Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening Brings a Killer to Springfield on October 18

The Simpsons are going slasher this Halloween. The show’s official account announced “Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening” on Thursday, billing it as this week’s episode on FOX with a next-day arrival on Hulu. The post’s tagline sets the tone: “Time doesn’t heal, it only sharpens the blade.”

The episode is the third of season 38 and the 812th of the series overall, carrying the production code 37ABF13. It was written by Nick Dahan, and it guest stars the Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel as himself. It is scheduled for Sunday, October 18, in the show’s usual 8:00–8:31 PM ET/PT slot, and Fox’s press listing carries a TV-14 rating for language, dialogue, violence and sexual content — one notch above the TV-PG the previous “Presents:” special was listed with.

The premise, in Fox’s own words: “All hell breaks loose on Halloween when a killer comes to Springfield and hacks their way through town. No Simpson is safe from… THE REVENGENING!” That is as far as the network has gone. It has not named the killer, the victims or the film or films the episode is parodying, and the trade coverage has been careful not to guess either — a title, a synopsis and a poster can establish a direction without settling what the episode actually does.

The poster that arrived with the announcement is doing a lot of the work in the meantime. It is a straight slasher homage: a hooded figure with glowing eyes and a raised machete looming over the Springfield skyline, the four characters Fox bills as the episode’s stars — Homer Simpson, Superintendent Gary Chalmers, Professor Frink and music teacher Dewey Largo — cowering in the foreground, and the title set in blood-orange beneath the copy “This Halloween, no one in Springfield is safe from…”

The credits block confirms the usual suspects: produced by Matt Selman, Cesar Mazariegos and Richard Chung, with James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and Sam Simon as executive producers, music by Bleeding Fingers, directed by Eddie Rosas, and the 20th Television Animation logo at the corner. The poster also carries “Stream on Hulu,” matching the announcement.

The billing is where a small clue sits. Pairing Dudamel — one of the best-known conductors alive — with Dewey Largo, Springfield’s long-suffering music teacher, is an odd combination for a straight slasher, and it suggests music will figure in the killings rather than simply soundtrack them. That is inference, not reporting: nothing released so far says what Dudamel does in the episode.

What the “Presents:” label means is clearer, because this is now the second time Fox has run one. In July 2024 the show used San Diego Comic-Con to announce a second Halloween episode alongside the traditional numbered installment, and the result was “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” — season 36, episode seven, the 775th episode overall — which aired on November 24, 2024, guest-starring Andy Serkis as the Illustrated Man and Siegfried Blaze in a three-part tribute to Ray Bradbury. Showrunner Matt Selman said afterwards that he would have preferred that episode and “Treehouse of Horror XXXV” to run on consecutive Sundays with Halloween between them, or on the same night, but Fox declined.

This year the show gets both. “The Revengening” lands on October 18, and the numbered “Treehouse of Horror XXXVII” follows on October 25 — exactly the back-to-back pair Selman described wanting, two years later, with consecutive Sundays on either side of Halloween week.

The placement also fills a gap. Season 38 opened on September 27 with “The Children’s Book Job,” in which Marge becomes PTA president and tries to save Springfield Elementary from closure, with Emma Thompson and Colin Jost guest starring. “Diary of a Chimpy Kid” followed on October 4, sending Bart and Lisa into a parenting dispute over an abandoned baby chimpanzee. There was no new episode on October 11, a week off that pushed the Halloween special later into the month — 11 days ahead of Halloween itself, and a day earlier in the calendar than last year’s Halloween episodes.

The longer arc is a long one. Fox renewed The Simpsons for four more seasons in April 2025, taking the show to a fortieth, with fifteen episodes each on the network and two additional Disney+ exclusives per season. Matt Selman remains the primary showrunner, a role he has held since season 33.

For viewers, the maths are simple: FOX on Sunday at 8 PM, Hulu the day after, and a TV-14 warning that this year’s spooky outing is aimed considerably higher than the usual 8 PM cartoon audience. Which of Springfield’s residents makes it out of the episode is, for now, the one thing nobody is saying.

Sources

The Simpsons on X (@TheSimpsons), October 15, 2026, “Time doesn’t heal, it only sharpens the blade. This Sunday, Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening on FOX, next day Hulu,” https://x.com/thesimpsons/status/2110762635121627319, including the episode poster; The Futon Critic, FOX press listing for Sunday, October 18, 2026, http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20260928fox15/ (synopsis, voice and guest cast, TV-14 rating, 37ABF13); Wikisimpsons, “Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening” (episode 812, S38 E3, writer Nick Dahan, guest star Gustavo Dudamel, showrunners Matt Selman and Cesar Mazariegos); Wikipedia, “List of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes” and “The Simpsons season 38" (season premiere date, episode order, 2025 four-season renewal, showrunner history); Rotten Tomatoes, “The Simpsons: Season 38, Episode 3”; Wikipedia, “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” and Wikisimpsons, “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes" (season 36, episode seven, episode 775, November 24, 2024, Andy Serkis, Ray Bradbury segments, and Matt Selman on Fox declining a consecutive-Sundays pairing); IMDb, “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” (TV-PG listing); Mac Observer and Comic Basics for the October 11 scheduling break and October 18 release date.