History Series / TalesFromTheCrypt

Related loosely to the [[Film/TalesFromTheCrypt 1972 anthology film of the same name]], as both had stories based on comics from the same company (and three episodes of the series adapt stories that had already appeared in the film). There were also three full-length movies (which were direct adaptations of the show, complete with the Crypt Keeper) titled ''Film/DemonKnight'', ''Film/BordelloOfBlood'' and ''Film/{{Ritual}}'' (though that last one was a DolledUpInstallment). There was also a Saturday morning game-show called ''Secrets from the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House''. In 1995 the Cryptkeeper became the very first icon for Ride/UniversalStudios' ''Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights''; advertisements with his face on them labeled the event as "The Curse of the Cryptkeeper", and the ''Ride/DungeonOfTerror'' haunted house was revamped into ''Cryptkeeper's Dungeon of Terror''. He returned the next year in charge of the the house ''Ride/TheCryptKeepersStudioTourOfTerror'' and the ''Crypt Keeper's Festival of the Dead Parade''. A TabletopRPG called ''The World of Tales from the Crypt'' published by West End Games using the Masterbook system. For the animated adaptation, see ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptKeeper''.

A critically acclaimed [[GenreAnthology horror anthology]] series that ran from 1989 to 1996. Every week, the show featured the [[HorrorHost Crypt Keeper]] telling horrifying tales based on stories from the gruesome Creator/ECComics of the 1950s. Because the show was on the premium cable channel Creator/{{HBO}}, it was not subject to FCC censorship and featured lots of gore and sexual situations. The Crypt Keeper, a gruesome undead puppet voiced by John Kassir and performed by Creator/PattyMaloney, served as the host and {{narrator}} in a manner similar to that of Creator/RodSerling on ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', providing lead-ins and closing comments... which were filled with IncrediblyLamePun after pun of a macabre nature. The show was very influential, and helped bring along more anthology horror shows to come in the 1990s and 2000s, both for adults and for children. The show still currently holds the distinction of being the [[LongRunner longest running]] original series ever to run on HBO.

* {{Transgender}}:
** The twist of [[spoiler:"The Assassin", where the wife of an AWOL assassin turns out to be the rogue "himself", who had more work done than "his" would-be killers initially assumed.]]
** This is also the twist of [[spoiler:"Fatal Caper", where the female lawyer turns out to be the father's disowned third son, which she reveals right after seducing him and disrobing.]]

* EatTheEvidence: "The Assassin" ends with [[spoiler:Janet, revealed to be the missing assassin (she has [[{{Transgender}} had a sex change]] to disguise herself) serving up the remains of the CIA agents to her husband, though he doesn't know what he's eating.]]

* MagicPlasticSurgery: A trifecta in the episode "The Assassins": The trope is [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] when a team of government agents show a photograph of a rogue assassin to a housewife and it's obvious that the man in the picture doesn't look anything like her husband. [[spoiler:It's [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when the rogue assassin proves not to be her husband and [[DoubleSubversion Doubly subverted]] when the mandatory twist ending reveals that the rogue assassin is actually the [[{{Transgender}} wife]]]].

* CinderellaCircumstances: Bobby from "Fitting Punishment".

* FracturedFairyTale: "The Third Pig".

** The final episode, "The Third Pig", gives this treatment to ''Literature/ThreeLittlePigs''.

** In the episode "As Ye Sow", the main character suspects his wife is having an affair, and became so paranoid that without any hard evidence of the affair, he hired an assassin to kill the man who he thought is his wife's lover. It was revealed in the end that there's neither any affair nor attempted one going on. As compared to the original source material, where the character was in justified anguish because his wife DID have an affair and told him straight to his face that she's leaving him for another lover.

* RevengeFic: The end of "[[spoiler:Whirlpool]]" InUniverse implies [[spoiler:that the whole episode was this]], with [[spoiler:Vern putting his JerkAss boss, Rolanda, in a GroundhogDayLoop story]]. What's more, Vern's final words imply that [[spoiler:he's , trapped in a loop of his own, possibly a character in a RevengeFic ''within'' a RevengeFic, and fully aware of it.]]

* RevengeFic: The end of "[[spoiler:Whirlpool]]" InUniverse implies [[spoiler:that the whole episode was this]], with [[spoiler:Vern putting his JerkAss boss, Rolanda, in a GroundhogDayLoop story]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Several stories feature adulterers, both male and female. By the end, they get their comeuppance. "Three's a Crowd" makes you think it is going to be this, only to subvert it in the saddest, most heart-wrenching way possible.

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Combined with some InUniverse FridgeHorror and more than a touch of DidntThinkThisThrough, "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone" ends with Ulric (after being BuriedAlive as part of his last ever stunt) bemusing on how, after that, he's going to be set for live while also sadly remarking on the fate of the cat that the gland he was given came from. [[spoiler:Said fate being that it died. Meaning it '''lost a life'''. Cue Ulric realizing he only had '''''8''''' lives, not 9... and that he's going to die ''permanently'' in his last stunt]].

