Tales from the Crypt poster

TV series

Tales from the Crypt

1989NR7 seasons8.0 / 10

Dead-on humor and horror.

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

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Streaming, rental and purchase options

Where to watch in United States

Checked Jul 22, 2026

Tales from the Crypt is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand, Philo, Prime Video, Shudder, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube TV, and The Roku Channel in United States. You can also buy it from Amazon, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Use the direct links below to open the provider.

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Synopsis

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

Cast, crew and production details

About Tales from the Crypt

Watch trailerOfficial Trailer

Cast

John KassirCrypt Keeper (voice)

Michelle JohnsonLiz Kelly-Dixon

Sugar Ray LeonardGravedigger (segment "None But the Lonely Heart")

Ben CrossBenjamin A. Polosky

Madge SinclairLucille

Al Hunter AshtonSgt. Cornwall

Roger Ashton-GriffithsValdemar Tymrak

Yvonne De CarloMrs. Jones (segment "Death of Some Salesmen")

Credits

Created by: William M. Gaines, Steven Dodd

Production details

Status: Ended
Series type: Scripted
Episodes: 81
Original language: English

Networks & production

HBOUnited States
Tales From The Crypt Holdings
EC Comics
HBOUnited States
Geffen PicturesUnited States

Themes

anthologybased on comiccoffindark comedydark fantasygothic horrorhorrorhorror anthologynuditypuppetpuppeteersupernatural power

Season 3 episodes

Watch options above are for the show and may vary by season or episode.

← Season 2Season 4 →

Episode 1

Loved to Death / Carrion Death / The Trap

Jun 15, 19911h 20m5.0 / 10

In Los Angeles, the aspirant screenwriter Edward Foster from Indiana has a crush on his neighbor Miranda Singer. However, the bimbo Miranda is an aspirant actress and gold digger and does not give attention to Edward. His unrequited love calls the attention of his creepy landlord Mr. Stronham that offers Edward a love potion to seduce Miranda. Will the potion work? A sadistic serial killer has unforeseen complications when pursued by a determined motorcycle cop in a barren desert. Indebted unhappy married couple, Lou and Irene, commit a life insurance fraud. Lou's brother Billy helps him fake his death and leave for Mexico. But Irene and Billy fall in love and when Lou returns, they claim they don't know him.

Directed by Tom Mankiewicz, Steven E. de Souza, Michael J. FoxWritten by Steven E. de Souza, John Mankiewicz, Joe Minion, Scott AlexanderGuest stars Kyle MacLachlan, George DelHoyo, Bruce McGill, Teri Garr, Mariel Hemingway, Andrew McCarthy, Bruno Kirby, James Tolkan

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Episode 2

Abra Cadaver

Jun 19, 199130m5.5 / 10

Carl and Marty are siblings who work at a hospital. Carl shows Marty his new way of proving that the brain lives after the body dies. The whole thing turns out to be a prank but the shock of the joke gives Marty a heart attack. Years later Marty hasn't forgiven Carl and plans a deadly revenge. Marty then reveals that it was an act of revenge on Carl and the whole thing was a joke ... or was it?

Directed by Stephen HopkinsWritten by Jim BirgeGuest stars Tony Goldwyn, Beau Bridges, Hugh Holub, Peter Schuck, Tina Bockrath, Lucinda Weist

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Episode 3

Top Billing

Jun 26, 199128m6.8 / 10

Barry Blye is a frustrated actor who will do anything to get a part. He's been rejected by every acting company because he doesn't have the right look. Bad luck follows him all over. First his girlfriend breaks up with him. Then he's kicked out of his apartment. Then his old rival Winton Robins, who has ""the look"", gets a part in a weird theater's production of Hamlet. Barry goes into a frustrated rage and strangles him to death to take the part. He is shocked when he learns that the theater is really a mental hospital.

Directed by Todd HollandWritten by Myles BerkowitzGuest stars Kimmy Robertson, Louise Fletcher, John Astin, Sandra Bernhard, Bruce Boxleitner, Jon Lovitz, Paul Benedict, Gregory Cooke

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Episode 4

Dead Wait

Jul 3, 199130m5.2 / 10

Red is a low life crook who is looking for a black pearl. He finds that it's on a island belonging to an ailing millionaire. He plans with the millionaire's mistress to steal the pearl but she turns on him. Fortunately a voodoo priestess comes to the rescue but she has something special for him that he'll never forget.

Directed by Tobe HooperWritten by Gilbert Adler, A L KatzGuest stars Vanity, James Remar, John Rhys-Davies, Whoopi Goldberg, Orlando Bonner, Henry Brown, Paul Anthony Weber

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Episode 5

The Reluctant Vampire

Jul 10, 199130m6.2 / 10

A vampire is working at a blood bank as a night watchman. However, when the blood seems to be running low the vampire returns to getting blood the old fashion way. When the owner arrives at the vampire's lair he tries to black mail him, but as fate as would have it, the vampire's sexy secretary shows up and knocks him into the vampire's coffin. Some vampire hunters mistake him for the vampire and he gets a wonderful juicy stake.

