History YMMV / TalesFromTheCrypt

* DenserAndWackier: In the 1972 British film, the Crypt keeper seemed like a normal human dressed as a monk and was played by eminent thespian Creator/RalphRichardson. In the TV series, the Crypt Keeper is a darkly comedic skeletal puppet who likes to make crude, silly puns.

** Creator/WilliamSadler played the title character of the series' first episode "The Man Who Was Death". Two years later, Sadler would also be [[TheGrimReaper Death]] in ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney''. Later, he cameos in the wraparound segments of Season 6's "The Assassin" as the ''Bill And Ted'' version of Death.

** Creator/WilliamSadler played the title character of the series' first episode "The Man Who Was Death". Two years later, Sadler would also be [[TheGrimReaper Death]] in ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney''.

%%Zero Context Example** Bobby in "Fitting Punishment" may be one of the more notable examples.
%%Zero Context Example** Enoch in "Lower Berth."

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Or at least as bad, since Maitland suffers the same fate as the other individuals, despite the fact that his actions (having an affair with a young woman and abandoning his family) are sleazy rather than illegal, whereas most of the other characters are either outright murderers or took actions that caused another person's death. When his actions are contrasted with a first-degree murderer like Joanna, Maitland's fate seems like a case of KarmicOverkill.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Or at least as bad, since Maitland suffers the same fate as the other individuals, despite the fact that his actions (having an affair with a young woman and abandoning his family) are sleazy whereas most of the other characters are either outright murderers or took actions that caused another person's death. When his actions are contrasted with a first-degree murderer like Joanna, Maitland's fate seems like a case of KarmicOverkill.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Or are meant to be at least as bad as villains. There are five people receiving the same punishment in Hell, even though under the law and most concepts of ethics, they are not remotely equivalent in their misdeeds. Only one (Joanne) is a murderer. Two (Major Rogers and James Elliott) caused men's deaths inadvertently - though they felt little remorse for them. Meanwhile, as far as we know the worst Ralph Jason ever did was be an unscrupulous businessman, and Carl Maitland's worst offense is cheating on his wife. In-universe, the latter two are presented to be as deserving of their ends as a murderer, and audiences usually feel little sympathy for them despite the implied KarmicOverkill.
* KarmicOverkill: Ralph Jason seems to suffer the worst fate, even though the worst thing he ever did was to be a rather unscrupulous businessman. Similarly, the worst thing Carl Maitland did was commit adultery. In contrast, the others sent to Hell were either murderers (Joanne) or cruel individuals who actions caused another man's death (Major Rogers, James Elliott), and thus more obviously deserving of death themselves.

* {{Anvilicious}}: A pretty intentional and self-aware version of it.

** Creator/JonLovitz's character in "Top Billing".

* MoralEventHorizon: OnceAnEpisode. When a character crosses this line, you know they're in trouble.

* SeasonalRot: The last two seasons are not very well liked by fans.

** Bobby in "Fitting Punishment" may be one of the more notable examples.
** Enoch in "Lower Berth."

** At the beginning of Abra Cadaver, you can see the sound mic at the top of the screen.

** Also Joanne's husband. In his brief scene, he's shown to be nothing worse than a NiceGuy who loves his wife and daughter but made the mistake of marrying a psychopathic GoldDigger who [[spoiler: murdered him for his life insurance policy]].

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Are at least as bad as villains. There are five people receiving the same punishment in Hell, even though under the law and most concepts of ethics, they are not remotely equivalent in their misdeeds. Only one (Joanne) is a murderer. Two (Major Rogers and James Elliott) caused men's deaths inadvertently - though they felt little remorse for them. Meanwhile, as far as we know the worst Ralph Jason ever did was be an unscrupulous businessman, and Carl Maitland's worst offense is cheating on his wife. In-universe, the latter two are presented to be as deserving of their ends as a murderer, and audiences usually feel little sympathy for them despite the implied KarmicOverkill.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Most modern audiences are ''more'' familiar with the TV series than the original 1950's comics, especially the portrayal of the Crypt Keeper as a wisecracking revenant rather than a large, ghoulish but very much alive old man. It doesn't help that reprinted collections of the original comics are ungodly expensive.

