The Simpsons released a sneak peek at a Gorey-inspired Halloween segment titled "The Telltale Bart."
The Halloween-themed segment debuted during the virtual "The Simpsons Season 33 and Beyond!" Comic-Con@Home panel, starring voice actor Maurice LaMarche as the narrator, reading from a book called "The Telltale Bart." While "The Telltale Bart" is a play on Edgar Allen Poe's short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, the segment is animated in the style of American surrealist Edward Gorey.
"The Telltale Bart" is even reminiscent of Gorey's style of writing, taking the viewer through each month of the year, with a new, disturbing thing for Bart to do, ending with him dismembering his family for Thanksgiving dinner for the month of November. This is similar to Gorey's 1963 book The Gashlycrumb Tinies, which describes the deaths of 26 unfortunate children, each of their names starting with a different letter of the alphabet.
Gorey was an artist and writer who passed away in 2000, known mostly for his illustrated books which consisted of pen-an-ink drawings in his distinct style, often depicting unsettling scenes in Victorian or Edwardian settings. His other works include The Doubtful Guest (1957), The unstrung harp, or, Mr. Earbrass writes a novel (1953), The Hapless Child (1961), The Epiplectic Bicycle (1969) and many more. Norman Reedus is also reportedly adapting Gorey's dark comedy book Dancing Cats and Neglected Murderesses into a television show for AMC.
The Simpsons' 33rd season will premiere this September.
Source: YouTube