The Simpsons Scares up Treehouse of Horror Omnibus Vol. 2

1990's "Treehouse of Horror" — the first of the annual, Halloween-themed episodes of The Simpsons — ended with Marge assuring Homer: "They're just children's stories. They can't hurt you." But they can scare you. In keeping with the yearly "Treehouse" tradition, creator Matt Groening's Bongo Comics launched the "scarifying" first issue of Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror (later retitled The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror with issue #14) in 1995. The horror anthology spanned 23 issues between 1995 and 2017, all of which are being collected across three volumes of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus. 

The first volume, titled The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Vol. 1: Scary Tales & Scarier Tentacles, arrived in 2022. And on August 1st, 2023, fans can get their tentacles on The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Vol. 2: Deadtime Stories for Boos & Ghouls. Like the first volume, the over-sized omnibus is packaged in a deluxe, die-cut slipcase that glows in the dark. (A third and final omnibus volume collecting the remaining material from the Treehouse of Horror comics is expected to release in 2024.)

While some issues adapted the TV episodes, most told new stories written and illustrated by some of the biggest names in comics, including Kyle Baker (Why I Hate Saturn), Ian Boothby (Futurama Comics), Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals), Gerry Duggan (Marvel's Deadpool), Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man), Peter Kuper (Spy vs. Spy), Carol Lay (Way Lay), Nina Matsumoto (Yōkaiden), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), Brian Posehn (Deadpool), James Robinson (Starman), Tone Rodriguez (Radioactive Man), Scott Shaw! (Simpsons Comics), and Jim Woodring (Jim and Frank).

"I've been looking at comics since before I could read. I had an older brother, Mark ... who turned me onto all the great comics of the fifties: Mad, when it was still a comic, Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, Little Lulu, Tales From The Crypt — all that stuff," Groening recalled in a 1995 issue of Flux magazine. "He and his buddies had a secret clubhouse up in this little room in a garage down the street and you had to climb a ladder and crawl across a beam in order to get in there. That was the comics reading room, so there was definitely a taste of the forbidden just getting to this secret room to read the comics. They wouldn't let in while they were there so I had to wait until they were out shooting slingshots at squirrels until I could sneak in and read all these great comics."

That's the inspiration behind Bart's treehouse, and in turn, Treehouse of Horror.

According to Groening: "Comics are meant to be read in one of two places; either in a treehouse or under the covers late at night with a flashlight in your mouth and a little transistor radio with one of those little plastic earphones."

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Vol. 2: Deadtime Stories for Boos & Ghouls is out August 1st.