The Simpsons: 8 Episodes From The Bad Seasons You Need To Watch

Season 27 broke with tradition here, airing a Halloween episode which was not a Treehouse of Horror. They did have a Treehouse that year too (why break a habit of 26 years?), but this episode showed that changing up the formula can reap marvelous results.

While modern Treehouse specials have fallen back on movie parodies (A Clockwork Orange and Avatar were big swings and misses), Halloween of Horror plays it straight, focussing on the family dynamic.

As three men break into their house on Halloween, Homer and Lisa are forced to hide. Lisa is already traumatised from a visit to a theme park, so we see the father-daughter relationship play out in the style of classics like Lisa The Vegetarian. The sequence itself is white knuckle tight too, getting viewers genuinely invested in the plot.

There's a decent musical number in here as well, Grownup Halloween. It's catchy and has some great bits of animation, showing the Springfield residents dressing up in inappropriate costumes and drinking. Chief Wiggum's bondage Frankenstein is a standout, although giving lead vocals to the gravel-voiced Moe and Krusty was almost too terrifying to bear.