The part of Lisa appearing on stage to warn people of the disturbing content in the third segment is based off the warnings that were used at the beginning of the first five Treehouse of Horror episodes. This is also the first time this warning had been used in 23 years, since the airing of Season 6's Treehouse of Horror V in 1994.
Unusually for the Treehouse of Horrors episodes, the second segment references the first when Maggie seems to be still getting over her possession.
The second segment is based on Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman himself provides the voice of Snowball the Cat, who talks just like the black cat in Coraline.
Ben Daniels plays the priest who performs an exorcism on Maggie. He also starred in the television adaptation of the book The Exorcist.
The leprechaun that emerges from the priest's bag made his first appearance in "Treehouse of Horror XII" (2001).