Treehouse of Horror III

Season 4, Episode 5, Aired
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Episode Summary

In this year's scarifying special, the Simpsons gather for a Halloween party and exchange ghost stories.''''Clown Without Pity''Lisa tells the tale of how Homer purchases a Krusty doll for Bart's birthday. Homer's life is quickly in danger though, when the possessed doll goes on a mission to kill him.''''King Homer''Grampa spins a Simponsized version of King Kong, with Homer cast as the title ape, Marge as King Kong's object of affection and Mr. Burns as the millionaire entrepreneur trying to capture King Kong and make a profit from him.''''Dial "Z" for Zombies
''Finally, Bart tells a story in which he casts a spell from a book of witchcraft and accidentally brings Springfield's dead to life. The only thing that can send them back to their graves is the right spell.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (18)

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  • this was a great treehouse of horror

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By cube2k8, May 15, 2010 Report Abuse
    in this annual treehouse of horror ep number 3 it starts off with a killer krusty doll that homer purchase for barts birthday and it starts to try to kill homer in the tub and then they realize it was just turned to evil. and the second part was about homer who is like king kong and it tells the story of like king kong but homer is the ape it was a good story i thought. and it has some humor in it and the third was the zombies in the town when bart goes to read a book from the restricted section and all the people are becoming zombies and killing others this was a good treehouse of horrormoreless

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  • THOH III

    8.0
    "Great"
    By futuramarama, Jan 10, 2010 Report Abuse
    The Simpsons have a Halloween party and tell 3 stories:

    Clown Without Pity- For Bart's birthday, Homer needs to get him a present at the last minute because he forgot. He ends up getting a Krusty Doll that is seemingly evil and wants to kill Homer.

    King Homer- A parody of King Kong. Not my favorite, it is actually my least favorite. Not very funny.

    Dial Z For Zombies- Bart raises the undead and now the Simpsons need to get rid of all the zombies before it is too late.

    The first and last segments are the best but the third is weak IMOmoreless

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  • "The Simpsons" continues its annual Halloween tradition with the third installment of the "Treehouse of Horror" series.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By meathead704, Oct 19, 2009 Report Abuse
    In my opinion, this episode is the best of the "Treehouse of Horror" series since the original. There are a number of reasons for that. Having the episode set during a Halloween party is a great idea. Seeing who is dressed in what costume was hysterical in and of itself. Another great point about this episode is that all three stories work. The first story has a number of great laughs. "King Homer" is yet another great "Simpsons" parody (and has an ending scene you won't soon forget). The highlight of the third story was Bart reciting the hysterical spells.moreless

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  • Awesome and funny

    7.5
    "Good"
    By Vaughn104, Mar 08, 2009 Report Abuse
    This is the 3rd treehouse of horror.This episode includes three stories as well of the other treehouses of horror. This one consists of, "Clown without Pity","King Homer" and finally, "Dial Z For Zombies" The first one (Clown without pity) is a parody of a twilight zone episode. King homer is a parody of King Kong and Dial Z for zombies is a parody of a Steven King Book. Now the episode is basically good but the best segment would have to be Clown without pity.King homer was funny and okay.Dial Z for Zombies is very strange and funny at the same time.I give this episode a 7 out of 10-VaughnD Productionsmoreless

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  • This Halloween Special set a new high for the series with "True" Horror themed stories, like ZOMBIES!

    9.6
    "Superb"
    By AdrenalinDragon, May 17, 2008 Report Abuse
    Whoa! This set a new quality of Halloween Specials. Two horror themed stories and one well written story. My favourite by far is Bart's zombie one because it was the one that felt the most like a Halloween story. All of them are excellent. The build up is that The Simpsons have a Halloween party in their house and they tell stories.

    "Clown Without Pity"
    Grade: A (2nd)

    This one defined Horror and could be scary if you were younger. This is Lisa's story. It didn't really have that many jokes but definatly had that Halloween theming surrounding it. This one's one of the more memorable Halloween stories and as usual another Simpsons classic.

    The story is about Homer getting Bart a present for his birthday. He buys him a Krusty doll. However, this is no ordinary doll! It tries to murder him with a knife! Marge gets worried that the doll is really trying to kill and and sends customer support in. It turns out that the doll's default setting was on "Evil" and not "Good". Once its switched the doll starts to be nice to Homer.

