Come on, you didn’t really think we’d finish the month
without talking about the greatest horror TV show of all time did you? I honestly
think people sleep on how influential this show was, it definitely deserves an
icon status that it’s just not given. I was originally going to do a top 5 list
for this but then thought to myself that I would be leaving out so much that
way. Instead I’m going to talk about why this is such an important show and
just list out my 5 favorite episodes at the end. We’ll begin this article the
way they began each show, with a trip to visit the Cryptkeeper!
First a little background on where my love for the show came
from. I used to spend summers with my Nana in Boston as a kid, between 1989 and
1994; it was always a highlight of my year even if Nana could be a bit
overprotective. As a quick example, I was barred from watching American Gladiators in the house after
Nana caught sight of the slight sheerness of one of the female gladiator’s costumes.
A pre-teen boy thrives of doing what he’s not supposed to, this wasn’t easily
done in Nana’s house. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to find that
the comic books I would buy from the discount bin at the local comic shop
seemed to be immune to moral scrutiny. Especially since the comics of choice
from that bin were all EC comics from the 50’s and 60’s, Vault of Horror and
Tales from the Crypt being my top seeds. It was then that my love of both
horror and comics was truly born. Then, in 1991, something truly amazing
happened….my parents got HBO. You see, cable was still something of a rarity
where I lived back then and premium channels? Forget about it, that’s rich
people stuff and rich people we were not. As anyone who grew up in a
pre-internet time will attest to, having premium cable or the newest video game
meant you always had willing participants for a weekend sleepover, and I was no
exception. The first time we all turned on Tales from the Crypt we only made it
30 seconds before wondering if we should turn back, the now famous intro was
enough to separate the men from the boys, while I’m pretty sure we were all the
latter, the promise made by the pre-show nudity warning was enough to encourage
us to stick it out. This is my personal story, but it’s in no way unique. I’m
sure this scenario played out for many people my age, I’m equally sure that the
show intro inspired almost as many nightmares as Freddy Kruger did..which is
probably why I still find it odd that they made a cartoon about the show.
My Top 5 Episodes:
5. House of Horror
4. Undertaking Palor
3. And All Through the House
2. The Ventriloquist’s Dummy
1. Television Terror
