History Recap / TheSimpsonsS25E2TreehouseOfHorrorXXIV

!!''Treehouse of Horror XXIV'' Contains Examples of: ([[YMMV/TheSimpsonsS25E2TreehouseOfHorrorXXIV YMMV Tropes here]])
* AliceAllusion[=/=]DownTheRabbitHole: Lisa in the opening; she falls down the rabbit hole and finds herself in Alice's pretty blue dress. It segues into a reference to ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' shortly afterward though.
* AndIMustScream[=/=]BodyHorror: Bart's situation while he's attached to Lisa's (and later Selma's) shoulder. PlayedForLaughs when Bart ends up on Selma's body and the two of them end up in "Freaks No Geeks" as part of the sideshow.

* AxCrazy: The Fat in the Hat

** This installment of "Treehouse of Horror" isn't as bloody as most of the recent Halloween episodes as the violence is either implied, bloodless, or is too cartoonish to be considered "gruesome" or "worthy of a TV-14 rating in America"[[note]]your country may vary. The UK may still give this episode a 12 rating, as the horror level in the opening was high and the cartoonish violence may make the UK censors think that violence is being trivialized. In Australia, the episode might be given an M rating for the same reason the UK version would brand it a 12[[/note]].

* TheCameo: The [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Hypnotoad]] appears in place of the toad from ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' in the opening sequence.

* KarmicDeath: During The Fat in the Hat's mayhem, he kills and skins Moe's character. Using his own umbrella against him, he's skinned by the Simpson kids and shown as a new rug on their floor.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Lard Lad comes to life and starts destroying everything around him (like he did in ''Treehouse of Horror VI'') in the intro. However, his rampage is cut short when Chief Wiggum, here as [[Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad a Cyclops]], devours him alive.

* OffWithHisHead: Bart is decapitated and has to have his head sewn onto Lisa's body to survive. By the end, they both get their heads cut off by a sawmill and are attached to Selma and Krusty.

* ReferenceOverdosed: MANY in the opening sequence. [[http://screencrush.com/guillermo-del-toro-simpsons-references/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_97819 A full list of all the references can be read here]].

* TooDumbToLive: Bart gets decapitated when he ties the string to his box kite around his throat. Even worse, he's flying this kite around an airport.

*** This seems to be a recurring theme where the characters' stupidity is increased in the Treehouse of Horror episodes to the point where it does themselves in.
* ToonPhysics: Bart survives being decapitated, yet Skinner and Homer got decapitated in Treehouse of Horror XX and it was realistically depicted. However, Bart should've died the same way, but [[BlackComedy are writers seriously going to bother]]? Besides, they were probably sick of their Halloween episodes being TV-14 for excessive, bloody violence (or didn't want to show it happening to a child), so it got toned down for once.

*** This seems to be a reoccuring theme where the characters' stupidity is increased in the Treehouse of Horror episodes to the point where it does themselves in.

** Many legends of the genre appear, such as Creator/StephenKing scrawling "[[Literature/TheShining All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy]]" on the walls of Bart's classroom, Ray Bradbury tattooing a muscular man ("The Illustrated Man"), Richard Matheson (who wrote "I Am Legend") shaking his head in disapproval at Bradbury's tattoo work, and Creator/HPLovecraft [[DidYouJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu having tea with one of Cthulhu's tentacles]].

** "Oh, The Places You'll D'oh!" is packed with Dr. Seuss references -- apart from the obvious WholePlotReference to ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat'' and the title reference to ''Oh, The Places You'll Go!,'' there are references to, among other things, ''Film/TheLorax'' (the Borax, who "plastered [his] likeness on CON-sumer goods"), ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'' (the character designs of Maggie and, arguably Moe; Burns calling the Fat "a son of a Grinch"; the scene in the homeless shelter), ''Yertle the Turtle'' (the turtle stack shown outside the Simpson house), ''The Sneetches'' (Flanders as a Sneetch with a cross on his belly), ''The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins'' (Bartholomew and his hats are shown outside Moe's), ''What Was I Scared Of?'' (the walking pants), ''Literature/GreenEggsAndHam'' (the eponymous dish is shown in Moe's pickle jar), ''Literature/HortonHatchesTheEgg'' (Horton is seen drinking with his trunk at Moe's), and many others.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHorrific: Burnsum introduces one of the freaks as the most frightening creature ever seen. It turns out to be just plain old Moe, looking and acting no different than he usually does. And yet the audience gasps and screams in utter horror.
-->'''Moe:''' So, uh, anyone here from New Jersey? (Woman raises her hand) Ah, I'm going there next week. (Woman screams and faints)

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Fat in the Hat is a murderous lunatic, but the idea of having Creator/MikeMyers[[note]]who portrayed the homonymous character of ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'', a widely-paned 2003 film[[/note]] play him in a movie adaptation is, to him, worse than going to Hell.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Mr. Burns as The Pale Man

* KickTheDog: Throughout the special with The Fat in the Hat's rampage, Strongman and Burnsum's bad treatments of the freaks, and Maggie and Mr. Burns as the Pale Man in the intro (although that last case is a ForegoneConclusion if you've seen the movie)

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Fat in the Hat is a murderous lunatic, but the idea of having Mike Myers play him in a movie adaptation is, to him, worse than going to Hell.

* TorchesAndPitchforks: Seen in the opening, but with a twist; they are wielded by the [[UniversalHorror classic Universal monsters]] as they pursue the mortals.

** "Oh, The Places You'll D'oh!" is packed with Dr. Seuss references -- apart from the obvious WholePlotReference to ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat'' and the title reference to ''Oh, The Places You'll Go!,'' there are references to, among other things, ''Film/TheLorax'' (the Borax, who "plastered [his] likeness on CON-sumer goods"), ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'' (the character designs of Maggie and, arguably Moe; Burns calling the Fat "a son of a Grinch"; the scene in the homeless shelter), ''Yertle the Turtle'' (the turtle stack shown outside the Simpson house), ''The Sneetches'' (Flanders as a Sneetch with a cross on his belly), ''The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins'' (Bartholomew and his hats are shown outside Moe's), ''What Was I Scared Of?'' (the walking pants), ''Literature/GreenEggsAndHam'' (the eponymous dish is shown in Moe's pickle jar), and many others.

** Of course, Del Toro fits in Shout Outs to his entire filmography up to and including ''Film/PacificRim'': ''Film/{{Cronos}}'' (the device is on the cash register), ''Film/{{Mimic}}'' (Marge as a Judas Breed), ''Film/TheDevilsBackbone'' (Home as Santi at the couch), ''Film/{{Blade}} II'' (Homer as a Reaper up until the couch and Carl as Blade), ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' (Groundskeeper Willie as Hellboy fighting Kroenen), ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' (Mr. Burns as the Pale Man, and Bart as the Faun and Lisa as Ofelia in the ending sequence) and ''Pacific Rim'' (Gipsy Danger fights Knifehead in the background of the town battle.)

In this year's triptych of terror, Homer is the cheery, yet homicidal "Fat in the Hat" in the DrSeuss parody, ''Oh, The Places You'll D'oh!", Bart and Lisa are forced to share a body after Bart (literally) loses his head in "Dead and Shoulders," and in "Freaks No Geeks," Homer is a circus strongman who convinces his trapeze artist fiancee Marguerite (Marge) to seduce a sideshow freak (Moe) and steal his prized emerald ring.

* ShoutOut: In "Oh the Places You'll D'oh," Maggie is modeled after Cindy Lou Who as she appeared in the iconic ChuckJones adaptation of HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas.

** Four incarnations of Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera appear at Lisa's rehearsal, and the teacher is dressed as ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheParadise''.

** Four incarnations of Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera appear at Lisa's rehearsal, and the teacher is dressed as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_the_Paradise the Phantom of the Paradise]].

** Four incarnations of the PhantomOfTheOpera appear at Lisa's rehearsal, and the teacher is dressed as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_the_Paradise the Phantom of the Paradise]].

** This installment of "Treehouse of Horror" isn't as bloody as most of the recent Halloween episodes and the violence is either implied ("Freaks No Geeks"), bloodless (all three stories), or too cartoonish to be taken seriously ("Oh, The Places You'll D'oh"), which is why the episode is rated TV-PG for offensive language (L) and violence (V) in America.
* CallBack: Bart's head on Selma's body is reused in "Freaks No Geeks" as a member of Burnsum and Bailey's Freak Show. Even Burnsum refers to him/her as the "Horrifying CallBack".
** Also the intro where Bart runs from Stephen King in ''Literature/TheShining'' sequence, remembering "The Shinning" from ''Treehouse of Horror V''.
* TheCameo: [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Hypnotoad]] appears in place of the toad from ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' in the opening sequence.

* CatsAreMean: Homer as The Fat in the Hat, a psychopathic Cat in the Hat knockoff.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: Homer/Strongman intends to kill Moe after he's married Marge/Marguerite so he can claim Moe's emerald wedding ring and pawn it for a supposed better life. Played with, as it's shown that he doesn't really care about Marguerite but treats her a lot like a trophy wife.
* NoodleIncident: How did Dr. Nick get his head sewn onto Dr. Hibbert's body?

** Many legends of the genre appear, such as Creator/StephenKing scrawling "[[Literature/TheShining All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy]]" on the walls of Bart's classroom, Ray Bradbury tattooing a muscular man ("The Illustrated Man"), Richard Matheson (who wrote "I Am Legend") shaking his head in disapproval at Bradbury's tattoo work, and Creator/HPLovecraft [[DidYouJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu literally having tea with one of Cthulhu's tentacles]].

** "Freaks No Geeks" ends with an out-of-nowhere nod to ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''.
*** It could be a nod to Jason Segel who is one of the stars on How I Met Your Mother and was also in the TV show ''Freaks and Geeks'' (which the third story took it's name from)

* StealthPun: Smithers (a closeted gay man) as a fairy[[note]]"fairy" has been used as a derogatory term for a homosexual man. It's not as hurtful as "faggot" or "queer," but it is considered rude[[/note]] to Pale Man Mr. Burns in the opening.
* TakeThat: The Fat in the Hat trashes [[Literature/TheLorax The Borax]] for selling out, referencing [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax the film adaptation]]'s MisaimedMarketing (in particular, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjRisj1vaDo the infamous Lorax Mazda commercial]]). Also before dying, The Fat in the Hat states he'll tolerate hellfire, [[Film/TheCatInTheHat but not being played by]] Mike Myers.

* AndIMustScream[=/=]BodyHorror: Bart's situation while he's attached to Lisa's (and later Selma's) shoulder

* BloodlessCarnage: Bart being decapitated, then Lisa.

* TakeThat: The Fat in the Hat trashes [[Literature/TheLorax The Borax]] for selling out, referencing the[[WesternAnimation/TheLorax the film adaptation]]'s MisaimedMarketing (in particular, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjRisj1vaDo the infamous Lorax Mazda commercial]]). Also before dying, The Fat in the Hat states he'll tolerate hellfire, [[Film/TheCatInTheHat but not being played by]] Mike Myers.

** Of course, Del Toro fits in Shout Outs to his entire filmography up to and including ''Film/PacificRim'': ''Film/{{Cronos}}'' (the device is on the cash register), ''Film/{{Mimic}}'' (Marge as a Judas Breed), ''Film/TheDevilsBackbone'' (Home as Santi at the couch), ''Film/{{Blade}} II'' (Homer as a Reaper up until the couch and Carl as Blade), ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' (Groundskeeper Willie as Hellboy fighting Kroenen), ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' (Mr. Burns as the Pale Man, and Bart as the Faun and Lisa as Ofelia in the ending sequence) and Pacific Rim (Gipsy Danger fights Knifehead in the background of the town battle.)

** Of course, Del Toro fits in Shout Outs to his films ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' (Groundskeeper Willie as Hellboy), ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' (Mr. Burns as the Pale Man and Lisa as Ofelia in the ending sequence), and ''Film/PacificRim'' (Gipsy Danger fights a {{Kaiju}} in the background of the town battle.)

* TakeThat: The Fat in the Hat trashes [[Literature/TheLorax The Borax]] for selling out, referencing the controversy around [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax the film adaptation]]. Also before dying, The Fat in the Hat states he'll tolerate hellfire, [[Film/TheCatInTheHat but not being played by]] Mike Myers.

** "Freaks No Geeks" ends with an out-of-nowhere nod to ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''.