History Series / TalesFromTheCrypt

** When Creator/MichaelJFox directed "The Trap" and had a cameo as a prosecutor, part of his scene showed him questioning [[Film/BackToTheFuture Mr. Strickland]].

** "None but the Lonely Heart" ends with the [[TheBlueBeard the main character]] [[AssholeVictim meeting his end]] via his long-desceased ex-wives.

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 ''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 ''Crypt Keeper's Studio Tour of Terror'' and the ''Crypt Keeper's Festival of the Dead Parade''. A TabletopRPG called ''The World of Tales from the Crypt'' was published by West End Games using the Masterbook system. For the AnimatedAdaptation, see ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptKeeper''.

** 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.

* AnAxeToGrind

** "Lower Berth," too. Whereas most episodes are set in the present-era, "Lower Berth" takes place in the early 1900s.

** "The Pit" isn't based a ''Two Fisted Tales'' story, but also has zero horror elements, being a martial-arts themed action piece.

** Bobbi in "Forever Ambergris." In the comic, she was just another one of EC's many unsatisfied spouses who supported the captain's plan to kill her husband, and only contracted the deadly disease due to a blunder on his part. In the episode, she's madly in love with her husband, and willingly contracted it [[VengefulWidow to get revenge on her husband's killer]].

* AdaptedOut: The Vault Keeper and The Old Witch, who co-hosted EC's horror lineup, are completely absent from this version.

** The end of "Oil's Well that Ends Well" has the con artist KillEmAll by tossing her cigarette butt into crude oil and causing a massive explosion. The stuff is flammable, but not by that much, and a lit cigarette won't even ignite ''gasoline'', let alone crude.

** 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.]]

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent:
** The final episode, a re-telling of "The Three Little Pigs", was animated.
** "Lower Berth," too. Whereas most episodes are set in the present-era, "Lower Berth" takes place in the early 1900s.
** "Yellow", "Showdown", and "King of the Road" are rather tonally different from the rest of the show. This is because they were originally part of a pilot for a planned TV version of ''TwoFistedTales'' instead. Of these, "King of the Road" stands out the most for being a completely straight action yarn with no grisly or macabre themes whatsoever.
** "The Pit" isn't based a ''Two Fisted Tales'' story, but also has zero horror elements, being a martial-arts themed action piece.
** "Fitting Punishment" is notably the only episode with an entirely black cast.

* TheMovie: Technically six. Two films were produced in the 1970s by Creator/AmicusProductions -- [[Film/TalesFromTheCrypt a self-titled movie]] and ''Film/VaultOfHorror''. (Unsurprisingly, though, this series has a loose connection to those movies.) In 1989, a CompilationMovie was put together, consisting of "The Man Who Was Death", "And All Through the House", and "Dig That Cat, He's Real Gone". Three [[ThematicSeries stand-alone franchise films]] were made in the 1990s: ''Film/DemonKnight'', ''Film/BordelloOfBlood'' and ''Ritual'', the last of which was released straight to video. Note that ''Ritual'' was produced as a ''[=TFtC=]'' movie, but later edited to remove any connection to the franchise. This connection was later restored in an effort to increase awareness of it. Also notable are the movies that were supposed to be part of the franchise, complete with Cryptkeeper wraparound segments, but ended up becoming their own thing, most notably [[Film FromDuskTillDawn]], [[Film DeathBecomesHer]], and [[Film TheFrighteners]].

* TheMovie: Technically six. Two films were produced in the 1970s by Creator/AmicusProductions -- [[Film/TalesFromTheCrypt a self-titled movie]] and ''Film/VaultOfHorror''. (Unsurprisingly, though, this series has a loose connection to those movies.) In 1989, a CompilationMovie was put together, consisting of "The Man Who Was Death", "And All Through the House", and "Dig That Cat, He's Real Gone". Three [[ThematicSeries stand-alone franchise films]] were made in the 1990s: ''Film/DemonKnight'', ''Film/BordelloOfBlood'' and ''Ritual'', the last of which was released straight to video. Note that ''Ritual'' was produced as a ''[=TFtC=]'' movie, but later edited to remove any connection to the franchise. This connection was later restored in an effort to increase awareness of it. Also notable are the movies that were supposed to be part of the franchise, complete with Cryptkeeper wraparound segments, but ended up becoming their own thing, most notably FromDuskTillDawn, DeathBecomesHer, and TheFrighteners.

