RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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on Google Preferred Source Google News Link copied to clipboard By Thomas Hindmarch Published Aug 9, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT Polygon Lists Welcome back to the Crypt, boils and ghouls
You couldn't make a show like this now. You could barely make a show like this then.
The original Tales from the Crypt was one of the cornerstones of EC Comics in the 1950s, alongside The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror . These anthology comics specialized in short, macabre stories of monsters, magic, and murder, right up until the newly-established Comics Code forced EC Comics to abruptly cancel its horror line in 1955. That forced EC Comics' publisher Bill Gaines to refocus his efforts, which would lead to the debut of Mad magazine .
In 1989, Gaines and a superstar team of executive producers brought Tales from the Crypt back to life, so to speak, as a live-action horror anthology. The new Tales ' episodes were all adaptations of stories from EC Comics' horror line (albeit sometimes very liberal adaptations), but Tales didn't have to abide by TV ratings standards by virtue of airing on HBO. These were the R-rated versions of those old stories as EC Comics could've never told them in the 1950s, with high production budgets and a shockingly deep bench of modern TV and film talent.
When you sat down to watch a new episode of Tales , you never knew what you were going to get or, more importantly, who you were going to see. It's a rare episode of Tales that doesn't have at least one recognizable actor, even 37 years later.
Tales from the Crypt has gone on to be remarkably influential on horror culture, but for all that, it’s had a weird history on streaming services. It's not that Tales wasn't out there, but that it was rarely on any of the platforms that you'd ever think to check, until it was brought to Shudder earlier this year .
In July 2026, all seven seasons of Tales debuted on Tubi, where they’re now streaming for free. The time is right to (re)experience what is, without exaggeration, a foundational work of Western horror.
Here's the thing, though: Tales from the Crypt is often deliberately camp, has occasionally aged poorly, and can go for long stretches without any truly standout episodes. Season 2 in particular comes off like the entire writers' room had recently gone through a messy divorce, as two-thirds of the season is about murderous spouses, black widows, and love that's curdled into hate. There's some genuine gold here, but first-time viewers can expect to have to dig a little. If you'd rather go for a curated selection, here are Polygon's picks for the top 10 best episodes of Tales from the Crypt .
The first episode of Tales from the Crypt is also one of its most memorable, particularly since it dodges what would turn out to be the show's most common mistake.
Niles (William Sadler, The Shawshank Redemption ) is a prison executioner who's abruptly laid off after his state ends the death penalty. Out of pure love of the game, he decides to take his talents for electrocution in more of a… freelance direction.
In many of the lesser episodes of Tales , they introduce their premise and then the show spins its wheels for 20 minutes until you hit the final payoff. "The Man Who Was Death" starts weird, with Niles speaking directly to the camera like a murderous Ferris Bueller, then continues to escalate until its final moments. It's a genuine thrill ride, and sets a proper tone for the show straight away. This is the perfect starting point.
This gimmick episode entirely unfolds from the first-person perspective of Lou Spinelli, who's played by Humphrey Bogart... sort of. Bogart's face is provided by archive footage and he's voiced by the late Robert Sacchi, who made a whole career out of being the Italian knockoff version of Bogart.
That adds a weird note to what would otherwise be a tight 25-minute film noir, given that extra macabre twist by the fact that Spinelli is already dead. He begins the episode narrating how it feels to be a corpse, before a flashback tells the details of how Spinelli got that way. "You, Murderer" rapidly becomes a multiple-plot pile-up co-starring John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, and Sherilyn Fenn, which gives it one of the best casts of any episode of Tales in a slow walk. It's a surprise David Lynch wasn't involved.
It's a must-see, especially for noir fans, but the weird necromantic casting keeps "You, Murderer" from going any higher on the list. It's like the late Peter Cushing's digital appearance in Rogue One , but somehow even more off-putting.
You can see what's coming in "Three's a Crowd" from the jump, but this one's all about the ending.
As noted above, Tales' second season has an unofficial theme of love gone bad, and "Three's a Crowd" is one of the best in a strange batch of episodes. Richard (Gavan O'Herlihy, Happy Days ) is trying to celebrate his 10th anniversary with his wife Della, but Della is suddenly spending a great deal of time with Richard's best friend Alan (Paul Lieber). Now Richard is alone too often, and drinking too much, as his jealousy eats him alive.
Richard rapidly unspools over the course of the episode, which leads to one of the most vicious final shots in Tales' full run. This isn't about the twist so much as the twist's execution.
While several Tales from the Crypt episodes really revel in the chance to show gore, violence, and nudity, a handful end up feeling more like Goosebumps stories for adults. That's "Korman's Kalamity," which would almost be good clean family fun were it not for that messy decapitation. Maybe it depends on your family.
Jim Korman (Harry Anderson, Night Court ) is a staff artist for Tales from the Crypt , whose job is to draw all the creepy monsters and graphic bloodshed every month. Thanks to an experimental drug his wife insists he take, however, Jim's got a weird kind of artist's block. Worse, when he does manage to draw something gruesome, something just like it is quickly spotted in th...
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