This was the toughest in my opinion to chose. This could easily be the best THoH of all time, but I decided to go with the other one (If you can't figure out what's #1, then you are not a true fan of the show). This has by far some of my favorite segments of all time and they are all great in their own way. So let's get on with why this is so great.
The episode begins with Bart walking in front of some pictures as Marge comes in for her obligatory warning of the episode (Yeah this goes away soon). Marge gives Bart Maggie to watch as he is silenced by her pacifier (Momentarily) while talking about the Devil painting.
The Devil and Homer Simpson
This segment begins with Homer judging a pagent for donuts, it turns out it was a dream and he missed out on the donuts. Looking for any way to get a donut he proclaims he would sell his soul for a donut. And lo and behold the Devil shows up, but it's Ned Flanders *Dramatic stare*. But seriously, this is one of my favorite moments in the series, I mean it's freakin Ned Flanders as the Devil, you couldn't find a better person to be the devil if you tried, I mean it doesn't make sense, but really does the Devil NEED to make sense? After Homer signs the contract (Small joke about Mr Burns and the Devil that made me crack up) Homer starts eating the donut and realizes that his soul doesn't belong to the Devil until he finishes the donut. Thinking he's outsmarted the Devil, Ned ominously tells Homer he will get his soul. Later that night, Homer finishes the donut and Ned appears to take him to Hell. Homer though gets clogged up in the portal as Lisa tries to ask Ned for a trial for Homer's soul (You are honestly trying to reason with the Devil? I've seen more futile things before). Of course this works as the trial is set for the next night and Homer has to spend the time in Hell. After getting chopped up in pieces while entering Hell, Homer is given ironic punishment by eating all the donuts in the world (Which doesn't bother him and confuses the minion, I love that scene). At midnight, Homer returns in a fire cage as we find out that Lionel Hutz will be defending Homer (Say goodbye to your soul Homer). Ned then comes in (Through a fire Pentagram) and is allowed to pick the jury (Smooth Lionel). The jury consists of Benedict Arnold, John Wilkes Booth, Lizzie Borden, Blackbeard The Pirate, John Dillinger, the starting line-up of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers, and former U.S. President Richard Nixon (who needed to repay a favor for the Devil). After Ned basically wins over the jury (And Lionel fails miserably) Marge comes in with a picture of her and Homer in the hospital after their wedding with a note on the back of Homer pledging his soul to Marge. The jury determines that Homer's soul belongs to Marge and Homer gets off scott-free. Ned however gets revenge by turning Homer's head into a donut as the segment ends with Lisa warning Homer to stay inside because of the cops outside who are planning on eating him (Who knew that the police force accepted zombies?)
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| I AM TEH DEVIL, Not Chernabog, That guy's a wimp |
The segment begins with Bart having a nightmare about the school bus crashing and the children all dying (Okay that's two plots from The Twilight Zone that are present in this episode). Bart tells Lisa about the dream at the table (After she asks what's wrong with him) and Homer comes in with an air horn and other stuff he stole from the marina. After Lisa embarrasses Bart on the school bus, Bart begins to see a gremlin start to damage the bus outside. Bart tries to tell Milhouse, but Milhouse doesn't want to open himself to a bully attack. Bart then tells Otto who runs Moleman off the road. Bart sees the Gremlin again and shouts to everyone about it. After nobody sees it Principal Skinner tells Bart to stop using his imagination and accept that there's no monster out there (Okay I do love the homage to The Twilight Zone as the monster did only appear to Shatner and did start to cause him to question his own sanity). After a jump scare from Willie (Yeah that was in the episode as well) Bart tries to get Milhouse to believe him, but Milhouse decides to sit next to Utter to get away from him. Bart yet again sees the Gremlin destroying the bus as this causes him to get lashed to the seat. Bart then convinces Utter to release the lashings as Bart sees the gremlin is almost finished taking the screws out of one of the wheels. Bart then grabs an emergency flare as he opens the window and gets sucked out like a vacuum with only a bit of him still inside. After Homer passes by, Willie and Skinner try to pull him back in. Bart decides to throw the flare and knocks the gremlin off the bus. After Ned accidentally hits the Gremlin, he wraps him up and the Gremlin tries to kill Ned. After the school finds out that Bart was right, Bart gets sent to the Mad House for his behavior. The segment ends with the gremlin holding up Ned's head to the window of the car and Bart screams.
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| I see you Bart! Now time to DIE! |
The segment begins with a news report about a peasant being killed and sucked of its blood, this leads the police to believe that Mummies are responsible for this (Not the dumbest thing I've seen police do). Lisa then proclaims they're wrong and it's a vampire who's behind all this (Oh please, we all know vampires aren't interested in blood, they're interested in lifeless teenagers who are as interesting as a piece of cardboard. I'm sorry for that allow me to smack myself *Smacks*). After we see Mr. Burns bought the blood bank, we find out that Burns invited the family to his castle in PENNSYLVANIA *Thunder boom*. After Lisa is a bit suspicious (Gee I wonder why) the family gets to the house where Burns almost gives himself away to the family (Is it bad to say that the villain from Final Fantasy X was more subtle?) After we see that Mr Burns' shadow has a mind of its own (It can kick you in your shadow crotch) we see the family being served blood in glasses (And the award for least subtle villain in a Halloween episode is: Mr Burns *Applause*). After Lisa gets away from the table (And drags Bart with her) they find Mr. Burns' not too subtle vampire lair (Okay, this is becoming so obvious it's funny to me now). As Lisa's reading a book by Burns explaining he's a vampire, the vampires start to attack them and force them to run away. Bart then seals his own doom by turning the stairs into a slide and running right into the vampires where Burns bites him. After Burns brings Bart back, Homer waves away any suspicion that Burns is a vampire. Back home, Lisa is awoken by vampire Bart (And others) as Bart tries to turn Lisa into a vampire as well. This gets interrupted by Homer and Grampa as Bart flies away. Lisa then tells Homer tat they need to kill Burns to get Bart back. At the castle, the family finds Mr Burns as Homer drives a steak into his heart (But not before trying his crotch, okay, that was really funny and always makes me laugh). After Burns fires Homer (Funny joke) we cut back to the family having breakfast as it's revealed that Mr Burns wasn't the head vampire it was Marge, and Lisa's the only one in the family who isn't a vampire *Dramatic Stare*. Just as the family's about to turn her too, they say "Happy Halloween" and go into their best impression of The Peanuts Christmas.
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| ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! |
This is without a doubt, one of the best episodes for the series as a whole. I really debated whether this one was #1 or #2 in terms of THoH, but decided to make this #2. If it's any consolation, this could be considered #1a. All three segments are classics with my personal favorite being the second one. The references don't feel forced but flow naturally with the stories that are being told. If you ever need to watch a THoH to prep yourself for Halloween, I really recommend this one, I also recommend that you watch The Twilight Zone episode that the second one is referencing, it makes is SO much better.
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