Anastasia Elfman Shares Her 10 Favorite ‘Tales from the Crypt Episodes’! [Exclusive]
Great news, boils and ghouls—our unholy Crypt Keeper is back!
Kicking off May 1st, Shudder is set to release all seven seasons of our grimy, sleazy, and gloriously unhinged Tales from the Crypt—streaming for the first time ever in weekly installments every Friday. (Hello, watch parties!)
As a lifelong Monster Kid, what catapulted the show into cult status for me were the original scripts, fearless direction, memorable music, and physical sets that delivered tangible realism. The series honored craftsmanship, including gruesome effects, full-blown prosthetic transformations, and show-stopping puppet animatronics. While a majority of the show’s effects were practical, it also incorporated state-of-the-art technology, such as the wildly unsettling CGI used in Robert Zemeckis’s “You, Murder” (S6E15).
Tales from the Crypt was heavily inspired by both the notoriously banned 1950s EC comic of the same name and the anthology format popularized by Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. Produced by mega-producer Joel Silver with a steady stream of master horror directors, including Robert Zemeckis (Death Becomes Her), Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, Critter 2), and Richard Donner (Scrooged, The Goonies).
Each episode is a self-contained story hosted by a wisecracking corpse known as the Crypt Keeper, brought to life by acclaimed voice actor John Kassir, who tells Dread Central, “I’ve been an actor for 46 years and have been in hundreds of projects, but Tales from the Crypt is probably the most defining role of my career. To see the show coming out again, remastered, to a new audience, as well as satisfying our existing audience, is really exciting to me.”
Tales took early-90s HBO by storm as a cultural force for its signature no-holds-barred gore, nudity, and profanity, with a dash of campy, dark irony. The show’s episode styles range from dark comedy to intense drama, delivering twist-ending lessons that tackle issues like greed, lust, and moral decay, where “bad people” meet poetically horrific ends. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a healthy dose of that these days!
So dim the lights, dust off those spiderwebs, and crank up the fog machine while I sink into a tomb and exhume my Top 10 Tales from the Crypt Episodes!
Plus, read on for EXCLUSIVE quotes from Crypt directors Tom Holland and Mick Garris, master effects artist Todd Masters (Addams Family Values, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight), and composer Danny Elfman (Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas).
10. The New Arrival (S4E7)
An arrogant child psychologist (David Warner) tries one last stunt to save his radio show and makes a house call to help a mother (Zelda Rubinstein) and her troubled “high-spirited” daughter. Rubinstein shines as a pleading mother seemingly at her wits’ end. Fans should pay close attention to the array of child psychology authors that Rubinstein mentions for a fun Easter egg!
9. Food for Thought (S5E4)
High concepts and even higher production value with this visually stunning cautionary carnival tale that could give Tod Browning (The Unknown, Freaks) a run for his money. The episode follows Zambini (Ernie Hudson), a psychic clown who abuses his wife, fellow performer Connie (Joan Chen), who plans to run away with fire-eater Johnny (John Laughlin). And things go ape-level absurd from there!
8. What’s Cookin’ (S4E6)
Down and out restaurant owner Fred (Christoper Reeve) doesn’t understand why his squid-only menu isn’t a hit, not to mention his landlord (played by Meat Loaf) is about to evict him. But luckily for Fred, his new cook (Judd Nelson) has some interestingly budget-friendly ways to spice up the menu with a “Landlord’s Special.” Pass the ketchup!
7. Forever Ambergris (S5E3)
I’m a diehard Steve Buscemi fan, but there’s something particularly splendid in his genre films like Ed and His Dead Mother and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. He nails it as Ike, a talented photographer that idolizes a past-his-prime, jealous combat photographer, Dalton (Roger Daltrey), who hatches a murderous scheme to not only steal Ike’s work, but also his stunning wife. A standout Buscemi performance, full of gooey body horror—I’m falling to pieces over it!