** "Top Billing" Barry wants to get the role in the stage production of Hamlet to the point of resorting to murder. [[spoiler:Barry ends up getting the role but unfortunately for him was what he didn't know was that the play is actually being conducted by murderous mental asylum patients and the role they want him for was to be the skull of Yorick.]]

* TheBluebeard: ''None but the Lonely Heart''.

* FunWithAcronyms: The episode "Mournin' Mess" revolves around a reporter investigating the mysterious deaths of several homeless people, which he believes are connected to a charitable organisation called the "Grateful Homeless Outcasts and Unwanted Layaway Society". What do you think their secret is?

* GenreAnthology: Of modernised horror stories.
* GoldDigger: Several. And then they get what they deserve.

* IncrediblyLamePun: The Crypt Keeper is proclive to this, along with some of the episode titles.

* JokerJury: "The Third Pig"

* MadDoctor: Dr. Orloff in "Doctor of Horror", who steals corpses in order to extract their souls.

* AdaptationalVillainy: As noted in the Asshole Victim entry below, the salesman in "Death of Some Salesmen" is made a conniving scumbag-- in the original comic, he's not even a particularly pushy salesman, and he only visits the crazy couple[[note]]no daughter in this[[/note]] because his car broke down and he wanted to call a tow truck.

* ArtifactTitle: "Forever Ambergris." The main characters of the original story were an old sea captain and one of his men, and ambergris was very important to the actual plot. In the TV adaptation, they're war photographers -- and nowhere near any whales.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Several in "Escape," but most of all, German prisoners of war would certainly ''not'' be wearing rank insignia on their clothes, as they are no longer considered soldiers.
** Also, [[spoiler:the war ending]] would not result in [[spoiler:the immediate release of prisoners. That would take months of repatriation proceedings.]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In "Last Respects," a trio of sisters gets a hold of Literature/TheMonkeysPaw itself. Delores tries to use the ThreeWishes and her first one is for one million pounds. It turns out Marlys had a big life insurance policy, so she dies in a car accident. Thinking she can beat the Paw, Delores uses the second wish to restore Marlys to before the accident. [[spoiler:It turns out that Marlys was really shot by the third sister Lavonne, meaning the second wish simply undid the cover-up and exposed the truth to Delores]]. Delores does find a way to beat the Paw in the end. [[spoiler:She wishes that her last wish go to her sister... but doesn't say ''which'' sister]].

* BittersweetEnding: "My Brother's Keeper": Frank watched his Siamese twin brother Eddie murder the love of his life, but (before both blacked out) he managed to sign the release for surgery. When they wake up, they're "free," with Eddie taken away by the police and Frank planning to live his life to the fullest. Although this can actually be viewed as a DownerEnding when you consider that Frank "living his life to the fullest" involves [[HeWhoFightsMonsters acting quite a bit like his brother used to.]]

* BlackComedy: The episode "Cutting Cards" is a particularly vivid one, as a game of Russian roulette devolves into a round of "chop poker" that goes nowhere good in a hurry.

* CatsHaveNineLives: In "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone," a homeless dude (Ulric) is offered a chance at (gruesome) fun and profit after he has a cat's brain gland implanted into him; it gives him the mythical extra lives, which allow him to die repeatedly as a circus performer. [[spoiler:Too bad he forgot to count the death of the cat to begin with before pulling his final stunt...]]

* CrazyJealousGuy: Steve Dixon in "Split Second" rapidly becomes one after getting married, and unfortunately for him, his wife has no intention to remain faithful.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The final episode, "The Third Pig", gives this treatment to ''Literature/ThreeLittlePigs''.

* DidntThinkThisThrough [[spoiler: In "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone" Ulric realizes he forgot that the death of the cat that gave him the gland counted as a lost live which means he had already used up his extra lives.]]

* DrJerk: "The New Arrival"

* EverybodyLives: A rare example with a macabre BlackComedy twist in "Cutting Cards".

* GuestHost: One episode had Creator/WilliamSadler 'reprising' his role as [[Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney The Grim Reaper]] to co-host with the Crypt Keeper.

* EvilVsEvil: Several episodes have this happen, usually with a violent or murderous criminal doing battle with a supernatural entity, or two supernatural beasts fighting each other.

It was announced that the show would return on Creator/{{TNT}} in 2017 as part of a new horror block, helmed by none other than M. Night Shayamalan. However, due to arising copyright issues, the planned reboot was unceremoniously nixed by the network in mid-2017.

* DevouredByTheHorde: The final fate of Sergeant Parker in "Comes the Dawn".