A child in a yellow raincoat follows a paper boat down a rainy street and comes upon a sewer entrance. Out of it emerges the face of a clown, but probably not the one you are thinking of.

“The Simpsons” released its annual Halloween episode, “Not It,” on Oct. 23, as part of their 34th season. This time, the series spoofed Stephen King’s “It.” This new episode is a worthy addition to the many Halloween stories “The Simpsons” have released over the years.

“Not It,” unlike many of the show’s Halloween episodes, only has one story. The episode follows classic “Simpsons” characters Homer, Marge, Carl, Moe and Comic Book Guy as they fight against a Pennywise-esque version of Krusty the Clown called “Krusto.” Like the book, the episode features the group beating the clown both as children and, later on, as adults.

The episode opens with a parody of the iconic paper boat scene from King’s original story, this time featuring “Simpsons” character Barney, instead of Georgie. This serves as a terrific beginning to the story as it immediately sets the stage for the world of “It” to blend with the world of “The Simpsons,” and also introduces Krusty’s new look as Pennywise.

The decision to have Krusty take on the role of the evil clown was one of the highlights. Krusty’s redesigned look was stellar, achieving a perfect balance between changing the character enough to resemble Pennywise, while also staying true to the appearance of the original character. Krusty’s antics throughout the episode, such as scaring young Marge with seltzer, apparently her worst fear, are hilarious to boot.

The jokes that the episode features, for the most part, land incredibly well. One of my favorites is when young Homer goes to place a poster for missing “Simpsons” character Barney. Homer expresses hope of locating him, but then you immediately see a ridiculous wall filled with posters for other missing children.

I also enjoyed the nods to King and his other works. The best of these comes at the end of the episode, when aliens Kang and Kodos (“Simpsons” Halloween regulars) finally make their appearance. In these last moments, they discuss and look at other King stories, such as “Christine” and “Carrie.”

The episode features a somewhat annoying subplot between Comic Book Guy and Marge, in which Comic Book Guy deceives Marge into falling in love with him instead of with Homer. While this did produce some rather funny moments, such as seeing how the characters’ lives progressed as adults and that Bart and Lisa’s personalities have flipped, I find it to be, overall, a distraction from the action of the rest of the episode.

In the end, I think this episode is a strong addition to the already wonderful group of “Simpsons” Halloween parodies and stories. While I’m not sure if it stands up to the competition of some of my favorites from the past, such as their parody of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” I think it is an incredibly enjoyable and funny episode, perfect for this scary time of year.