The Simpsons Season 38, Episode 2's Goriest Bit Has Real-Life Inspiration

Published Oct 5, 2026, 12:31 PM EDT

Misty Layne started as an actor and sketch comedy writer before deciding to concentrate mainly on writing. Utilizing both her love of television and film and her behind-the-scenes knowledge, she began a website reviewing films in 2013, with a focus on horror and indie media. Eventually, she began writing about all things television and film for other sites as well. Misty shares a home with five cats, a ton of books, and a fairly impressive vinyl collection.
 

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The Simpsons season 38 just began, bringing new escapades from Bart, Lisa, Homer, Marge, and the rest of the gang, including the fan-favorite “Treehouse of Horrors,” which airs October 18, 2026. However, in this new era of The Simpsons, horrors abound during Halloween Month, and episode 2, which aired last night, offered up its own sort of terror in the form of Homer’s fears.

In The Simpsons season 38, episode 2, as part of FOX's fall 2026 slate, Bart and Lisa find a baby chimp stuffed into a free library box and immediately adopt it. However, while watching YouTube videos, Homer comes across one warning that the adorable animals can get angry and rip off one’s face and genitals (making this episode not one of the best kid-friendly ones). Homer begins spiraling, having an amusing nightmare where that happens and his ripped-off face is sewn back onto his (as Marge called it) “swimsuit area.” The gag might have seemed like the typical one-off, but it came from real-life inspiration.

Homer's Chimp Nightmare In The Simpsons Season 38 Actually Happened In Real Life

By marian1817 MoviestillsDB.com

St. James Davis, a NASCAR Winston West Series driver, and his wife adopted a baby chimpanzee in 1967, named Moe, and treated him as their child. He wore clothes, took showers, and was even toilet-trained. However, over the years, Moe bit several people and even mauled a police officer’s hand, leading to the chimp being seized and put into an animal sanctuary.

Though the couple tried to get Moe back, they had no luck, but they often visited him at the sanctuary. In 2005, they visited him to celebrate his 39th birthday, complete with cake, toys, and candy. Unfortunately, two other chimpanzees, Buddy and Ollie, escaped their cages and, seemingly jealous of the attention Moe was receiving, bit off the wife’s thumb while she was cutting cake.

Davis pushed his wife beneath a picnic table to safety, and the two chimps attacked him (via NBC). The attack was vicious, with the chimps chewing off a good portion of Davis’ face and severely mauling his genitals. Additionally, they gouged out one of his eyes and destroyed many of his fingers, his left foot, part of his torso, and most of his buttocks. Eventually, someone shot both animals.

The Simpsons Mining Inspiration From Real Life Allows It To Be Relevant

By marian1817 MovieStillsDB.com

This is far from the first time The Simpsons has mined inspiration from real life, as the show is known for skewering everything from politics to entertainers. It turns real-life news into bits all the time, like in the season 5 episode “Bart Gets an Elephant,” where Bart wins an elephant. This episode likely drew on similar incidents occurring on The Price Is Right in the 1950s. In one episode, a circus elephant was brought onstage and offered to contestants. On a different episode, a man won a piano and was offered an elephant as a bonus prize. The elephant was a joke (because its tusks could supply extra ivory for the piano), but the man insisted he get the elephant, and one had to be flown in from Kenya.

The show’s habit of mixing real life into its episodes has kept it relevant over its nearly 40-year run. Sometimes these small moments reference something that happened several years (or decades) ago, but the show also incorporates plenty of stories from modern life. The Simpsons season 35 included Bart helping Homer cheat at a fishing tournament, and the way he did so was inspired by a real event that occurred in 2022.

There’s definitely no shortage of zany true events for The Simpsons to choose from for upcoming episodes, and the show will likely do so until the day it ends (probably at the heat death of the universe). Luckily, not all the series’ ripped-from-the-headlines gags are as gory as last night’s episode, but Homer’s nightmares were certainly a good lead-up to the upcoming “Treehouse of Terror” episode.

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  Homer Simpson / Abe Simpson / Barney Gumble / Krusty (voice)

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  Marge Simpson / Patty Bouvier / Selma Bouvier (voice)