The Simpsons: 5 Things You Might’ve Missed In The Past Five Years

5. They Did A Halloween Episode That Wasn’t A Treehouse Of Horror (And It Was Bloody Good)

Treehouse of Horror episodes have been a staple of The Simpsons since Season 2, and the results have been middling for the past decade or so. Movie references have mainly overtaken scares, and while their parody of Freaks in Season 25 was a gem of the later years, it doesn't measure up to The Shining one. Sorry, Shinning. D'ya wanna get suuuued?

Enter Halloween of Horror in Season 27. Though The Simpsons did air a Treehouse of Horror that season, this one is undoubtedly their 'Halloween episode' of the season. In it, Homer inadvertently gets three men fired from a Halloween store while shopping for decorations. As he stays home on Halloween with an already scared Lisa, the three men break-in, intent on vengeance. What follows is one of the tensest set pieces The Simpsons have done in years, recalling Lisa hiding from an axe-wielding Flanders in Bart Of Darkness.

The B-plot is satisfactory enough too, which constant Simpsons viewers know is not always a guarantee these days. It follows Bart and Marge wandering Springfield and features a decent musical number about the increasingly risque Halloween costumes on the market.

Oh, and it also scored an Emmy nomination too.