 Following its television broadcast and the home video release of the thirteenth season of The <unk> , “ Treehouse of Horror XII ” received mixed reviews from critics . Casey Broadwater of Blu @-@ ray.com stated that the episode “ is merely so @-@ so entry in the show 's annual Halloween anthology ” , while Colin Jacobsson of DVD Movie Guide wrote that , while it “ doesn ’ t present many significant flaws ” , it also “ doesn ’ t ever really shine ” . He concluded his review by writing “ ' XII ' isn ’ t bad Simpsons , but it ’ s mediocre ” . Writing for Good Film Guide , Matt <unk> held a similar opinion , calling it “ an average quality Treehouse of Horror episode ” and described it as being “ easily watchable ” and “ fairly memorable , but far from the best of the bunch ” . Nate Boss of Project : Blu stated that the episode is “ At times memorable , at times forgettable ” and that it “ kicks off Season 13 with a smile , whimper , and thud ” . Ron Martin of 411Mania stated that , while he does not consider “ Treehouse of Horror XII ” to be the worst episode of the series , “ as far as Treehouse episodes go , it has to be one of the weakest ” . 
