The BEST episodes of Tales from the Darkside
Every episode of Tales from the Darkside ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Tales from the Darkside!
Tales from the Darkside is a 1980s American anthology horror TV series created by George A. Romero. Debuting in October 1983 with a pilot episode and then being picked up for syndication in September 1984, the show ran for 4 seasons through July 1988. Each episode, aired originally by Tribune Broadcasting late at night, was an individual short story that often ended with a plot twist. The series' episodes spanned the genres of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and some episodes featured elements of black comedy or more lighthearted themes.
#1 - The Circus
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1986
A skeptical journalist travels on assignment to a sideshow. Seated in a small theatre, he is greeted by a perverse caretaker/M.C. who promises (in seemingly generic fashion) to unearth strange, horrible, and presumably fake creatures. The journalist nevertheless feels disgusted when he sees a demonic vampire devour an actual lamb. He chastizes the caretaker for endorsing such horrific ""entertainment"". However, when fully realizing that these are actual CREATURES, the startled journalist attempts to flee the circus and unknowingly retreats into the arms of the vampire. The caretaker subsequently transforms him into a new exhibit, currently on display for the faithful flock of sideshow attendants who DELIGHT in being frightened.
#2 - The Devil's Advocate
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/10/1985
A hate-style radio host, Mandrake, spews out venom at anyone who calls in. He soon discovers, however, after receiving calls across all of time that he is dead but that the ""Boss,"" has kept him on since he discourages souls and make them more prone to the ""Boss'"" influence. Mandrake is unable to leave his broadcast booth and finds himself transforming into a demon as he has to continue broadcasting forever, and ever.
#3 - Family Reunion
Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/22/1988
Janice, a young mother, swears to a social worker, Trudy, that her husband Robert kidnapped their son Bobby six months ago and she hasn't seen either of them since. Trudy agrees to find the father and son, but discovers that everything isn't what she was led to believe.
#4 - Do Not Open This Box
Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/15/1988
An aged inventor and his wife come into possession of a box marked ""Do not open this box."" The wife opens it and finds it empty. The next day a man comes to claim the box and the lady makes up a story about losing the box. The man begins giving them nice things in exchange for eventually getting the box back. The couple begin living the sweet life thanks to the stranger but when they finally give the box back, the man tells them that it contained a human soul - since the box was opened the soul has escaped and now the man needs a replacement.
#5 - The Cutty Black Sow
Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 5/8/1988
On her deathbed, Jamie's great grandmother tells him the tale of a Celtic demon, the Cutty Black Sow, that comes to claim the soul of anyone dying that night, and Jamie vows to protect her soul from the beast.
#6 - The Grave Robber
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/1987
In this comedic episode, two treasure hunters discover a lost Egyptian tomb and accidentally revive a mummy. The mummy, Tapok, doesn't try to strangle them, but rather challenges the male explorer to a game of strip poker. The explorer loses, and with each piece of clothing he loses he takes on more of Tapok's wrappings until finally Tapok transfers his curse and leaves with the other explorer.
#7 - No Strings
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1987
A mobster who has finally defeated his old rival hires a reluctant puppeteer to string up his rival and make it dance for him. The mobster is unaware that puppet and puppeteer both have agendas of their own...
#8 - The Milkman Cometh
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/25/1987
A man, Garry, hears from his neighbor a bizarre tale of how the unseen neighborhood milkman grants wishes to anyone who leaves their request in the empty bottles to be picked up. Garry tries it for himself and soon finds his every wish granted. His final wish is for a daughter, and his curiosity is too great and he tries to confront the milkman. Garry gets a glimpse of a deformed mutant creature before it disapepars and then realizes exactly how the ""milkman"" will fulfill his wish - by impregnating his wife.
#9 - Seasons of Belief
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/29/1986
On Christmas Eve, a couple decide to preoccupy their restless children by telling them a fable concerning a massive, winged creature called ""The Grither"". The children initially balk at the story, which describes the creature as a proud, hateful beast who becomes enraged when it hears its name being spoken aloud. Although it lives at the North Pole, its humongous ears allow it to hear its name being spoken from anywhere in the world, and the parents assure the children that The Grither is well on its way to their house to kill them. The children become progressively more frightened as the story continues, eventually to the point of utter hysteria. Finally, in an effort to calm their children, the parents reveal that the story is make believe. At that moment, the huge arms of The Grither smash through the windows of the house and break the necks of the parents as the children look on in horror.
#10 - Baker's Dozen
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/23/1986
Ruby Cuzzins, a New Orleans baker, sells ""magic"" cookies and gives unscrupulous Henry adman a sample of her wares. Convinced, Henry tries to get her to go into business with him but gets his comeuppance when she refuses.
#11 - The Bitterest Pill
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/1986
A boy treated poorly by his parents gets the upper hand when an eccentric uncle shows up and tries to convince the parents to finance him to develop his newest invention - a pill that increases brain power and memory. He has a stroke and dies but not before the boy swallows the one and only prototype, and soon puts his parents into the same position he was before.
#12 - The Moth
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/18/1987
Sybil, a woman on the verge of death, is obsessed with the thought that after she dies her soul will dwell within a moth, and she begs her mother to hold the moth until she can be restored to life.
#13 - The Last Car
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/23/1986
Stacey is on her way home from college and rides the last car on a train. She is soon perplexed by the bizarre behavior of her fellow passengers, including a woman who knows her name despite the fact they've never met. Stacey soon discovers that she, and everyone else, are dead and on a one-way trip from which there is no escape.
#14 - Fear of Floating
Season 2 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/25/1986
A hapless yokel, Arnold, runs into an Army recruiting office and asks for help, claiming to float. It turns out that he's telling the truth, but then Mr. Cooper and his pregnant daughter (pregnant by Arnold) show up and demand he do the right thing - it turns out that the more Arnold lies, the more he floats.
#15 - Seymourlama
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/1987
Much to his parents' frustration, a spoiled young boy, Seymour, is declared the High Lama by a group of monks.
#16 - Basher Malone
Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired 7/23/1988
A wrestler seeking one great opponent finds himself tricked into fighting a demon from Hell.
#17 - Payment Overdue
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/14/1988
Michael, a heartless collection agent, finds out that Jeanette doesn't quite understand the rules of going into debt, and has some unpleasant problems as a result.
#18 - The Spirit Photographer
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/11/1987
Despite the discouragement of his friend, a middle-aged photographer, Algernon, tries to captures spirits on film.
#19 - The Old Soft Shoe
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/16/1986
Salesman Chester checks into a motel and makes an off-hand pass at a woman. She rejects him, but soon another, jealous woman shows up to haunt him.
#20 - The Shrine
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/9/1986
A young woman, Christine, returns home to find her mother cold and distant, and living isolated from everyone else. The woman soon discovers that her mother has summoned up...Chrissie - Christine as a young girl, before she moved away and gained a life of her own. Christine soon finds there is no way she can compete with her mother's idealized image of herself.
#21 - The Geezenstacks
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/1986
A little girl, Audrey, discovers she can control her family by manipulating her doll family, the Geezenstacks, within her dollhouse.
#22 - A Serpent's Tooth
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/16/1986
A kibbitzing mother, Pearl, warns her unlistening family but her warnings start to come true.
#23 - My Own Place
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/8/1987
Laura, a desperate woman, tries to get an apartment by herself but is forced to take in Ram, an immigrant from Calcutta. When Ram dies partly due to her involvement, Laura finds that she has inherited an entire family of ghostly Hindus.
#24 - Everybody Needs a Little Love
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/22/1987
Robert, a lonely divorced man, fixated on a mannequin, but the question soon becomes - is the mannequin alive?
#25 - The Deal
Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/28/1988
Screenwriter Tom Dash unwittingly makes a deal with the Devil and finds he must get out of it by finding a new victim or offer up his soul.