    "King Homer"
    Grade: B (3rd)

    Not really into the Horror theming. This is Grampa's story. It's basically a Simpsons styled King Kong, with Homer being the star and Marge being the lead actress. Mr Burns and Smithers are also there. I'd say this is the weakest one out of the three but it's still pretty good. Has a strange ending as well (not a typical King Kong ending).

    The story is about Marge, Mr Burns, and Smithers going to this island to find a large gorilla. They find him "King Homer" and Homer falls in love with Marge. Homer gets knocked out and sent to New York. He escapes and finds Marge and then they get married at the end.

    "Dial "Z" For Zombies"
    Grade: A* (1st)

    The best story by far. This is Bart's story. It definatly has the Horror/Halloween theming inside and is easily one of my all-time favourites. This one has the most jokes and is the most developed story out of the three. I liked it when Bart goes "Dad you killed the zombie Flanders!" and then he says "He was a zombie?" lol. Loads of memorable moments and definatly a Halloween story you can't miss out on.

    The story is about Bart, who finds a mysterious spell book in a school library. He goes to the graveyard with it and uses it to resurrect his old dead pet Snowball. However, he casts the wrong spell and resurrects the dead! Zombies start taking over Springfield and the Simpsons have to fight through them (Homer who's armed with a shotgun) and find the right spell book to reverse the spell. Bart and Lisa succeed and everything goes back to normal.

    Conclusion

    This really set a new high for Halloween Specials back in the days. I really liked this one, because it really defined what a Halloween Special is. It's a big favourite to lots of people and you can't miss this one out!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Goof: In "Clown Without Pity", when Homer leaves to buy Bart's gift, he exits to the left. However, he doesn't disappear entirely as the animators paused the frame and part of Homer's white shirt can still be seen on screen as he is heard running out the door and leaving in his car. Edit
    • In "Dial 'Z' for Zombies," you can see Pinchy's (from "Lisa Gets an A") grave saying "accidently eaten" with a picture of Pinchy on it. Edit
    • "Dial Z for Zombie" explains how Snowball I died. He was run over by Mayor Quimby's drunk brother Clovis. Edit

  • Notes

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    • In the movie, 28 Days Later, a joke said by Mr. Smithers from this episode was specifically referenced. The joke (featured in the segment, "King Homer": "Women and seamen don't mix" - a pun, of course, for semen) was mentioned as being the favorite joke of the whole series by the character Sgt. Ferrell in the movie. Edit
    • This episode was nominated for two 1993 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special. Edit
    • Some of the Halloween names of the show staff, included on this Treehouse of Horror: Bat Groening, Matt "Merchandising" Groening, Somewhat Shocking Sam Simon, Decaying Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kadaver Kavner, Nocturnal Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Psycho Smith, Scare Ya' Hank Azaria, Fearsome Harry Shearer Edit

  • Quotes

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    • (Homer pulls the Krusty Doll's string.) Krusty Doll: I'm Krusty the Clown, and I don't like you. (Homer chuckles.) Krusty Doll: I'm Krusty the Clown, and I'm going to kill you! Homer: (Chuckles) Didn't even pull the string that time... Krusty Doll: I said I'm going to kill you! (Points to Homer) You, Homer Simpson! Homer: Oh yeah? (Tosses the doll aside) With what? (The Krusty Doll pops up from the other side of the couch, holding a knife; Homer screams.) Edit
    • (Homer throws the Krusty doll into a bag of socks.) Krusty Doll: You think your dirty socks can stop me?! Well, they are...making me...dizzy...ugh! (Faints) Edit
    • Zombie Flanders: Hey Simpson! I'm feeling a mite peckish. (Evilly) Mind if I chew your ear? (Homer shoots Ned and the others gasp.) Bart: Dad, you killed the Zombie Flanders! Homer: (Surprised) He was a zombie!? Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Rescue from Gilligan's Island Homer and the shop owner have an exchange where Homer replies with "That's good," and "That's bad" a number of times. The same device is used between Gilligan and the professor in Rescue from Gilligan's Island. Edit
    • Psycho The Shrill-Violin-Knife-Attack-Music used when the Krusty doll raises his knife is a nod to the music cue used in the 1960 Hitchcock film Psycho. Edit
    • Famous TV Detectives Bart's magic words "Kolchak, Mannix, Banacek, Danno" are actually names of TV detectives of the 1970s. Edit

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