Editing Treehouse of Horror XII (section)

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{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}{{Good article}}
{{Infobox Simpsons episode
| image      = Simpsons - Treehouse of Horror XII.gif
| caption    =
| season     = 13
| episode    = 1
| director   = [[Jim Reardon]]
| writer     = "'''Hex and the City'''":<br>[[Joel H. Cohen]]<br>"'''House of Whacks'''":<br>[[John Frink]]<br>[[Don Payne (writer)|Don Payne]]<br>"'''Wiz Kids'''":<br>[[Carolyn Omine]]
| production = CABF19<ref name=simpsons2>{{cite web|title=Treehouse of Horror XII|work=The Simpsons.com|publisher=Fox Broadcasting Corporation|url=http://thesimpsons.com/recaps/season13/#episode1|access-date=December 31, 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127043106/http://www.thesimpsons.com/recaps/season13|archive-date=November 27, 2010}}</ref>
| airdate    = {{Start date|2001|11|06}}
| guests     = * [[Pierce Brosnan]] as Ultrahouse 3000's Pierce Brosnan voice and himself
* [[Matthew Perry]] as Ultrahouse 3000's Matthew Perry voice
* [[Marcia Wallace]] as [[Edna Krabappel]]
| commentary = [[Mike Scully]]<br>[[Al Jean]]<br>[[Ian Maxtone-Graham]]<br>[[Matt Selman]]<br>[[Carolyn Omine]]<br>[[John Frink]]<br>[[Don Payne (writer)|Don Payne]]<br>[[Joel H. Cohen]]
| prev       = [[Simpsons Tall Tales]]
| next       = [[The Parent Rap]]
}}
"'''Treehouse of Horror XII'''", titled onscreen as "'''The Simpsons Halloween Special XII'''", is the first episode of the [[The Simpsons season 13|thirteenth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Because of [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]'s contract with [[Major League Baseball]]'s [[World Series]], the episode first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 6, 2001, nearly one week after [[Halloween]]. It is the twelfth annual ''[[Treehouse of Horror]]'' episode, consisting of three self-contained segments. In the first segment, "'''Hex and the City'''", a gypsy puts a curse on [[Homer Simpson|Homer]], which puts everybody he cares about in danger. In the second segment, "'''House of Whacks'''", a parody on both ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Demon Seed]]'', the Simpson family buys a new house, who falls in love with [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] and attempts to kill Homer. In the third and final segment, "'''Wiz Kids'''", which lampoons the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' franchise, Lord Montymort attempts to capture [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]], a skilled magician, in order to drain her magic powers.

The episode was written by [[Joel H. Cohen]], [[John Frink]], [[Don Payne (writer)|Don Payne]] and [[Carolyn Omine]] while [[Jim Reardon]] served as the director. It was the second ''Treehouse of Horror'' to not employ "scary names" in the credits. According to executive producer [[Ian Maxtone-Graham]], this was due to the [[September 11 attacks]], after which the ''Simpsons'' staff tried to be more serious and sensitive. However, according to current [[show runner]] [[Al Jean]], the "scary names" were dropped because they were too difficult to come up with. The episode contains numerous references and parodies to [[science fiction]] and [[horror fiction|horror]] works, including ''2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Demon Seed'', ''Harry Potter'' and ''[[Star Wars]]''. The episode also features [[Pierce Brosnan]] and [[Matthew Perry]] as guest stars.

The episode was considered a success in the ratings when it first aired, boosting the Fox network to victory among viewers between ages 18 and 49 the night it was broadcast. Since airing, the episode has received mixed reviews from critics; "Wiz Kids" was particularly targeted for criticism, while "House of Whacks" was often considered to be the best of the three.