Tales from the Darkside

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Other (ended 1988)
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Show Summary

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But... there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit... a Darkside."''''This 30-minute horror/fantasy anthology series follows in the vein of The Twilight Zone. Each week presents another standalone story of horror fantasy, and/or science fiction. Some episodes are gruesome, a few are of a lighter comedic style. Like many such shows, Tales... adapted the work of famous genre authors of the period such as Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, and Clive Barker. Many episodes also featured veteran actors of the 40's and 50's that saw very little work in their later years.''''"The Darkside is always there waiting for us to enter; waiting to enter us. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight."moreless
7.9
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Episode Guide

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S 4 :  Ep 20 Aired 7/23/88
S 4 :  Ep 19 Aired 7/17/88
S 4 :  Ep 18 Aired 7/10/88
S 4 :  Ep 17 Aired 6/19/88
S 4 :  Ep 16 Aired 5/22/88

Tales from the Darkside News

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  • February 10th, 2009 DVD Releases 10

    February 10th, 2009 DVD Releases

    By Lauren Schumacher, Feb 10, 2009

    Wizards of Waverly Place Volume Two: Supernaturally Stylin' Buy the DVD! Show Summary | Episode Guide | Forum Melrose Place The Fifth Season, Volume One Buy the DVD! Show Summary | Episode Guide | Forum Phineas and Ferb Volume Two:… more

Cast & Crew

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Fan Reviews (16)

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  • Creepy opening and a good show.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By Queshin, Feb 06, 2012 Report Abuse
    Tales from the Dark Side does not compare to Tales from the Crypt, Alfred Hitchcock Presents,and The Twilight Zone. With all of this said this show is still good, I feel that this show has some good and some bad. When it comes to good the episodes are great , but when bad they are pretty cheesy and mediocre. But this show is good and is most definitely worth a look, one thing that you may not know is this show is actually based off the film Creep Show, one thing even stranger is that Creep Show was inspired by the EC horror comics. Which consisted as Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear, Crime Suspen Stories, and Shock Suspen Stories. In which would mean that this show was inspired by Tales from the Crypt. As said before a good show worth a shot. But needs much improvement.moreless

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  • Tales from the Darkside was a post Twilight Zone/Night Gallery anthology series that delved more towards the side of horror. Even though it was a syndicated series, it had enough good to great episodes to make a lasting impression on the horror landscape.moreless

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By TJFranchise, Apr 13, 2009 Report Abuse
    Tales from the Darkside was a tremendous horror anthology series. Where the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits went towards the sci-fi genre, and Night Gallery was geared more towards suspense, this show was a pioneer in the horror genre. Episodes from George Romero, Robert Bloch, Stephen King, and Clive Barker, just to name a few, contributed stories to the series. Episodes ranged from selling souls, old trickers getting their due on Halloween, Santa's evil neighbor from the North Pole making his way down south, a family trying to convince Grandpa that he did really die, and things coming out of the closet (keep it locked!). Several episodes were on the lighter side, but by and large this was a show that swung for the fences trying to scare you to death. The staying power of the show is on full show, either by watching the repeats of an '80s show on the Sci Fi Channel, or watching the show on DVD, as the first season has just been released. Overall, this was a trailblazing show, taking a risk on a genre that really hadn't been tapped on television at that point. I believe that it made it's mark, and a lasting, favorable one at that.moreless

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  • Writer can't sell work, can't get paid. Responds to radio ad by an agent who keeps screaming things like "you don't even need talent!" And you don't; you just need to follow a few simple instructions. And never stop, or else . . .moreless

    7.0
    "Good"
    By Whattatwist, Oct 07, 2008 Report Abuse
    I happened upon this the other night when I couldn't sleep. I remember the series from back in the day, but had never seen this particular episode. The thing I wanted to point out is that they are totally poking fun at L. Ron Hubbard. The agent looks like Hubbard (sorry GameraTrekkie, not Hitchcock) and there's a part where the agent pulls out this box that looks suspiciously like an e-meter, that classic Scientology tool. And what does it measure? How much money the client is going to make for them, natch!

    Otherwise, the story is fairly predictable. But dig those crazy 80s getups on the assistant, they were trying very hard to make her look edgy and the effect is fairly hilarious.moreless

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  • This episode of Tales scared me as a kid. I had nightmares after seeing that one. Anyways, its one of my favorite Tales From The Darkside episodes.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By dreiden_music, Jul 04, 2008 Report Abuse
    What can I say about Tales From The Darkside? Its always been one of my favorite tv shows. I watch it alot. The concept of this particular episode is of a woman subletting an apartment and there's a telephone that keeps ringing a whole lot.So, as the ringing phone keeps annoying her, she finally goes over to the apartment and goes into the apartment. However when she goes in there, no one's there. She goes back to her apartment and tries to relax. However, the phone starts ringing again and something keeps banging on the wall from the other apartment. She goes into the apartment once again and the phone quits ringing. By the end of the episode, she gets fed up with the phone and goes back into the apartment and answers it. An eerie oporator answers thhe phone and tells her that the last tenant that lives there got strangled by the telephone! She hangs up the phone and rips the cord out of it. However, the phone chases her and strangles her with the cord. Its a really cool episode! One of my top favorites of that show! I once had a black rotory phone that looked like that one. Needless to say it spooked me when I looked at it once in awhile. However it doesn't scare me now, but I remember it scaring me as a kid. The ending is still pretty scary. Its such a great episode. April.moreless

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  • Some hits, some misses, mostly good entertainment

    8.1
    "Great"
    By MajLorne, May 01, 2008 Report Abuse
    Starting off there are the really good episodes like "Seasons of Belief", "Cutty Black Sow", "Don't Open this Box", etc. And then you have the really poor ones like "...Comes out in a wash", "if the Shoes Fit".

    So it's really a mix of the very good and the very bad. So in a way I'm conflicted on how to rate this series. If they had grouped all the better episodes and separated them from the bad then without a doubt this series would totally be up there in the same leagues as the Twilight Zone. But the really good episodes are the real reason that keeps this show from being totally forgettable.

    Though I must say there were a few episodes that I felt were not that bad and are under appreciated like "Distant Signals" and "Red Leader", but that's just me.moreless

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