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It’s the season of ghouls, gore, and spooks—or, if you’re a scaredy cat like me, much more desensitized versions of those classic spooks delivered via The Simpsons‘ Treehouse of Horror specials. Which is why I was amazed to find out recently that, across years of the comic book take on the show’s annual Halloween tradition, the legendary comics team that gave us Swamp Thing once brought their tragic horror magic to Springfield with an official Simpsons riff on their DC creation.
“Squish Thing,” which sees Homer slowly transform into a goopy, misunderstood monster after a chance collision between a beer from Moe’s and Bart’s latest radioactively colored Squishee, first released in 2005 in Bongo Comics’ Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #11. Now the story is one of many getting reprinted as part of Abrams ComicArts’ latest Treehouse of Horror omnibus, Fiendish Fables of Devilish Delicacies. It contains over 400 pages of reprints from across the the over 20 Treehouse of Horror comic collections that have been printed over much of the last 30 years, all packaged in a suitably spooky glow-in-the-dark slipcase.
Fiendish Fables of Devilish Delicacies is available to buy now, but if you want a sneak peak, check out pages from “Squish Thing” below, written by Wein, illustrated by Wrightson, and featuring colors from Chris Ungar and lettering by John Costanza.
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror “Squish Thing” Preview
It’s honestly kind of amazing to see Simpsons characters and Springfield itself rendered in that classic comics styling—the heavy inks and shadings give an incredible sense of texture to characters we’re used to seeing in relatively flat, bright colors, amplifying the spooky vibes. It’s the perfect kind of mishmash that we know and love from Treehouse of Horror‘s many homages and pastiches, but in comics form—a celebration of some of the best from the medium, just like how the show riffs on the icons of horror film and TV.
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Volume 3: Fiendish Fables of Devilish Delicacies is available to order now for $45.
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