Treehouse of Horror III

For the continuing series of Halloween specials, see Treehouse of Horror Series.

"Die, you freak!"

- Homer Simpson

"Dad, you killed the zombie Flanders!"

- Bart Simpson

"He was a zombie?"

- Homer Simpson

Treehouse of Horror III is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' fourth season and 64th episode overall.

Synopsis
In the third annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer buys Bart an evil talking Krusty doll, King Homer is captured by Mr. Burns, and Bart and Lisa inadvertently cause zombies to attack Springfield.

Opening segment
Homer's silhouette appears next to Alfred Hitchcock's iconic silhouette. He emerges and warns viewers that the following episode could scare certain viewers especially religious types as he believes, an announcement mirroring to what Marge did in the beginning of Treehouse of Horror and Treehouse of Horror II, warning viewers. He requests for the television to be turned off before daring viewers imitating a chicken. The TV screen eventually switches off, however, Homer and Marge could still be heard if not seen. The episode then pans to a cemetery and eventually to the Simpsons house, with the family in their couch gag as skeletons.

Set-up
The Simpsons are having a Halloween party, and they tell scary stories. The Halloween costumes include Homer as Julius Caesar, Marge as an ancient Egyptian, most likely Cleopatra, Bart as Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange, Lisa as the Statue of Liberty, Milhouse as Radioactive Man, Martin as Calliope, Nelson as a pirate, Janey as a princess, Wendell as an astronaut Lewis as Frankenstein's Monster Richard as Scratchy. and Ned Flanders as a headless zombie.

Clown Without Pity
In a parody of the Twilight Zone episode, Living Doll and Chucky from the movie, Child's Play. Bart's birthday is today and he had received multiple good presents and Grandpa's social security money. Unfortunately, Homer forgot and rushes out to buy something for his birthday. Homer buys Bart a talking Krusty doll at 'House of Evil' (your one-stop Evil gift shop) which also sells frozen yogurt called frogurt. Upon receiving the Krusty doll, Bart excitedly says "Great Caesar's ghost!", a catchphrase said by Perry White of the Superman comic book series. Although the doll is nice to Bart, it repeatedly tries to kill Homer (which no one believes). Homer captures the evil Krusty in a bag of dirty socks, which he then locks in a suitcase. He disposes of the suitcase in a "Bottomless Pit" and returns home, not realizing that the doll has managed to follow him. As the doll attempts to strangle Homer, Marge calls KrustyCo for help; a repairman arrives and discovers that the doll has been accidentally switched from "Good" to "Evil." He flips the switch back to "Good" and Homer uses the doll as a servant. The Krusty doll laments to his "girlfriend" Malibu Stacy, with whom he shares Lisa's doll house, "Today Homer made me give him a sponge bath!" However, the scene ends happily as Krusty gives Stacy a smooch on the cheek—until her head falls off.

King Homer
In a black and white segment which is a parody of King Kong, Marge joins Mr. Burns and Smithers on an expedition to "Ape Island" to find the legendary "King Homer". Mr. Burns captures the giant ape and displays him to the press on Broadway. The photographers' flashes enrage King Homer, who breaks free from his restraints. He abducts Marge and wreaks havoc, eating many people in the process. He attempts to climb a tall building, but is unable to get even one story above the ground. King Homer collapses in exhaustion, and Marge helpfully suggests that he eat more vegetables and less people. In the end, King Homer and Marge marry on the same day Dick Cavett is born (November 19, 1936). The story ends with the wedding, and King Homer eating Marge's father Clancy Bouvier, although Marge is brave and not upset.

Dial "Z" for Zombies
In class, Bart presents his book report to the other students. His book of choice? An A to Z alphabet book for the kindergartners. Ms.Krabappel informs him that the book is unacceptable as one for the report and he'll have to start again from scratch. While in the school's library searching for material for a book report (gratifyingly considering to choose a "Where's Waldo" book as his option), Bart finds a book of magic in the occult section. In order to make Lisa happy, he tries to resurrect Snowball I for her, but ends up casting the wrong spell and accidentally reanimates hundreds of human corpses instead. The zombies terrorize Springfield, turning several people, including Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Edna Krabappel, and the bullies, into zombies. Meanwhile, the Simpson family has barricaded all the doors and windows except for the front door, which Homer completely forgot to do because he was watching TV. Several zombies break into the house: Homer sacrifices himself to give the others time to escape, but the zombies leave him when they realize he does not have enough brains for them to eat. Lisa realizes that the school library must have a book that can reverse the spell. The family runs to the car under the protection of Homer’s shotgun. Flanders comes over and asks, "Mind if I chew your ear?" Homer responds by blasting Flanders with his shotgun. The family voice their shock that he killed the zombie Flanders, to which Homer responds “He was a zombie?" Shortly thereafter, the Simpsons arrive at Springfield Elementary and burst through the doors until Homer wields a shotgun to kill the famous zombies including George Washington, Albert Einstein, and William Shakespeare. While their parents distract the hoard Bart and Lisa successfully make it to the occult section of the Springfield Elementary library. Bart finds the book and casts the spell—that accidentally turns Lisa into a snail, resulting in him letting out a quick gasp. Lisa doesn't notice her transformation and asks Bart what's the problem. To make her less annoyed, he replies,"I never realized what a beautiful, young woman you've become," flattering her. Bart finds the correct spell and casts it upon the world, returning the zombies who were dead before the spell to their graves, those who became zombies by infection drop dead in the streets and turning Lisa, who had been unaware of her change, back to normal. In the end, the family ends up back at home on the couch watching TV. Although Marge is glad they never became zombies, the family starts acting like it, starting with Bart and Homer just before the credits roll in.