Tales from the Crypt is a horror anthology American TV series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO. It was based on the 1950s EC Comics series of the same name and was produced by HBO with uncredited association by The Geffen Film Company and Warner Bros. Television (all part of a production consortium officially called Tales From The Crypt Holdings). The series is not to be confused with Tales from the Darkside, another similarly themed horror anthology series.

It was one of the few anthology series to be allowed to have full freedom from censorship by the FCC, because it was on HBO, a premium cable television station. The station allowed the series to contain graphic violence as well as other content that had not appeared in most television series up to that time, such as profanity, gore, nudity, and sexual situations.

While the series began production in the United States, in the final season filming moved to England, resulting in episodes which revolved around British characters.

EPISODES

Each episode begins with a tracking shot leading to the front door of the Cryptkeeper's decrepit mansion. Once inside, the camera pans down hallways and stairways, and finally descends into the basement. The show's host, the Crypt Keeper, then pops out from his coffin, cackling wildly. The wisecracking Crypt Keeper (voiced by John Kassir) would then introduce the episode with intentionally-hackneyed puns (i.e. his frequent greeting to viewers: "Hello, Boils and Ghouls"). Each episode was self-contained, and was bookended by an outro sequence again involving the Crypt Keeper.

The episode "You, Murderer" (1995) is particularly noteworthy since it was one of the first shows ever filmed that used computer effects to digitally insert actors into an episode. The episode was directed by series producer Robert Zemeckis, who had recently directed Forrest Gump which utilized these effects. Alfred Hitchcock appeared in a cameo at the beginning of the episode, and Humphrey Bogart played the starring role for this story. Because both men had been dead for decades, their appearances made the episode very well known amongst fans. This episode was also notable for Isabella Rossellini's guest appearance in which she parodies her lookalike mother, Ingrid Bergman for the first (and only) time.

Very few of the episodes, especially in the early seasons, were based on actual stories from Tales From The Crypt. Many were instead from other EC Comics series. For instance, season one was predominantly from The Haunt of Fear, while season two was mostly from Shock Suspenstories. Tales from The Vault of Horror appeared sporadically throughout the series run.

Notable Guest Stars & Directors

One conceit of the series is that many of the episodes involved big-name stars, either as writers, directors, or actors. In this way, many A-list Hollywood stars were appearing on both the big screen and the small screen at the same time.

A list of these actors/guest stars includes Adam Ant, Hank Azaria, Steve Buscemi, Daniel Craig, Tim Curry, Timothy Dalton, Roger Daltrey, Benicio del Toro, Kirk Douglas, Brad Dourif, Whoopi Goldberg, Bobcat Goldthwait, Marg Helgenberger, Mariel Hemingway, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Izzard, John Lithgow, Dylan McDermott, Meat Loaf, Demi Moore, Malcolm McDowell, Donald O'Connor, Joe Pantoliano, Bill Paxton, Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt, Iggy Pop, Christopher Reeve, Don Rickles, Mimi Rogers, Tim Roth, Martin Sheen, Brooke Shields, Slash, Ben Stein, John Stamos, Mary Ellen Trainor, Jeffrey Tambor, Lea Thompson, Vanity, Sam Waterston, George Wendt, Adam West, and Treat Williams, among others.

A list of famous directors includes Michael J. Fox, Tom Hanks, Kyle MacLachlan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many well-established film directors also contributed episodes. They include Robert Zemeckis, Richard Donner, Howard Deutch, John Frankenheimer, William Friedkin, Walter Hill, Tom Holland, Tobe Hooper, Russell Mulcahy, Elliot Silverstein, and Freddie Francis, who directed the original 1972 film.

SPIN OFFS

In 1991, the Fox television network aired a pilot for Two-Fisted Tales, a spin-off based on the 1950s EC action comics. When Fox passed on the pilot, Crypt Keeper segments were tacked onto the three stories (Yellow, Showdown, and King of the Road), and HBO ran them as Tales from the Crypt episodes.

Two movies, Demon Knight (1995) and Bordello of Blood (1996), were based on the series, neither of which was particularly successful. A third movie, Ritual was slated for theatrical release in 2001, but was only distributed internationally (without the Tales from the Crypt connection) until 2006 when it was released on DVD in the United States, with the Cryptkeeper bits restored.

The Peter Jackson film The Frighteners was originally written as a Tales From the Crypt movie, but was produced and released on its own merit after director Robert Zemeckis read the script.

In 1993, a Saturday morning cartoon called Tales from the Cryptkeeper was based on the series, with none of the violence or other questionable content that was in the original series, but kept John Kassir as the voice of the Cryptkeeper.

A kid's game show called Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House was also spun off from the series in 1996, there the cryptkeeper plays the announcer during the game show.

After the original series ended, a spin-off called Perversions of Science premiered in 1997 on HBO, this time being based on science fiction instead of horror. The series only lasted for a short run, and was cancelled the same year.

West End Games adapted material from the series into a role-playing game sourcebook, The World of Tales from the Crypt, using the Masterbook system.

DVD RELEASES

Warner Home Video has released all 7 seasons of the series on DVD for region 1. The DVDs for Seasons 1-3 are unique because they feature all-new Crypt Keeper introductions and segments. No such segments were filmed for Seasons 4-7.

