Over the show’s 33 seasons, The Simpsons has featured many references to horror icon Stephen King. The Simpsons and Stephen King have a lot in common. Both are famous touchstones of American pop culture and both were hugely popular in the 90s. Both have also since fallen victim to a decline in critical performance but have die-hard fans who will defend even their most maligned outings.
The big difference, of course, is that The Simpsons (generally) aims to make viewers laugh whereas Stephen King (generally) wants to scare readers senseless. Sometimes, the uncanny real-life predictions of The Simpsons could creep out even the most seasoned viewer and, on occasion, King’s attempts at horror end up producing unintentional laughter. By and large, though, The Simpsons and Stephen King are both attempting to produce opposing reactions from their target audiences—which might make it surprising for viewers to see that the long-running anarchic animated sitcom has referenced the horror author numerous times.
The Simpsons has not only featured two appearances from King himself (one voiced cameo and one silent glimpse of the author), but the series has also included a lot of references to books and movies from the writer’s back catalog. Springfield’s first family is almost as fond of referencing Stephen King as South Park, with both cartoon comedies using King’s terrifying tales as the basis for goofy parodies. However, The Simpsons also used one of King’s non-horror works as the inspiration for a more serious episode that divided audiences, as well as providing viewers with arguably the most iconic spoof of King’s work ever produced.
"Treehouse of Horror V" (Season 6, Episode 6)
Arguably the best movie parody that The Simpsons has ever pulled off, The Shinning from The Simpsons season 6, episode 6 "Treehouse of Horror V" is also comfortably one of the South Park picked a more obscure King movie to spoof, The Simpsons took the riskier route of parodying one of the horror genre’s most famous movies and succeeded in their efforts. Thus, The Shinning became the most memorable—but far from the only—Stephen King reference featured in The Simpsons.
"Insane Clown Poppy" (Season 12, Episode 3)
Although King has appeared on The Simpsons twice, his first cameo on the show was a more substantial appearance that even featured an accidental allusion to one of the author’s future novels. King cropped up in The Simpsons season 12, episode 3 "Insane Clown Poppy," where he guest-starred as an unhinged parody of himself alongside Drew Barrymore as Krusty’s estranged daughter (interestingly, one of Barrymore’s breakthrough roles was in an 80s King adaptation, Firestarter). In the cameo, King tells Marge that he is working on a rare non-horror novel, only for his description of a book about Benjamin Franklin's discovery of electricity to turn dark, macabre, and sinister within a few seconds. Although this book of course never came into existence, the later Stephen King novel Revival did feature a plot centered around experiments with electricity accidentally opening up a portal to a horrific dimension, which is essentially the plot that King outlines in his comedic cameo.
"The Blunder Years" (Season 13, Episode 5)
The Simpsons season 13, episode 5 “The Blunder Years” is one of the more divisive episodes of the show, although it is not because of another King collaborator and future Misery director Rob Reiner found the right balance for the movie’s tone, The Simpsons episode that took inspiration from its plot was a touch too dark and bleak for many viewers.
"Treehouse of Horror XV" (Season 16, Episode 1)
Arguably the most underrated Halloween special, The Simpsons season 16, episode 1 “Treehouse of Horror XV” saw the show feature a segment entitled The Ned Zone. As the title implies the sequence parodies best late-season Treehouse of Horror episodes. It’s not as inspired as the same episode’s From Hell parody, but this is still an under-seen classic from the show’s later years.
"Treehouse of Horror XXIV" (Season 25, Episode 2)
After his first cameo predicted the novel Revival and proved that even Stephen King’s career wasn’t immune from South Park’s maxim that The Simpsons did everything already, the author appeared again (in similarly scary form) in the chalkboard gag for The Simpsons season 25, episode 2 "Treehouse of Horror XXIV." The opening credits sequence, conceived by horror legend Guillermo del Toro, is one the most elaborate in Treehouse of Horror history, and King’s cameo is only one of many moments where iconic figures from horror are spoofed in the fast-paced scene. The Simpsons spoofed a movie adaptation that King famously hated, 1980’s The Shining, as Bart wrote the famous quote “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," only for the camera to pull back and reveal that an unhinged-looking version of King himself was scrawling the same message all over the walls of his classroom.