The story
From the 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs, in which a mummified monkey's paw is enchanted to grant a family three wishes, but with terrible consequences for them. Popularised by a segment based on Jacobs' story in the 1991 episode "Treehouse of Horror II" of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.