Horror is a genre that’s particularly conducive to the anthology format. There are dozens of worthwhile horror anthologies that are readily available, but Tales from the Crypt has always been an elusive white whale that’s never been available on streaming services until Shudder’s recent acquisition.

Tales from the Crypt is often grouped together with other formative horror anthology series like Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, and Night Gallery. However, it can’t be stressed enough how much Tales from the Crypt changed the game, coming from a dream team of filmmakers and airing on HBO with unprecedented freedom to push limits and truly embrace the lurid nature of its source material.

Pulling from the twisted tales of EC Comics’ pulpy genre stories, Tales from the Crypt aired 93 episodes across seven seasons, accruing seven Emmy Award nominations, and featuring a who’s who of Hollywood A-Listers that includes Tom Hanks, Demi Moore, Kirk Douglas, Sandra Bullock, and Brad Pitt.

There are rarely any misses when it comes to Tales from the Crypt’s many macabre morality plays, but there’s a collection of extra special episodes that truly embody what makes it such a singular horror anthology spectacle.

“The New Arrival”

Season 4, Episode 7; Directed by Peter Medak; Written by Ron Finley

There are plenty of Tales From the Crypt episodes that effectively conjure creepy B-horror mayhem, but “The New Arrival” is an episode that’s actually frightening and crescendos to a chilling conclusion. It puts pop psychology and opportunistic ratings stunts in its crosshairs when a cocky and checked out radio psychologist decides to do a house call with Nora (Zelda Rubenstein), one of his regulars. What begins as a cynical stunt turns into a fight for survival. Director Peter Medak taps into the same eerie atmosphere that he did with The Changeling. A broader version of this story wouldn’t work, and “The New Arrival” genuinely keeps its audience guessing over whether Nora’s troubled daughter, Felicity, is a real child, a symptom of Nora’s potentially fractured mind, or some supernatural apparition. 

The deaths that complement each act are actually effective, and there’s a grungy quality to the house that brings The Collector or Saw films to mind. There’s a narrow hallway that’s lined with razor blades that’s never left my memory. Additionally, the porcelain mask aesthetic that accompanies Felicity is simple, yet deeply creepy. “The New Arrival” gives you everything you’d want in a Tales from the Crypt episode.

“The Ventriloquist’s Dummy”

Season 2, Episode 10; Written by Frank Darabont; Directed by Richard Donner

Any horror anthology series would be remiss to not do an episode about a killer ventriloquist dummy with a mind of its own. While it’s hard to top Richard Attenborough’s Magic, Tales from the Crypt gets pretty damn close by having Richard Donner direct a Frank Darabont script, hot off of Lethal Weapon 2. The series is no stranger to self-aware casting, and “The Ventriloquist’s Dummy” has fun with its use of Bobcat Goldthwait as an up-and-coming ventriloquist who turns to his retired idol for advice, who is played by Don Rickles. 

Tales from the Crypt loves to tell a story about the dark side of show business, and the cartoonishly heightened background of ventriloquism makes for an effective topic to filter it all through. Goldthwait is a good actor when he’s in the right director’s hands, and he really rises to the occasion in “The Ventriloquist’s Dummy.” It’s hard to tell a ventriloquist dummy horror story that’s genuinely surprising and does something original, and yet Tales from the Crypt manages to subvert expectations with a gruesome turn of events.

“Split Second”

Season 3, Episode 11; Written by Richard Christian Matheson; Directed by Russell Mulcahy

Tales from the Crypt is no stranger to lethal love triangles. Jilted lovers and relationship revenge stories are at the center of some of the most memorable episodes. Helmed by “Ozploitation” master Russell Mulcahy, “Split Second” nails the steamy salaciousness that’s par for the course in any of Tales from the Crypt’s fatal affairs. A lumber camp that’s full of pent-up sexual aggression acts as a pressure cooker when the camp’s manager (Brion James) becomes overly paranoid about his new wife’s potential infidelity. 

