The segment "Telepathy of Glory" parodies the 2012 movie "Chronicle," in which three high school friends gain telekinetic powers from an alien artifact they discover underground.
Sideshow Bob acknowledges the fact that he's spent 24 years trying to kill a 10 year old boy
The first and only Halloween special of the series without any on-screen title. Every prior Halloween special was titled either "The Simpsons Halloween Special" or "Treehouse of Horror" on-screen.
Bart making a fake beard and saying "Madam, how do you do?" references an early-1960s animated commercial for Mr. Bubble, where a clever little boy makes himself a beard out of soap suds and frightens his babysitting grandmother.