37 Years Later, HBO’s Near-Perfect 7-Part Horror Is Still One Of TV’s Greatest Anthologies

While HBO’s almost perfect horror anthology has been a massive influence on the genre in the years since it ended, the iconic show sidestepped one issue that too many later entries into the sub-genre fell prey to. It is tough to create a compelling anthology show for a number of reasons. For one thing, Rod Serling’s inimitable classic The Twilight Zone set the bar incredibly high early in the format’s history. The smart social satire and genuinely thrilling twists of this series, which effortlessly blended sci-fi, horror, mystery, and drama, still shape the anthology format.

The critical acclaim of The Twilight Zone makes it tough for any anthology show to stand out, but there are other issues facing entries into the genre. In an era when Netflix’s lore-heavy One Piece adaptation or The Witcher franchise’s sprawling fictional universe tell massive, ambitious stories with immersive worlds, it can be tough to get viewers invested in a show that changes its characters with every new season or even episode. Some shows, like The White Lotus and Fargo, have managed to work around this.

However, most of Netflix’s most popular horror shows aren’t anthologies, and this might be because it is tough to get viewers to invest in shows with ever-changing casts and a steady stream of new main characters. This is ironic, since HBO’s legendary horror anthology Tales from the Crypt lasted seven critically acclaimed seasons from 1989 to 1996, and a huge part of the show’s success was owed to the daring decision to tell single-episode stories only.

Tales from the Crypt Avoided The Biggest Massive Horror Anthology Problem

Tales from the Crypt debuted on HBO in June 1989, and the show instantly became a critical and commercial success. This should come as no surprise, since the first season’s episodes were directed by a rogue’s gallery of iconic ‘80s genre filmmakers. The pilot came from 48 Hrs director Walter Hill, Back to the Future’s Robert Zemeckis directed the second episode, and the third outing was helmed by Superman’s Richard Donner only two years after his box office success with 1987’s Lethal Weapon.

As the series continued, so did its steady stream of impressive behind-the-scenes talent. Season 1 had a finale directed by Pet Sematary’s Mary Lambert, the same year she made that cult classic Stephen King adaptation, while season 2’s sophomore outing was guest-directed by The Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. On that note, the show’s impressive talent wasn’t limited to its directors. Kelly Preston played the lead role in Schwarzenegger’s episode, while the preceding episode starred Demi Moore. Before season 2 ended, the show had featured guest roles for Katey Sagel, Michael Ironside, Teri Hatcher, Carol Kane, and many more.

With actors from David Lynch’s iconic hit Twin Peaks and even Quentin Tarantino’s debut Reservoir Dogs lining up to appear in season 3, it is fair to say that Tales from the Crypt was a full-blown pop culture phenomenon by the early ‘90s. The reason for this was simple, but it is one that too many contemporary horror anthology shows failed to follow. Since Tales from the Crypt only ever did one-episode stories, instead of one-season ones, the show introduced new talent behind and in front of the camera with each episode.

Newer Anthology Horror Shows Could Learn A Lot from Tales from the Crypt

Plot-wise, things never got too complicated, and the ending of each episode was always guaranteed to pack a killer payoff. If a specific episode got a little too goofy and outlandish, or a little too maudlin and self-serious, viewers were never more than 40 minutes away from the show’s next gruesome adventure. This explains why the show was successful enough to spawn 1995’s feature film spinoff Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight and 1996’s Bordello of Blood, as well as the unlikely three-season kids’ cartoon spinoff Tales from the Cryptkeeper.

At a time when even acclaimed supernatural horror shows struggle to last more than a season or two, it might be hard to imagine this level of mainstream success for a horror series with no recurring characters. However, a lot of modern anthology shows make the mistake of telling season-long stories instead of single-episode stories, setting themselves up for failure by establishing too many plot strands.

Many seasons of American Horror Story have fallen apart after promising starts, a fate that also befell seasons of Them, Slasher, 2023’s Goosebumps revival, and even the horror-adjacent HBO hit True Detective. These shows tend to have killer pilots and strong openings, but their serialized stories aren’t compelling enough to maintain the attention of an audience for more than a few episodes. These contemporary anthologies might be stronger if they condensed their plots down into single-episode stories, something epitomized in the success of recent shows that dared to follow this HBO cult hit’s example.

Tales from the Crypt’s Killer Approach Still Succeeds

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

From Shudder’s Creepshow to Netflix’s Black Mirror to Love, Death, & Robots to the underrated Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, there are a handful of modern anthology shows that eschew the one-season approach pioneered by American Horror Story and instead tell single-episode stories. Since all of these shows boast a Rotten Tomatoes critical rating of over 90%, it seems fair to suggest that the single-episode format, as opposed to single-season anthologies, seems to be more reliably popular with viewers.

Although some shows like Netflix’s Beef and Adolescence have taken the risky approach of becoming single-season anthologies after their first outings, to allow the creative team to introduce new characters and tell new stories, the critical reception of horror anthology shows in the last ten years specifically makes something else clear. Creators who take a risk and utilize the approach of HBO’s Tales from the Crypt, introducing new characters with each new episode, are often rewarded with a stellar critical reception.

In contrast, filmmakers who play it safe and tell one-season stories might be lucky enough to create the next Fargo or The White Lotus, but, more often than not, fail to win over critics in the horror genre specifically. Tales from the Crypt proved that punchy, shorter stories have a better chance in the horror genre, and thCreepshow and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities outdoing the inconsistent likes of American Horror Story and Them reaffirms this reality decades later.

Release Date

1989 – 1996-00-00

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Gilbert Adler

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  John Kassir

  Crypt Keeper (voice)

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  Michelle Johnson

  Liz Kelly-Dixon

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