Following its television broadcast and the home video release of the thirteenth season of The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror XII" received mixed reviews from critics. Casey Broadwater of Blu-ray.com stated that the episode "is merely so-so entry in the show's annual Halloween anthology", while Colin Jacobsson of DVD Movie Guide wrote that, while it "doesn't present many significant flaws", it also "doesn't ever really shine". He concluded his review by writing "'XII' isn't bad Simpsons, but it's mediocre". Writing for Good Film Guide, Matt Wheeldon held a similar opinion, calling it "an average quality 'Treehouse of Horror' episode" and described it as being "easily watchable" and "fairly memorable, but far from the best of the bunch". Nate Boss of Project:Blu stated that the episode is "At times memorable, at times forgettable" and that it "kicks off Season 13 with a smile, whimper, and thud". Ron Martin of 411Mania stated that, while he does not consider "Treehouse of Horror XII" to be the worst episode of the series, "as far as 'Treehouse' episodes go, it has to be one of the weakest".
