If you are looking for a spooky show that might just hit that fear trigger-spot in your darkest imagination, make you turn the light on after the show ends, keep you… Awake at Midnight, then look no further! Tales From The Darkside stands out among a plethora of TV horror anthologies from the 1980s: Monsters, Darkroom, Tales From The Crypt, The (New) Twilight Zone, The Hitchhiker... they were just dripping off the walls! But this show was family oriented. It was twisted and macabre, but not too gruesome. The episodes are based on stories by some of the best horror writers of the era; Robert Bloch, Stephen King, George Romero. There are nearly a hundred shows, but they’re only 20 minutes long to account for commercials, so let’s watch them all! The Curator has already listed the best, scariest episodes!
Top 10 Scariest Episodes:
10. The Geezenstacks (S03.E05)
A dollhouse and family of dolls seems to be able to tell the future. Then it says they are going on a trip. Predictable, and an overused theme, but it captures the fear of an innocent object taking control of your life with sinister intent. The epilogue is trippy.
9. Monsters In My Room (S02.E12)
A kid is stuck with a step-father who just doesn’t understand him. Step-dad gets drunk and violent, and though we are spared seeing any abuse in a family show, you get the picture. When the boy gets the guts to stand up to his night fears, they need somewhere else to strike. This is the quintessential EC supernatural revenge story that Tales From The Crypt and Creepshow play on. (Oh yeah, these are the same writers/producers.) The witch is freaking scary, too.
8. Trick or Treat (Pilot Episode)
A miser expects every penny that’s due him. You have to give him credit, though– he loves Halloween. He scares the hell out of the neighborhood children when he invites them in to search for their family’s I.O.Us and forgive their debt.The expected ending has no lead in or catalyst, but is still fun. [Written by George A. Romero.]
7. Seasons of Belief (S03.E11)
(E.G. Marshall) A dad tells a cautionary tale to his children on Christmas, a twisted holiday take on Bloody Mary.
6. The Circus (S03.E01)
A jaded newspaperman does a write-up of a rural traveling circus of horrors. A creepy ringmaster introduces a nosferatu and a werewolf, but his reanimated corpse needs work. It’s a moody episode, and has a wonderful ending. [Written by George A. Romero.]
5. Halloween Candy (S02.E05)
An old curmudgeon who terrorizes trick-or-treaters and refuses to give out candy is granted a Creepshow sandwich… cockroaches and a distinctly Fluffy-like goblin at the door. His corpse at the end is bloodcurdling. (Too bad they put E.G. Marshall in the Grither episode and not this one!)
4. The Last Car (S02.E19)
A horrifying twist on “The Hitchhiker” as a young woman boards the wrong train and can’t get off. The tunnels are the fun part! “Last stop at Willoughby!”…
3. Inside the Closet (S01.E07)
A graduate student rents a room from a professor who keeps the closet door of his daughter’s old bedroom locked. She gets it open, but sometimes it’s empty and sometimes it’s full, often it opens by itself. She is convinced something is living inside. She’s right.
2. The Moth (S04.E04)
(Debbie Harry) Southern Gothic. A woman tries to save her daughter’s soul when the young witch is stabbed and claims she’ll come back to get it before dawn. The mother captures a moth in a jar. Listening to her undead daughter’s whispering voice count out the grains of sand spilled on the floor waiting for sunrise gave me the chills!
1. The Cutty Black Sow (S04.E14)
Great-Grandmother tells a death-bed tale about how they used to protect their souls from the Cutty Black Sow each All Hallow’s back in Scotland. When she dies on October 30th, Jamie grants her last wish and puts stones representing each family member in the flame. The sow will come for the soul of any person who’s rock is displaced.
The Darkside is always there waiting for us to enter; waiting to enter… us.
Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight.