Halloween Recommendation 2023
It’s hard to recommend a specific piece of media to commemorate this year’s Halloween season because there’s been so much great stuff. Dan’s Gaming’s Horror Month has essentially been perfected and is always wonderful to burn yourself out on. Even The Exploring Series has been doing nightly SCP readings. But I think what’s impacted me the most this year is last year’s Treehouse of Horror from the Simpsons.
I could probably write a whole post on my relationship with the Simpsons, but I can keep it brief by saying that I’ve always loved the Simpsons but for years I was a purist, never venturing past season 10, though 4 and 5 was the safety zone. A few years ago I started to catch up on my missed episodes. It was probably season 23 when I accepted the show as being properly “good” again. Now I’m just a year behind the latest release and took a slight pause so I could watch Treehouse of Horror XXXIII in its proper spooky season. There. Now I shouldn’t have to ever write that dedicated Simpsons post.
I caught the hype of the Deathnote tribute last year and don’t have anything to add to all that, but it was the West World tribute that really cemented the episode for me. A very on the nose way to say “yes, we know our fanbase”, but the breadth and depth of the references, and how fun the episode was, was proper convincing.
Not just Treehouse of Horror XXXIII but the next 2 episodes as well; From Beer to Paternity and Step Brother from the Same Planet. While no longer Halloween focused, these three episodes were a perfect little microcosm to embody the value of the latest generation of Simpsons story telling. Treehouse of Horror acknowledging the greatest moments of the series while transcending them. The paternity episode was on the nose with classic Simpsons sensitivity and character growth, and modern politics that weren’t heavy handed, and kept me giggling the whole way through. I guess the Step Brother episode was more of that, but it really made me nostalgic for Disney’s Goofy Movie in a way that I haven’t encountered from any media before, and that’s worth mentioning to me. When Nelson Met Lisa also really neatly fits in this batch of overall series tribute as a great “future Simpsons” episode, but Simpson stories of reoccurring broken romantic relationships always make me feel icky and I’m ready to stop gushing.
So my Halloween recommendation this year is for last year’s Simpsons.
Post by: saturdayxiii