Tales from the Crypt (TV series)

Tales from the Crypt
Genre
Created byWilliam Gaines
Steven Dodd
Based on
Voices ofJohn Kassir
Theme music composerDanny Elfman
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languagesEnglish
French
Spanish for Latin America
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes93 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time22–39 minutes
Production companiesTales from the Crypt Holdings
Geffen Television
Original release
NetworkHBO[1]
ReleaseJune 10, 1989 (1989-06-10) –
July 19, 1996 (1996-07-19)
Related
Tales from the Cryptkeeper
Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series created by William Gaines and Steven Dodd that ran for seven seasons on the premium cable channel HBO, from June 10, 1989, to July 19, 1996, with a total of 93 episodes. The show's title is based on the 1950s EC Comics series of the same name, published by William Gaines and edited by Al Feldstein. Despite the show's title, episodes were not only adapted from stories from Tales from the Crypt, but also other EC Comic series including The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, Crime SuspenStories, Shock SuspenStories, and Two-Fisted Tales.

The series is hosted by the Cryptkeeper, a wisecracking corpse performed by several puppeteers and voiced by John Kassir. Filmmakers Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill, Joel Silver, and Robert Zemeckis formed the show's team of executive producers.

Because it was aired on HBO, a premium cable television channel, Tales from the Crypt did not have to be censored by the standards and practices of most networks. As a result, HBO allowed the series to include content that had not appeared in most television series up to that time, such as graphic violence, profanity, sexual activity, and nudity. Reruns of the series were edited for basic cable, broadcast syndication, and when the broadcast networks Fox and CBS re-aired episodes in the late 1990s. While the series began production in the United States, the final season was primarily filmed in the United Kingdom, resulting in episodes revolving around British characters.

  1. ^ Willman, Chris (June 10, 1989). "'Crypt' Tales Subtle as a Sledgehammer". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-12.