** Also Joanne's husband who she brutally murdered. In his brief scene, he's shown to be nothing worse than a NiceGuy who loves his wife and daughter but made the mistake of marrying a psychopathic GoldDigger.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Are at least as bad as villains. There are five people receiving the same punishment in Hell, even though under the law and most concepts of ethics, they are not remotely equivalent in their misdeeds. Only one (Joanne) is a murderer. Two (Major Rogers and James Elliott) caused men's deaths inadvertently - though they felt little remorse for them. Meanwhile, as far as we know the worst Ralph Jason ever did was be an unscrupulous businessman, and Carl Maitland's worst offense is cheating on his wife. In-universe, the latter two are presented to be as deserving of their ends as a murderer, and audiences usually feel little sympathy for them.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: There are five people receiving the same punishment in Hell, even though under the law and most concepts of ethics, they are not remotely equivalent in their misdeeds. Only one (Joanne) is a murderer. Two (Major Rogers and James Elliott) caused men's deaths inadvertently - though they felt little remorse for them. Meanwhile, as far as we know the worst Ralph Jason ever did was be an unscrupulous businessman, and Carl Maitland's worst offense is cheating on his wife. In-universe, the latter two are presented to be as deserving of their ends as a murderer, and audiences usually feel little sympathy for them.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Inverted in "The Switch", where a rich old man spends all his money on a new, youthful body, only to have the woman he was pursuing leave him for the now-wealthy donor who underwent the body exchange operations with him. It's presented as a DownerEnding for him, even though A: his intended lover was an obvious GoldDigger he's much better off without, B: he's essentially purchased a do-over on ''life itself'', something many, many people would happily trade a fortune to have, and C: since he has regained his youth but retained his years of accumulated experience and knowledge, he could potentially still rebuild his fortune.

* ShockingSwerve: Some of the [[MandatoryTwistEnding Mandatory Twist Endings]] can feel like this, where there is little to no hint for how the ending scene would be like. A good example is Split Second, where no one expected the lumberjacks to become insane murderers. Another lesser example would be [[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS4E1NoneButTheLonelyHeart None But The Lonely Heart]], where many people probably expected a KarmicTwistEnding but there was absolutely no foreshadowing that it would be that of the supernatural.

** "[[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS7E1FatalCaper Fatal Caper]]": Fiona Havisham is the beautiful lawyer for the Amberson family. When old Mycroft Amberson has it in his will that his disowned child Frank must be found before he seemingly dies, Fiona plays his sons Justin and Evelyn against one another, clandestinely working with Mycroft to eliminate them. When Mycroft tries to seduce her after, Fiona reveals she is "Frank", actually a {{transgender}} woman who transitioned after being disowned, before having Mycroft executed with her partner in crime to inherit the fortune.

** The episode “King of the Road” featured the song [[https://youtu.be/cSpnAvvPqDk “Roll With the Punches”]] by Music/WarrenZevon.

** The episode “King of the Road” featured the song [[https://youtu.be/cSpnAvvPqDk “Roll With the Punches”]] by Warren Zevon.

* CompleteMonster: While many killers were played for {{camp}} or BlackComedy, only had 1 or 2 victims, or killed [[AssholeVictim deserving people]], there were some horrific exceptions:
** "[[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS3E9UndertakingPalor Undertaking Palor]]": [[CreepyMortician Sebastian Esbrook]] is the crooked mortician of a small town who conspires with the local pharmacist, Mr. Grundy, to murder town residents by poisoning them while they split the proceeds from the funerals. Esbrook murders a woman who previously rejected him, assisting in multiple poisonings before [[NoHonorAmongThieves turning on and killing Grundy]] via acid poured down his throat before attempting to murder the teenage boys caught filming him.
** "[[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS4E1NoneButTheLonelyHeart None but the Lonely Heart]]": [[TheBluebeard Howard Prince]] is a [[FauxAffablyEvil charismatic]] young man who [[GoldDigger courts older, richer women]] and gains their affection. However, once they've tied the knot, Prince poisons them and cruelly leaves them to die as he reaps their riches, all while playing the part of the grieving husband before he starts the process over again. Prince is [[MurderIsTheBestSolution willing to kill anyone else who might pose a threat to his operations]], as even his own partners in the scheme aren't safe when Prince becomes paranoid over someone discovering the truth of his actions.
** "[[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS4E6WhatsCookin What's Cookin']]": [[EvilChef Gaston]] is in truth a SerialKiller who has murdered people in other states before arriving at Fred and Erma's eatery. Murdering Fred's landlord to make him into steaks, Gaston murders numerous other people to [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies put them on the menu]]. When he realizes the heat is upon him, Gaston attempts to murder Fred and Erma before making his escape.
%%Do not add any other examples without consensus from [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=6vic3f9h1cy5qivsenw8llok the thread]].

* Complete Monster: A case can be made for all of them, but two stand out in particular:
** James Elliot is a spoiled brat who dislikes his neighbor Grimsdyke for no reason other than he's a garbageman. Instead of just being a simple jerk to him, he conspires to drive the man out of town with his father, taking away the things he loves the most: His dogs, his job, and the company of the neighborhood children, in that order. While one of the dogs return to Grimsdyke, what drives the stake into his heart is a bunch of fake valentines made up by Elliot that makes him think the world hates him, fnally driving the poor man to suicide. While his father is remorseful enough for his part in all this to pay for the man's funeral, James shows no such emotion.
** Major William Rogers is the new director of a home for the blind, but instead of caring for them he uses the money to treat himself and his dog, leaving the wards to freeze in the cold and eat far from nutritious gruel. Even when one of the men dies from his negligence, he doesn't even bat an eye. No one will shed a tear when he gets his comeupance.

** At the end of "Carrion Death", when the vulture kills Diggs by ripping his eye out, while the initial effect still looks pretty good it's clearly a dummy head switched out for Kyle [=MacLachlan=]'s in the final shot.