The three stories which make up the episode take the form of nightmares which are had by the children Lisa and Bart Simpson and their father Homer. Lisa's nightmare is based primarily on the 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw" by the British author W.W. Jacobs. Bart's nightmare is based on the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life" from 1963, which was also adapted as a segment for the 1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie. Homer's nightmare is a variation of the Frankenstein story and also references the 1972 movie The Thing with Two Heads.