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 - 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.
#2 - Monsters in My Room
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/1985
A little boy, Timmy, tries to convince his skeptical parents that there is a horrible monster beneath his bed - they learn too late that he is telling the truth.
#3 - 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.
#4 - 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.
#5 - 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.
#6 - A Case of the Stubborns
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/2/1984
In the backwoods, a family patriarch dies...only to come back, unaware that he's dead. The townspeople are up in arms, but the old man is too stubborn to admit he's dead, despite his rigor mortis, lack of appetite, and bad smell. His grandson Jody eventually goes to an old voodoo woman for a solution. Rather than magic, she provides him with a simple solution: pepper. Jody puts it in his grandpa's handkerchief. When the old man sneezes, his nose falls off, which finally convinces him to go lie down and give up life for good.
#7 - 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.
#8 - 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.
#9 - Inside the Closet
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/18/1984
A student takes a room with an abrupt, somewhat rude anthropology professor. He instructs her never to open the small door in the back of her closet. Hearing strange noises, she eventually opens the door and finds the chamber beyond occupied by a small, hairless-monkey sort of a creature. It kills her and goes after the professor...only to reveal that it is his deformed daughter, which he lovingly dotes on.
#10 - Halloween Candy
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/27/1985
A mean old man harboring an intense hatred for the celebration of Halloween is left alone by his son to hand out candy to the neighborhood children. The old man initially ignores the trick-or-treaters, but later cruelly fills their bags with a mixture of syrup and cleaning fluid. Satisfied, the old man retreats to his armchair to watch television, when a goblin-like creature pays him a visit. The creature relentlessly asks the old man for candy and he eventually shuts himself inside the house to avoid it. He suddenly realizes that he is unable to make phone calls as the goblin continues to stalk him from outside the house. Finally deciding to confront the creature, the old man walks out to the porch, only to discover that the goblin has vanished. He goes back into the house and looks out the window one last time. As he closes the curtain, he is confronted face-to-face by the creature inside the house, who again asks him for candy. Shocked and frightened, he falls to the floor and passe
#11 - Ursa Minor
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/1/1985
When Joan finds a new teddy bear in her son's room no one seems to know where it came from. Then night after night huge claw marks are found on the walls and the sounds of something very large can be heard moving through the house. It seems that this little bear has a murderous life all its own...
#12 - A New Lease on Life
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/26/1986
A man is overjoyed to find a nice apartment with all the modern conveniences at an incredibly cheap price. The eccentric landlady asks nothing more than for the man to provide her with plenty of garbage for the disposal unit. The man is puzzled when the walls ooze blood after he attempts to hang a picture with a nail and hammer. He is further disturbed when the floor shakes as he hears an ominous roar bellow throughout the building complex. He soon realizes that the building itself is a living entity that survives on the trash created by the tenants. Angered by the situation, the man fills a garbage bag full of household cleaners with the intent of poisoning the entity. He throws the bag into the disposal unit and the creature begins to roar. Suddenly, the landlady confronts the man with her two sons and they throw the man into the disposal, providing the beast with a full course meal.
#13 - 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...
#14 - 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.
#15 - The Odds
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/21/1984
Tommy Vale, a barroom bookie finds himself in a curious predicament: a man comes in who can't lose. As the story unravels, he finds out that his opponent is Lacey, a man who went broke gambling with Vale in the past. Now Lacey is back from the dead, with tips from the other side, and is unbeatable. In a final ghoulish wager, Lacey bets that Vale will die at a particular time, and he's never been wrong. But the clock chimes and Vale is still alive. Lacey is forced to depart, and Vale reveals that he set the clock ahead five minutes, then dies right on time.
#16 - 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.
#17 - 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.
#18 - Sorry, Right Number
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/22/1987
Katie receives a mysterious phone call from a woman warning about her husband's death...but he isn't dead yet. Katie ignores the phone call, and her husband dies. At the funeral, a despairing Katie calls up herself...and finds herself talking to...herself. She tries to warn her past self, despite knowing that it won't do any good, then collapses in despair.
#19 - 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.
#20 - 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.
#21 - 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.
#22 - 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.
#23 - In the Cards
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/27/1985
A fake fortuneteller, Caterina, soon finds that every fortune she tells comes true...but she can only predict gruesome and horrific ends for her customers. She soon discovers that another cursed fortuneteller slipped her a cursed pack of cards, and Caterina can only get rid of them by giving them to another fake. She does so by slipping into another fortuneteller's parlor, asking for a fortune, and slipping her the cursed deck. Unfortunately the first fortune the new cursee reads is of Caterina's death...which rapidly comes true.
#24 - Beetles
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/1987
An Egyptologist working on a sarcophagus ignores a curse and meets a horrific fate.
#25 - 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.