Remember Tales from the Crypt? Surely you do. It was a classic HBO series that echoed the famed Twighlight Zone in its presentation but borrowed heavily from modern (well, at the time I suppose) horror. The result was a wicked, demonic little show that rightly went down in history, thanks to the absolute sea of seat-filling names that attached themselves to the bill Rob Zemeckis, Steven E. de Souza, John Frankenheimer, even Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Hanks lent the show their directorial eye, thats just the kind of show it was. For all its lob-browery, it was held in high esteem, even by the industry that bore it. And casts?! Forget about it! Featured through the series was Joe Pantoliano, Amanda Plummer, Kirk Douglas, Teri Hatcher, Christopher Reeve, Martin Sheen and Ewan McGregor, and believe me when I say, that was the tip of the iceberg. Tales from the Crypt really was a big, warm, wholesome slice of pop-culture horror, cooked by your TV and delivered directly into the bloodstream through the eyeballs. For the most part, Tales from the Crypt was directly adapted from the EC Comic Book series Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Shock Superstories in the 1950s; the grim tales within often follows ghastly individuals who almost always end up victim of their own ill behaviour. In a weird sort of way, these were morality plays, designed not only to scare and sicken, but to teach worthwhile moral lessons like dont be a murderous douche bag, lest you wind up decapitated in a garbage bin (as Jon Lovitz does in one of my favourite episodes, Top Billing).
Presented by none other than the iconic Cryptkeeper, it ran for 7 shudder inducing seasons on HBO. And as a result of it being aired on a premium cable channel, it was probably one of the most graphic, gory and tawdry TV experiences available at the time, which, if Im honest, is exactly why I loved it so much; that and its underlying, but constantly penetrating, sense of gallows humour. After watching just one episode, youd struggle to remove your tongue from your cheek for at least a good few hours afterwards. So, why the nostalgia trip? you might ask, Whats your point? Well, good news horror fans! Tales from the Crypt is to be returning and soon, as part of the new run of shows on
FEARnet. Theyll be airing all seven series of Tales from the Crypt on both their TV channel, and then shortly after on their on demand service. You can watch the show in linear order (which I totally recommend, by the way) on their channel or you can wait a few days, and itll be made available on demand. It airs every Friday at 10pm between the 5th October 2012 and the 15th March 2013 and becomes available to watch on demand between the 10th October and the 10th April 2013. This is excellent news for both returning fans of the show and the newer, uninitiated younguns out there wholl still more than likely have Tales of the Crypt to add to their repertoire of pop-culture knowledge. Get on this as soon as possible; you will not be disappointed.