Something Spooky: The Simpsons’ ‘Treehouse of Horror’ #1 Returns To Its Roots
by Austin Gorton
When Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #1 landed in 1995, the annual TV anthology series was already on its sixth entry (specifically, the episode which gifted the world “lousy Smarch weather”), with its formula well established: a brief intro segment followed by three horror/sci-fi stories, often ones loosely parodying books and movies of the same type. In aping that approach, Treehouse of Horror #1 not only brings The Simpsons style of horror-comedy to the world of comics, it also contributes to the legacy which inspired the TV Treehouse of Horrors in the first place.
The first TV “Treehouse of Horror” (which was titled “The Simpsons Halloween Special” in the episode itself, though the script referred to it via the Treehouse moniker) was a departure for the still-young animated series, both in terms of presenting a trio of tales rather than one and for the way it presented unique “out of continuity” stories. Its inspiration however came from the classic EC Comics horror comics of the 1950s, series like Tales of the Crypt and Vault of Horror.
In addition to the general idea of “creepy tales,” the animated “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, particularly the early ones, cribbed a lot from these comics: telling multiple stories in an anthology format, a unifying locale-based element (crypt, vault, treehouse), and a host to guide the audience through the stories (something the animated Treehouse episodes abandoned shortly before Treehouse of Horror #1 was published). So with the roots of the TV specials so firmly embedded in the world of comic books, Treehouse of Horror #1 is almost a homecoming of sorts for the premise.
Like its animated forebears, Treehouse of Horror #1 features three stories, and like the TV version, they are loosely based on existing stories. In “Little Shop of Horrors,” Lisa grows a deadly plant that threatens Springfield. “Call Me Homer” riffs on Moby Dick. And in “Bart People,” Bart transforms into a panther, in a parody of Cat People. Yet all three are very loose adaptations of their source material.
The first more or less just takes the title and the general premise of “killer plant” from the musical/movie. The second is mostly set in an approximation of the world of the novel, but eschews any of its plot points in favor of a story about a Homer-esque character who likes to eat whale oil (stories set around “Homer eats weird things” will become, oddly, a recurring motif in later “Treehouse” TV episodes). “Bart People” is the most faithful of them all, in that it at least features people transforming into cats and captures the general unsettling-ness of the movie.
Yet all three tales, while perhaps weak adaptations of their ostensible source material, are nevertheless entertaining and well-crafted tales. This is largely due to the talent involved. One of the hallmarks of Treehouse of Horror as a comic book series is the way it ends up featuring a Who’s Who of notable creators from the world of indie comics. Mike Allred (of Madman fame) writes the first story in the issue. Jeff Smith (of Bone fame) writes and provides breakdowns for the second story. And James Robinson, then in the midst of a defining run on Starman for DC Comics, handles the third. Meanwhile, all three are inked by Bongo Comics co-founder Bill Morrison, creating visual consistency across the entirety of the comic.
Ultimately, the comic book Treehouse of Horror will, like its animated forebear, evolve. Both will continue to tinker with their formulas, and both will experiment with the visual aesthetics of their stories. On TV, this comes via stories told using different types of animation, from 3D CGI to stop-motion to Claymation, while the comic book series will branch out by enlisting wilder and more unique artists to tell their stories. In fact, thanks to the technological and budgetary limitations of TV animation, the comic book series will start experimenting well before the animated one.
But ultimately, the most notable legacy of Treehouse of Horror the comic book series remains the way it brought the concept introduced on TV back to its comic book roots, and in doing so, taps into the legacy of EC Comics even more directly than its animated forebear.