6. Split Personality (S4E11)
Joe Pesci is operating at full Pesci Mode as Vic, a con artist who attempts to swindle everyone he meets. Vic also has a thing for twins, so when two black cats cross his path, causing a fender bender, he falls head over heels for reclusive twin heiresses April and June (played brilliantly by real twins Jaqueline and Kristen Citron), who come to his rescue. Vic, of course, thinks of a new get-rich-quick scheme while having a little double fun until things start unraveling. As Vic would say, and later be memed for eternity, “What the f**k is this piece of sh*t?!”
5. The Ventriloquist Dummy (S2E10)
It’s not an Anastasia Elfman Top List without a demented ventriloquist tale. Stand-up legends Don Rickles as a washed-up ventriloquist and up-and-coming puppet guy Bobcat Goldthwait end up with more than they bargained for. The revolting puppet effects reminded me of Rob Bottin’s amazing puppet FX in Total Recall. We love a good dummy.
4. Let the Punishment Fit the Crime (S6E1)
How exciting when comedians hop over to horror, as the late great Catherine O’Hara plays a calculating big city attorney who picked the wrong small town to get trapped in. I’m also a fan of master thespian Peter MacNicol as a scene-stealing, bumbling public defender.
3. Four-Sided Triangle (S2E9)
Acclaimed horror director Tom Holland (Child’s Play, Fright Night) puts a young Patricia Arquette in a Farm Life meets Fatal Attraction tale, with a spin you’ll just die over! Arquette stuns with range against veteran actors Chelcie Ross (A Simple Plan) and Susan Blommaert (Edward Scissorhands).
Director Holland tells Dread, “I’m thrilled Tales is coming to streaming. The episodes are made for binge-watching. The episodes I directed are some of my favorite things I’ve done. Patricia Arquette was amazing in Four Sided Triangle, as was the entire cast. Being a part of that first season of Tales on HBO felt like being invited into the cool kids’ club. Everyone involved was at the top of their game. Beyond talented. Writers, directors, actors, special efx, producers, etc. We were making insanely awesome shows and having so much fun doing it.”
2.Whirlpool (S6E3)
Prolific horror meister Mick Garris creates a horror-tinged twist on Groundhog Day when a struggling comic book artist gets trapped in time-loop chaos that suspiciously ends in murder, no matter the scenario. I’m obsessed with the immense worldbuilding that Garris is somehow always able to fit in, even within the time restrictions of these episodes. Honestly, I could have watched a whole feature with this stellar cast!
Mick Garris tells Dread, “It’s great to be able to stream these shows uncut and in their original format. CRYPT was the first, and broke all the rules, clearing the way for Masters of Horror and all the rest. Before there was streaming, HBO and Showtime were the only places you could get uncensored, uncut, extreme material without commercials from major directors. It was amazing to shoot in a highly stylized comic book style.”
1. Death of Some Salesman (S5E1)
When I think of iconic Tales from the Crypt episodes, “Death of Some Salesman” is always at the top of my list! Tim Curry is horror royalty, giving us such memorable performances as Darkness in Ridley Scott’s Legend and Pennywise in IT, and we mustn’t forget his acclaimed voice acting in such gateway genre classics as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and Dinosaurs. All that to say what a treat it is to watch Curry chew the scenery playing three distinctly broad, gagworthy roles!
Special Effects Makeup designer Todd Masters tells Dread, “Working with Tim Curry was amazing. We needed to do 3 character age makeups in seven days for “Death of Some Salesman.” Round-the-clock sculpting and molding. Tim was chill, had seen it all before. No problem.”
And finally, we must mention Tales From the Crypt’s iconic theme music by the legendary Danny Elfman, who tells us, “I always liked the comic, so for me it was just something fun and silly that seemed right up my alley. And who doesn’t love the Crypt Keeper?”
Make sure to follow Dread Central and Anastasia Elfman across social media to catch my companion Tales from the Crypt video!
Categorized:Editorials Exclusive