The Simpsons' Treehouse Of Horror XXIV

This Sunday marks the 24th installment of The Simpsons’ annual Halloween tradition, and this year’s “Treehouse Of Horror” has the added benefit of an opening sequence storyboarded by director Guillermo del Toro, seen above. Unlike the similarly epic couch gag presided over by Banksy—which had a heaping dose of sardonic anti-consumerism—del Toro’s contribution is a pure celebration of Halloween-friendly genre fiction, marked by a ton of references to his own films. Nods to Pacific Rim, Pan’s Labyrinth, Cronos, Hellboy, Blade II, and a host of other films are littered throughout the nearly three-minute sequence, while giant monsters, hordes of zombies, Alfred Hitchcock (and his birds), Stephen King, insect people, phantoms, and various other shades of del Toro’s favorite authors all make appearances. It’s a feast for the eyes, blending horror, science fiction, and fantasy into an opening sequence that will in no way overshadow the rest of Sunday’s episode. All glory to the hypnotoad.