Tales from the Darkside
Encyclopedia
Tales from the Darkside is an anthology horror
TV series produced by George A. Romero
; it originally aired from 1983 to 1988. Similar to Amazing Stories
, The Twilight Zone
, Night Gallery
, The Outer Limits
, and Tales From The Crypt
, each episode was an individual short story
that 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.
's horror anthology film Creepshow
led to initial inquiries about the possibilities of a Creepshow series. Because Warner Brothers owned certain aspects of Creepshow, Laurel Entertainment (which produced the film) opted to take their potential series into a similar, yet separate, direction, including changing the name to Tales from the Darkside. The new name reflected Creepshows focus, that of a live-action EC
-based horror comic book
of the 1950s
like Tales from the Crypt
or The Vault of Horror
, though the series would not carry the trappings of a comic as Creepshow did.
Some episodes of the series were written by or adapted from the works of famous authors. Stephen King
's short stories "Word Processor of the Gods" and "Sorry, Right Number
" were amongst them. Works by Frederik Pohl
, Harlan Ellison
, Clive Barker
, Michael Bishop
, Robert Bloch
, John Cheever
, and Fredric Brown
were also featured.
After wrapping, Tales from the Darkside was succeeded by Monsters
in 1988, a similarly-styled syndicated weekly horror anthology also produced by Laurel and longtime Romero associate Richard P. Rubinstein
.
The series was followed by Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
in 1990. Stephen King also contributed a short story to this film, "The Cat From Hell
". The film starred Deborah Harry
, Christian Slater
, William Hickey
, Steve Buscemi
, and Julianne Moore
(the first three previously appeared in episodes of the TV series). Tom Savini
has called this film "The real Creepshow 3".
The series was originally syndicated weekly by Tribune Broadcasting
, with most stations airing it after midnight. After ending production, it was picked up by LBS Communications for barter
-based syndication (with the exception of the episode The Apprentice, and a few reruns of earlier episodes) which were distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures
. Worldvision Enterprises later became the series' distributor, and the rights currently are held by Worldvision successor CBS Television Distribution
. (All three syndicators' logos appear following the closing credits.)
The series currently airs on Syfy
as well as Chiller
.
On November 17, 2008, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount
) announced the first season of Tales from the Darkside would be released on DVD February 10, 2009 complete with audio commentary by producer George Romero on the episode "Trick or Treat".
(who co-wrote the theme with Erica Lindsay
). Donald (The brother of Laurel Productions' founder, Richard P. Rubinstein
) had worked on scores for Laurel Productions in the past, such as the films Martin
and Knightriders
. His previous works qualified him to try his hand at the theme for Tales from the Darkside, and the haunting composition helped define the series as a separate entity from Creepshow. George Romero wrote the narration.
As in the case of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, the series begins each episode with a montage of images—in this case, several shots of a forest and countryside—accompanied by a narrator (the late Paul Sparer) delivering a foreboding voice-over
:
Each episode would also end with a second voice-over during the closing credits:
) has released the four seasons of Tales from the Darkside on DVD in Region 1.
Region 2 DVD is being released through Revelation Films in Nov 2011.
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
TV series produced by George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
; it originally aired from 1983 to 1988. Similar to Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories (TV series)
Amazing Stories is a fantasy, horror, and science fiction television anthology series created by Steven Spielberg. It ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987, and was somewhat erratically screened in Britain by BBC1 and BBC2 - billed in the Radio Times as "Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories" - with episodes...
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
, Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
, The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
, and Tales From The Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...
, each episode was an individual short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
that ended with a plot twist. The series' episodes spanned the genres of horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, and some episodes featured elements of black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
or more lighthearted themes.
Series
The moderate success of George A. RomeroGeorge A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
's horror anthology film Creepshow
Creepshow
Creepshow is a 1982 American horror anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. The film's ensemble cast included Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, E.G...
led to initial inquiries about the possibilities of a Creepshow series. Because Warner Brothers owned certain aspects of Creepshow, Laurel Entertainment (which produced the film) opted to take their potential series into a similar, yet separate, direction, including changing the name to Tales from the Darkside. The new name reflected Creepshows focus, that of a live-action EC
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
-based horror comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
of the 1950s
1950s in comics
See also:1940s in comics,other events of the 1950s,1960s in comics and thelist of years in comicsPublications: 1950 - 1951 - 1952 - 1953 - 1954 - 1955 - 1956 - 1957 - 1958 - 1959-1950:See also: 1950 in comics...
like Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (comic)
Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror are three bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s...
or The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies...
, though the series would not carry the trappings of a comic as Creepshow did.
Some episodes of the series were written by or adapted from the works of famous authors. Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's short stories "Word Processor of the Gods" and "Sorry, Right Number
Sorry, Right Number
Sorry, Right Number is a teleplay written by author Stephen King for an episode of the horror anthology series Tales From The Darkside. It was later in King's short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and is the only such work that King has included in any of his anthologies...
" were amongst them. Works by Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
, Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
, Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
, Michael Bishop
Michael Bishop (author)
Michael Lawson Bishop is an award-winning American writer. Over four decades and thirty books, he has created a body of work that stands among the most admired in modern science fiction and fantasy literature....
, Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
, John Cheever
John Cheever
John William Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the Westchester suburbs, old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy,...
, and Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Cincinnati.He had two sons: James Ross Brown and Linn Lewis Brown ....
were also featured.
After wrapping, Tales from the Darkside was succeeded by Monsters
Monsters (TV series)
Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. As of 2011, Monsters airs on NBC Universal's horror/suspense-themed cable channel Chiller in sporadic weekday marathons.In a similar vein to Tales from the...
in 1988, a similarly-styled syndicated weekly horror anthology also produced by Laurel and longtime Romero associate Richard P. Rubinstein
Richard P. Rubinstein
Richard P. Rubinstein is an American film and television producer, who has worked mainly in the science fiction and horror genres. In the 1970s and 1980s he collaborated frequently with horror director George A...
.
The series was followed by Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie is a 1990 movie directed by John Harrison based on the anthology television series Tales from the Darkside...
in 1990. Stephen King also contributed a short story to this film, "The Cat From Hell
The Cat from Hell
The Cat from Hell is a short story by Stephen King. King initially published the first 500 words of the story in March 1977 in Cavalier, and the magazine held a contest for readers to finish the story. The winning entry, as well as King's complete story, was published in the magazine in June of...
". The film starred Deborah Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
, Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
, William Hickey
William Hickey (actor)
William Edward Hickey was an American actor. He was best known for his Oscar-nominated role as Don Corrado Prizzi in the John Huston 1985 film Prizzi's Honor, as well as the voice of Dr...
, Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
, and Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
(the first three previously appeared in episodes of the TV series). Tom Savini
Tom Savini
Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
has called this film "The real Creepshow 3".
The series was originally syndicated weekly by Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...
, with most stations airing it after midnight. After ending production, it was picked up by LBS Communications for barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
-based syndication (with the exception of the episode The Apprentice, and a few reruns of earlier episodes) which were distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures
Lorimar-Telepictures
Lorimar-Telepictures was a production and television syndication firm established in 1986 with the merger of Lorimar and Telepictures until both TV divisions became separate in 1988...
. Worldvision Enterprises later became the series' distributor, and the rights currently are held by Worldvision successor CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
. (All three syndicators' logos appear following the closing credits.)
The series currently airs on Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
as well as Chiller
Chiller (TV channel)
Chiller is a 24-hour American cable and satellite television channel specializing in horror and suspense programming. conglomerate NBCUniversal.- Origin :...
.
On November 17, 2008, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
) announced the first season of Tales from the Darkside would be released on DVD February 10, 2009 complete with audio commentary by producer George Romero on the episode "Trick or Treat".
Opening/closing sequence
The opening/closing theme to the series was performed by Donald RubinsteinDonald Rubinstein
Donald Rubinstein is a film composer, singer/songwriter and multi-media artist who is best known for his scoring collaborations with George A...
(who co-wrote the theme with Erica Lindsay
Erica Lindsay
Erica Lindsay is an American saxophone player and composer. Erica Lindsay is an American jazz - saxophonist and composer....
). Donald (The brother of Laurel Productions' founder, Richard P. Rubinstein
Richard P. Rubinstein
Richard P. Rubinstein is an American film and television producer, who has worked mainly in the science fiction and horror genres. In the 1970s and 1980s he collaborated frequently with horror director George A...
) had worked on scores for Laurel Productions in the past, such as the films Martin
Martin (film)
Martin is a 1978 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero.Romero claims that Martin is the favorite of all his films...
and Knightriders
Knightriders
Knightriders is a 1981 film written and directed by George A. Romero. It was filmed entirely on location in Pennsylvania, especially in Fawn Township and Natrona...
. His previous works qualified him to try his hand at the theme for Tales from the Darkside, and the haunting composition helped define the series as a separate entity from Creepshow. George Romero wrote the narration.
As in the case of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, the series begins each episode with a montage of images—in this case, several shots of a forest and countryside—accompanied by a narrator (the late Paul Sparer) delivering a foreboding voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
:
- 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.
Each episode would also end with a second voice-over during the closing credits:
- The dark side is always there, waiting for us to enter, waiting to enter us.
- Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight.
Episodes
DVD releases
CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by ParamountParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
) has released the four seasons of Tales from the Darkside on DVD in Region 1.
Region 2 DVD is being released through Revelation Films in Nov 2011.
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The First Season | 24 | February 10, 2009 |
| The Second Season | 24 | October 27, 2009 |
| The Third Season | 22 | April 27, 2010 |
| The Final Season | 20 | October 19, 2010 |
| The Complete Series | 90 | October 19, 2010 |
See also
- 1984 in television1984 in televisionThis article is a list of television-related events in 1984.-Events:*January 9 – Wendy's "Fluffy Bun" ad first airs, which propels Clara Peller and her "Where's the beef?" catchphrase to national prominence....
- List of television programs
- Tales from the Darkside: The MovieTales from the Darkside: The MovieTales from the Darkside: The Movie is a 1990 movie directed by John Harrison based on the anthology television series Tales from the Darkside...