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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Checked Jul 22, 2026

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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

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 5 episodes

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

← Season 4

Episode 1

Death of Some Salesmen / As Ye Sow / Forever Ambergris

1h 24m6.7 / 10

A sneaky con man has a talent for killing people after he sells them phony tombstones. He soon learns that some for his new victims have a fortune buried in their cellar. He marries their daughter and kills the parents but when he goes down in the basement he gets a big surprise. A husband hires a detective to spy on his wife whom he believes is cheating on him with a priest. When he learns that he's been conned, he decides to kill him himself. That day he learns that they're was nothing going on between them and he is relieved. But he is mistaken for his wife's so called boyfriend and killed by the detective he hired. Dalton is a seasoned combat photographer who finds himself falling for a beautiful women who just happens to be the wife of his friend. One day Ike sends Dalton into a disease warfare area. Dalton returns, but not the way he used to be. He soon writes a letter about how he was set up and his wife and friend also contract the same disease.

Directed by Gilbert Adler, Gary Fleder, Kyle MacLachlanWritten by Gilbert Adler, A L Katz, Ron Finley, Scott RosenbergGuest stars Marshall Bell, Yvonne De Carlo, Sam Waterston, Steve Buscemi, Patsy Kensit, Tim Curry, Adam West, Ed Begley Jr.

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Episode 2

Food for Thought

25m5.2 / 10

Zambini is a circus mind-controlling psychic who controls his beautiful helper with his telepathic powers. One day he learns that she has a crush on the fire eater. Zambini goes into a terrible rage and kills him. Connie flees in terror never to return. Zambini uses his powers to call her back but it contacts the pet gorilla instead.

Directed by Rodman FlenderWritten by Larry WilsonGuest stars Joan Chen, Phil Fondacaro, Ernie Hudson, Reginald D. Hunter, John Laughlin, Kathryn Howell, Margaret Howell, Granville Ames

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Episode 3

People Who Live in Brass Hearses

27m7.0 / 10

Billy is a smalltime criminal who is bloody red for vengeance. Years ago, his boss at an icecream warehouse double crossed him by sending him to prison. Now he plans to frame his boss with the help of his disabled brother.

Directed by Russell MulcahyWritten by Scott NimerfroGuest stars Brad Dourif, Michael Lerner, Lainie Kazan, Bill Paxton, Pat Asanti, Raushan Hammond, Cam Clarke

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Episode 4

Two for the Show

27m5.4 / 10

A man slaughters his wife who he believes is having an affair. He drags her body and puts it in the bathtub. The police arrive and he refuses to let them near the bathtub. He chops up the corpse and hops a train with a trunk containing his wife's corpse. The detective follows him. The man switches trunks but when he opens the other one he gets a big surprise.

Directed by Kevin HooksWritten by Gilbert Adler, A L KatzGuest stars David Paymer, Traci Lords, Wesley Thompson, Steven Kravitz, Willie Gault

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Episode 5

House of Horror

29m6.6 / 10

Les Whilton is the president of a college fraternity. He decides to scare three pledges by daring them to spend a night in a haunted house. He and some of his friends have set up the place to look like it's haunted. Along for the ride is a group of sorority sisters. When everyone else turns up missing, everyone turns to Whilton. Whilton goes into the house alone and he gets a big surprise.

Directed by Bob GaleWritten by Bob GaleGuest stars Meredith Salenger, Kevin Dillon, Jason London, Brian Krause, Michael DeLuise, Wil Wheaton, Shannon Day, Bill Kohne

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Episode 6

Well Cooked Hams

27m5.7 / 10

A frustrated magician comes across a true genius. He decides to kill him and steal his magic, but he finds himself in big trouble and it's going to be the last magic trick he will ever perform.

Directed by Elliot SilversteinWritten by Andrew Kevin WalkerGuest stars Maryam D'Abo, Billy Zane, Martin Sheen, Candi Brough, Randi Brough

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Episode 7

Creep Course

28m7.2 / 10

Reggie is a college jock who is trying to pass a history test. He asks the class bookworm Stella Bishop to help tutor him. She goes to Finely's house to to get the answer sheet, but when she gets there, Finely and Reggie lock her in a mummy's tomb. Finely double crosses Reggie by poisoning him. Finely goes back to check his work, and gets a big surprise. Stella is not dead. She has been charming the mummy by impersonating his dead girlfriend making the mummy jealous and Reggie and Finely really take the wraps.

Directed by Jeffrey BoamWritten by Jeffrey BoamGuest stars Julius Carry, Anthony Michael Hall, Nina Siemaszko, Jeffrey Jones, Rende Rae Norman, Ivan E. Roth

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Episode 8

Came the Dawn

26m6.6 / 10

In this version of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, a young woman who is also a thief is picked up by a man driving by. He takes her up to his place. There she hears a message from his wife, but also learns that there is a killer nearby. When she goes to his room she gets a big surprise.

Directed by Uli EdelWritten by Ron FinleyGuest stars Michael J. Pollard, Perry King, Brooke Shields

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Episode 9

Oil's Well That Ends Well

27m5.6 / 10

A con artist and his girlfriend plan their next caper by tricking some southern boys into thinking there is oil underneath a cemetery. Their plans work. She makes them think she has gotten jealous and killed her boyfriend, but when she goes to dig him up, she gets a big surprise. He and the boys have been partners all along. The last laugh is on her when it turns out that there really is oil and she blows them all to kingdom come.

Directed by Paul AbascalWritten by Scott NimerfroGuest stars Rory Calhoun, Alan Ruck, Noble Willingham, Priscilla Presley, Lou Diamond Phillips, Steve Kahan, John Kassir, Saga Stevin

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Episode 10

Half-Way Horrible

29m5.1 / 10

Roger Lassen is a manufacturer who kills his friend by burying him alive in the South American jungle to finish the development of a chemical preservative. He's haunted by the memories of the incident. The earnings will make him rich but he can't get it past the FDA regulations. Soon his past returns and he starts seeing his dead friend everywhere he looks. A voodoo priestess offers to help exorcise his dark side. The spell works but at the most horrible cost.

Directed by Gregory WidenWritten by Gregory WidenGuest stars Costas Mandylor, Judith Baldwin, Jon Tenney, Clancy Brown, Charles Martin Smith, Cheech Marin, Brian Wimmer, Martin Kove

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Episode 11

Till Death Do We Part

26m5.4 / 10Finale

A male escort is engaged to an aging woman. One day she discovers him flirting with a younger woman. She forces him to kill her in front of her. Instead he kills off her bodyguards, but he is even more surprised when the young lady turns against him. It turns out he's been fantasizing the whole thing and bumps her off himself.

Directed by W. Peter IliffWritten by W. Peter IliffGuest stars Frank Stallone Jr., Kate Vernon, Eileen Brennan, John Stamos, Robert Picardo, Richard Duggan, Tony Epper, Thomas White

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Episode information updated Jul 22, 2026