* TheMovie: Technically six. Two films were produced in the 1970s by Creator/AmicusProductions -- [[Film/TalesFromTheCrypt a self-titled movie]] and ''Film/VaultOfHorror''. (Unsurprisingly, though, this series has a loose connection to those movies.) In 1989, a CompilationMovie was put together, consisting of "The Man Who Was Death", "And All Through the House", and "Dig That Cat, He's Real Gone". Three [[ThematicSeries stand-alone franchise films]] were made in the 1990s: ''Film/DemonKnight'', ''Film/BordelloOfBlood'' and ''Ritual'', the last of which was released straight to video. Note that ''Ritual'' was produced as a ''[=TFtC=]'' movie, but later edited to remove any connection to the franchise. This connection was later restored in an effort to increase awareness of it.

* 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.
** Also, the husband in "Lover Come Hack To Me". In the show, he was a GoldDigger who was planning to kill his wife from the start, only to have the tables turned on him. In the comic, he was a completely innocent, unsuspecting NiceGuy.
** 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. The TV adaptation indeed made the main character's comeuppance more satisfying compared to that of the original source material's CruelTwistEnding.
** Lou Paloma from "The Trap." In the comic, his counterpart was a HenpeckedHusband who was forced into the scheme by his shrewish wife and their partner-in-crime. Here, all of their negative traits are transferred onto him so that we don't feel too sorry for him.

** Bobbi in "Forever Ambergris." In the comic, she was just another one of EC's many unsatisfied spouses who supported the captain's plan to kill her husband, and only contracted the deadly disease due to a blunder on his part. In the episode, she's madly in love with her husband, and willingly contracted it [[VengefulWidow to get revenge]] on her husband's killer.

** "The Third Pig" features poor Dudley Pig getting framed for the Wolf's murder of his brothers by a rigged wolf jury. His dead brothers bail him out of jail and lead him to create a Frankenstein's Monster pig that devours the Wolf alive. But Dudley, feeling guilty for [[HeWhoFightsMonsters creating another monster to combat one]], goes to kill the Frankenpig, succeeding in electrocuting it. [[spoiler:But then the Wolf, reanimated by the electricity, emerges from the dead pig monster's body and devours Dudley alive.]]

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 AnimatedAdaptation, see ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptKeeper''.

* AdaptionalHeroism: While not often, some episodes made certain characters from the comics more heroi.

** Bobbi in "Forever Ambergris." In the comic, she was just another one of EC's many unsatisfied spouses who supported the captain's plan to kill her husband, and only contracted the deadly disease due to a blunder on his part. In the episode, she's madly in love with her husband, and willingly contracted it to get revenge on her husband's killer.

* AndIMustScream: "You, Murderer" is completely from the point-of-view of the protagonist, even when he dies shortly into the story. Thing is, he is still in his body afterwards, but no one can hear him, and he can still feel pain. Only the last one is of any concern to him (because he finds it annoying), as he has the unfolding story to narrate and concern himself with.

** In "Loved To Death" Edward uses a love potion to make his neighbor fall in love with him. It works but comes to the point where the love potion makes her unbearably clingy and never stops bothering him.[[spoiler:It gets to the point where Edward even in the afterlife is stuck with her.]]
** "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, 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.]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Longtooth from "The Reluctant Vampire" [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire really doesn't like to kill people in order to satisfy his thirst for blood]], but he will still bite your neck if you try to mess with him or his heart-crush or, in a lesser extent, if you are a criminal.

** Joe Pesci starred the most gruesome example in "Split Personality".

** ''Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror'' will seem very familiar to fans of this series, from the BlackComedy to the charismatic host to the godawful puns. The first segment will also seem very familiar to ''Manga/DeathNote'' fans, but [[FollowTheLeader that's a whole different story]].

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 Creator/JohnKassir 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.

* 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.]]