Directed by Elliot SilversteinWritten by Terry BlackGuest stars Paul Gleason, Sandra Dickinson, George Wendt, Malcolm McDowell, Michael Berryman, Gloria Dawson, Rick Avery

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Episode 6

Easel Kill Ya

Jul 17, 199128m6.0 / 10

Jack is an artist who has a strange talent for painting pictures of corpses. One day he falls for a beautiful girl who tempts him into painting more. Jack turns over a new leaf for his love. One day she is the victim of a hit and run. Jack kills a man outside the hospital to pay for her operation but she dies because the man he killed was the man who was going to perform her operation.

Directed by John HarrisonWritten by Larry WilsonGuest stars Tim Roth, William Atherton, Debra Mooney, Mary McKuen, Roya Megnot, Nancy Fish, Stuart Mabray, Rod Britt

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Episode 7

Undertaking Palor

Jul 24, 199126m6.5 / 10

Four boys who have a talent for video taping uncover some weird things at the undertaker's. Soon revenge comes when one the boy's father becomes a victim. They begin video taping the undertaker's evil deeds which he soon discovers in horror.

Directed by Michael ThauWritten by Ron FinleyGuest stars Ke Huy Quan, Graham Jarvis, Aron Eisenberg, Jason Marsden, John Glover, Scott Fults

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Episode 8

Mournin' Mess

Jul 31, 199127m5.8 / 10

A regretful reporter is investigating some murders of homeless people. He meets up with a man who is the prime suspect in the murders but when he fails to deliver a story his boss fires him. He then discovers that the new cemetery by a group called Ghouls is the cause for all the deaths in the neighborhood and guess who's the next victim.

Directed by Manny CotoWritten by Manny CotoGuest stars Vincent Schiavelli, Rita Wilson, Steven Weber, Ally Walker, Nick Angotti, Frank Kopyc, Stack Pierce, Gary Pagett

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Episode 9

Split Second

Aug 7, 199128m5.6 / 10

Dixon is a lumberjack who marries a sexy barmaid named Liz Kelly. Soon after, he turns from sweet Dr. Jekyll into cruel Mr. Hyde. He is jealous of her when the boys find her attractive. One day a new lumberjack comes to town and Liz finds Ted attractive. When he catches them in the bed together, Dixon goes in a jealous rage and whacks him blinding him. The boys help him seek revenge on Dixon and Liz.

Directed by Russell MulcahyWritten by Richard Christian MathesonGuest stars Michelle Johnson, Billy Wirth, Brion James, Tony Pierce, Dan Martin, Alan Palo, Joel Silver

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Episode 10

Deadline

Aug 14, 199128m4.1 / 10

Charlie Mackenzie is an out of work reporter who wants his life back. One night while at his favorite bar hang out, Charlie meets a beautiful women who seems to turn his life around. He gets his job back, but his boss agrees to rehire him only if Charlie can bring in a murder story soon. One night while at Greek diner he overhears the owner strangle his girlfriend. Charlie interviews him and goes to where the body is, but she is not dead. Charlie discovers that it's his girlfriend Vicky. To make sure the paper's got enough evidence, he strangles her to death but the shock of the murder lands him in a mental hospital inside a padded cell.

Directed by Walter HillWritten by Walter Hill, Mae WoodsGuest stars Rutanya Alda, Richard Jordan, Richard Herd, John Capodice, Marg Helgenberger, Jon Polito, Judy Jean Berns

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Episode 11

Spoiled

Aug 21, 199129m4.5 / 10

Janet is a soap opera loving woman. She likes to watch soaps everyday. She even imitates them. One day she misses the end of her favorite soap opera when the TV goes on the fritz. She decides to get cable soon. Janet finds her self falling for the attractive cable installer. When her Surgeon husband discovers what's going on, he decides to make them part of his experiment.

Directed by Andy WolkWritten by Doug Ronning, Connie JohnsonGuest stars Annabelle Gurwitch, Anita Morris, Faye Grant, Tristan Rogers, Anthony LaPaglia, Alan Rachins, Parker Kane

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Episode 12

Yellow

Aug 28, 199140m7.7 / 10Finale

The general is ashamed when he learns that the rumors of the Lt. (who is also his son) being a coward are true. He offers his son a way out of the army if he can take part in one last mission. The Lt. panics and leaves while his comrades are killed by the enemy. His father sentences him to die by firing squad. Fortunately the guns are loaded with blanks, or so he says.

Directed by Robert ZemeckisWritten by Gilbert Adler, A L Katz, John Thomas, Jim ThomasGuest stars Eric Douglas, Lance Henriksen, Kirk Douglas, Dan Aykroyd, Dominick Morra, Steve Boyum, Chuck Picerni Jr., Anthony Gallo

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Episode information updated Jul 22, 2026

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