EPISODE GUIDE

Season 1

01. 1- 1 10 Jun 89 The Man Who Was Death
02. 1- 2 10 Jun 89 And All Through the House
03. 1- 3 10 Jun 89 Dig That Cat...He's Real Gone
04. 1- 4 14 Jun 89 Only Sin Deep
05. 1- 5 21 Jun 89 Lover Come Hack To Me
06. 1- 6 28 Jun 89 Collection Completed

Season 2

07. 2- 1 21 Apr 90 Dead Right
08. 2- 2 21 Apr 90 The Switch
09. 2- 3 21 Apr 90 Cutting Cards
10. 2- 4 24 Apr 90 'Til Death
11. 2- 5 1 May 90 Three's a Crowd
12. 2- 6 8 May 90 The Thing From The Grave
13. 2- 7 15 May 90 The Sacrifice
14. 2- 8 22 May 90 For Cryin' Out Loud
15. 2- 9 29 May 90 Four-Sided Triangle
16. 2-10 5 Jun 90 The Ventriloquist's Dummy
17. 2-11 12 Jun 90 Judy, You're Not Yourself Today
18. 2-12 19 Jun 90 Fitting Punishment
19. 2-13 26 Jun 90 Korman's Kalamity
20. 2-14 3 Jul 90 Lower Berth
21. 2-15 10 Jul 90 Mute Witness to Murder
22. 2-16 17 Jul 90 Television Terror
23. 2-17 24 Jul 90 My Brother's Keeper
24. 2-18 31 Jul 90 The Secret

Season 3

25. 3- 1 15 Jun 91 The Trap
26. 3- 2 15 Jun 91 Loved to Death
27. 3- 3 15 Jun 91 Carrion Death
28. 3- 4 19 Jun 91 Abra Cadaver
29. 3- 5 26 Jun 91 Top Billing
30. 3- 6 3 Jul 91 Dead Wait
31. 3- 7 10 Jul 91 The Reluctant Vampire
32. 3- 8 17 Jul 91 Easel Kill Ya
33. 3- 9 24 Jul 91 Undertaking Palor
34. 3-10 31 Jul 91 Mournin' Mess
35. 3-11 7 Aug 91 Split Second
36. 3-12 14 Aug 91 Deadline
37. 3-13 21 Aug 91 Spoiled
38. 3-14 28 Aug 91 Yellow

Season 4

39. 4- 1 27 Jun 92 None but the Lonely Heart
40. 4- 2 27 Jun 92 This'll Kill Ya
41. 4- 3 27 Jun 92 On a Deadman's Chest
42. 4- 4 4 Jul 92 Seance
43. 4- 5 11 Jul 92 Beauty Rest
44. 4- 6 22 Jul 92 What's Cookin'
45. 4- 7 25 Jul 92 The New Arrival
46. 4- 8 1 Aug 92 Showdown
47. 4- 9 8 Aug 92 King of the Road
48. 4-10 19 Aug 92 Maniac At Large
49. 4-11 26 Aug 92 Split Personality
50. 4-12 2 Sep 92 Strung Along
51. 4-13 9 Sep 92 Werewolf Concerto
52. 4-14 16 Sep 92 Curiosity Killed

Season 5

53. 5- 1 2 Oct 93 Death of Some Salesmen
54. 5- 2 2 Oct 93 As Ye Sow
55. 5- 3 2 Oct 93 Forever Ambergris
56. 5- 4 6 Oct 93 Food for Thought
57. 5- 5 13 Oct 93 People Who Live in Brass Hearses
58. 5- 6 20 Oct 93 Two for the Show
59. 5- 7 27 Oct 93 House of Horror
60. 5- 8 3 Nov 93 Well Cooked Hams
61. 5- 9 10 Nov 93 Creep Course
62. 5-10 17 Nov 93 Came the Dawn
63. 5-11 24 Nov 93 Oil's Well That Ends Well
64. 5-12 1 Dec 93 Half-Way Horrible
65. 5-13 8 Dec 93 Till Death Do We Part

Season 6

66. 6- 1 31 Oct 94 Let the Punishment Fit the Crime
67. 6- 2 31 Oct 94 Only Skin Deep
68. 6- 3 31 Oct 94 Whirlpool
69. 6- 4 9 Nov 94 Operation Friendship
70. 6- 5 16 Nov 94 Revenge Is the Nuts
71. 6- 6 23 Nov 94 The Bribe
72. 6- 7 30 Nov 94 The Pit
73. 6- 8 7 Dec 94 The Assassin
74. 6- 9 14 Dec 94 Staired in Horror
75. 6-10 21 Dec 94 In the Groove
76. 6-11 28 Dec 94 Surprise Party
77. 6-12 4 Jan 95 Doctor of Horror
78. 6-13 11 Jan 95 Comes the Dawn
79. 6-14 18 Jan 95 99 & 44/100% Pure Horror
80. 6-15 25 Jan 95 You, Murderer

Season 7

81. 7- 1 19 Apr 96 Fatal Caper
82. 7- 2 26 Apr 96 Last Respects
83. 7- 3 3 May 96 A Slight Case of Murder
84. 7- 4 17 May 96 Escape
85. 7- 5 24 May 96 Horror in the Night
86. 7- 6 31 May 96 Cold War
87. 7- 7 7 Jun 96 Kidnapper
88. 7- 8 14 Jun 96 Report from the Grave
89. 7- 9 21 Jun 96 Smoke Wrings
90. 7-10 28 Jun 96 About Face
91. 7-11 05 Jul 96 Confession
92. 7-12 12 Jul 96 Ear Today... Gone Tomorrow
93. 7-13 19 Jul 96 The Third Pig

Feature Movie

93. F-14 13 Jan 95 Demon Knight
93. F-15 16 Aug 96 Bordello of Blood