Director, screenwriter, producer and novelist Guillermo del Toro (“Pacific Rim,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”) resurrects some historic Halloween goblins and ghouls in THE SIMPSONS’ opening couch gag on this season’s terrifyingly hilarious “Treehouse of Horror XXIV,” airing Sunday, Oct. 6 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. In the couch gag opener, director del Toro throws the crypt wide open with a sequence that features monsters and classic characters from horror films throughout history. Then, in the first of three spine-tingling tales in the annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode, Homer travels around Springfield wreaking havoc in a rhyming take on a popular children’s tale. In “Dead and Shoulders” Bart is beheaded during a kite accident, his head is attached to Lisa’s body and they must live together as one. The final frightening tale, “Freaks no Geeks,” features Mr. Burns’ traveling circus, The Burnsum and Bailey Circus, which has stopped in Springfieldland in the 1930s. Trapeze artist Marge and Strong Man Homer are performers, and things go awry when circus freak Moe starts to make advances towards Marge.
A former special effects makeup artist in his home country of Mexico, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s credits include “Cronos,” “Mimic,” “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Blade II,” “Hellboy” and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” He is best known for his 2006 film “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which earned three Academy Awards, and he most recently directed the summer hit “Pacific Rim.”