up perfectly.
     This segment has ‘Super Fun Happy Slide!’, which has amused me to endless delights ever since I first saw it. Homer’s hand motions are a perfect character moment that I absolutely love. And while there are plentiful moments that are endlessly quotable (the obvious joke involving Grampa wanting to kill Bart, Homer being fired after killing his boss, ‘beer kills brain cells’… pretty much everything else), the hardest I laugh every time I watch this episode is Yeardley Smith’s reading of the line; “Dad, that’s his crotch.” It’s perfect in every way. Lisa also has a great moment that people seem to miss. When Homer realizes that Bart is, like Lisa said, a vampire, the few second look on her face is just beautiful. It’s one of the greatest expression of someone being done with someone else’s BS over not having been listened to from a series that is full of it.

     The sudden turn into finishing the episode with a parody of A Charlie Brown Christmas is such a fantastic “screw you” that you can just picture the writers getting giddy when they thought of it. Add onto that, the episode leaves us on a great version of the Simpsons theme that incorporates the Addams Family theme wonderfully.

     Treehouse of Horror IV easily ranks among the best the series has produced. It is endlessly quotable with (and this should be no surprise) some jokes than are absolutely brilliant. Not only is it fast-paced in its stories and jokes, but it also has moments of beautiful and wondrous design and animation.

Favourite Quotes And Bits
Homer: Flanders!? You’re the devil?
Ned the Devil: Haha, it’s always the person you least suspect.
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Burns: Hmm, who’s that goat-legged fellow? I like the cut of his jib.
Smithers: Uh, the prince of darkness, sir. He’s your eleven o’clock.
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* ‘Daddy’s Soul Donut’… wonder how exactly the explanation of that to the family went. *
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Ned the Devil: Oh you Americans and due process and fair trials. This is always so much easier in Mexico.
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Marge: Homer, are you alright?
Homer (distressed): No.
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Anything Lionel Hutz says.

Terror At 5 ½ Feet
* I would kill for those Krusty trading cards *
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(feeling his bed after waking up from a nightmare)
Bart: I hope this is sweat
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Bart: I just had a vision of my own fiery death.
Lisa: And?
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Homer: It was just sitting in some guy’s boat!
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* Wang Laboratories, that made Wang Computers on Ralph’s shirts, went out of business in 1997 *
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* Is “I just made my last payment’ the ‘one day from retirement’ of car exploding? *
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Jimbo: Hey, there’s no monster
Ralph: you’re deceptive
Otto: I don’t see anything
Milhouse: Hey, who’s driving the bus?
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Skinner: Now, I’ve gotten word that a child is using his imagination, and I’ve come to put a stop to it.
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Willie: Me mule wouldn’t walk in the mud, so I had to put 17 bullets in ‘im.
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(driving by the school bus as Bart hangs out the window with a flare, fighting off the gremlin)
Homer: Hey boy!
(blows air-horn)
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Skinner: pull, Willie, pull!
Willie: I’m doing all the pulling you blouse wearing, noodle wacker

Bart Simpson’s Dracula
Kent: This black cape was found at the scene. Police are baffled
Wiggum: We think we’re dealing with a supernatural being. Most likely a mummy.
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Lisa: Dad do you notice anything strange?
Homer: Yeah, his hairdo looks so queer.
Burns: I heard that
Homer: It was the boy!
(I’m still kind of surprised every time I hear this line because I forget about it, and it catching me off guard always makes me laugh)
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Burns: Well, if it isn’t little, uh, boy
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Marge: This is dangerous. I wish we could’ve found a sitter for Maggie
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(after being told he can't pull the 'Super Fun Happy Slide' lever)
Homer: Oh, I guess killing will be good enough.