Although EC Comics is not as widely known as the big players in their industry like DC and Marvel, they published a broad range of genres, with their own family of superheroes. By the 1980s, they already had a catalogue of stories dating back 40 years, and despite the passage of time, these turned out to be well-suited for adaptation into the late-night horror of Tales from the Crypt.
Hosted by the Cryptkeeper, a sassy, animated corpse, the stand-alone stories tend to present as morality tales with a horror-vibe, usually with some laughs thrown in. Originally broadcast on American cable television, the series was allowed to include the kind of content that wouldn’t have been allowed in prime-time – gruesome violence, nudity and sex are common plot points – which saw the series originally air locally towards or after midnight. Even with content that may have been deemed objectionable, the series routinely featured top celebrities. The series was helmed by directors including Robert Zemeckis and Richard Donner, and it is easy to feel that the series was made as a passion project.
More than 30 years after its final episode aired, Tales from the Crypt is still easy to watch – the 30-minute format means no story has time to overstay its welcome, and needs to be snappy. The blend of silly horror and humour doesn’t demand a lot for bedtime viewing. For modern audiences, we have a chance to see the stars we know from movies and television in unfamiliar roles. Tales from the Crypt set the standard for late-night horror television, daring to push boundaries, and its popularity saw it spun off into a series of films, a radio show, and strangely a childrens’ version. All episodes are now available to stream free and legally in Australia.
Tales from the Crypt (1989)
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