This conniving femme fatale pits both of the men in her life against each other in a playful episode that boils down to pure id and an unforgettable finale. Mulcahy channels the raw, raging aggression that’s prevalent in so many Australian horror films, all of which gives “Split Second” an extra punch that pushes it above Tales from the Crypt’s comparable infidelity fodder.

“Television Terror”

Season 2, Episode 16; Written by Randall Jahnson and G. J. Pruss; Directed by Charlie Picerni

A lot of fans point to “Television Terror” as the series’ scariest episode, and it’s not without good reason. “Television Terror” opts for a Ghostwatch-like atmosphere as a Geraldo Rivera-esque reporter (Morton Downey Jr.) broadcasts his findings in what’s an allegedly haunted house. Tales from the Crypt doesn’t waste the opportunity to tell an out-of-control haunted house story, which touches all the poltergeist basics as well as plenty of disturbing new ideas. “Television Terror” doesn’t fully go for a found footage aesthetic. However, there’s still a looser, handheld quality to the episode’s presentation that helps sell the scares and feed into the illusion.

Some of the episode’s kitschy casting falls a little flat today, like how Morton Downey Jr.’s tabloid journalist character is meant to be an exaggeration of his talk show persona from that time. Nevertheless, none of this pop culture knowledge is necessary in order for “Television Terror” to work. That’s the power of an effective ghost story. There are a lot of Tales from the Crypt episodes that dabble in this space, and it’s a shame that Charlie Picerni — a stuntman and stunt coordinator by trade — didn’t return to direct more episodes. “Television Terror” also feels like a real companion piece to “The New Arrival,” and the two episodes make for an especially intense double feature.

“Split Personality”

Season 4, Episode 11; Written by Fred Dekker; Directed by Joel Silver

There’s a sick level of schadenfreude to most Tales from the Crypt episodes in which the audience is sometimes actively rooting for the morally bankrupt protagonist to get their comeuppance. In the case of “Split Personality,” a remarkably stupid scheme is put into motion, the likes of which could only be directed by Joel Silver and star Joe Pesci. Pesci’s swindling con man hits the jackpot when he befriends two billionaire twin heiresses. 

The greed of Pesci’s conman, Vic Stetson, is pushed to ludicrous levels when he pretends to have a twin brother of his own so that he can marry both twins and inherit twice as much money. It’s the type of story that only works in Tales from the Crypt, but work it does. The episode’s ending, while played for laughs, is truly troubling and teases much deeper levels of psychosis. It may not be Tales from the Crypt’s scariest episode, but it’s such a perfect representation of the pulpy genre stories that were possible in it.

“You, Murderer”

Season 6, Episode 15; Written by A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler; Directed by Robert Zemeckis

“You, Murderer,” Tales from the Crypt’s final episode before production would move to the United Kingdom for its seventh and final season, is one of the series’ most impressive and important episodes, even if it’s not especially scary. “You, Murderer,” was Robert Zemeckis’ directorial follow-up to Forrest Gump, and the episode makes use of the same Oscar-winning effects team from Industrial Light & Magic. “You, Murderer” is ostensibly one big love letter to Humphrey Bogart’s filmography and the film noir genre writ large, with the episode even going so far as to “resurrect” Bogart to posthumously guest star in the episode. 

An on-the-run criminal gets plastic surgery that leaves him looking exactly like Bogart, an effect that’s achieved by a mix of archive footage, sophisticated computer graphics, editing, and a skilled impersonator. Tales from the Crypt even goes so far as to list Humphrey Bogart in the episode’s credits. “You, Murderer” is a technical marvel that’s also a stylistic fulcrum in Zemeckis’ career as he becomes an increasingly tech-obsessed director. It’s also so interesting to see this sort of ghoulish guest star work be praised on Tales from the Crypt in the ’90s, while it’s almost universally panned today.

“Carrion Death”

Season 3, Episode 2; Written & Directed by Steven E. de Souza

“Carrion Death” is such a perfect elevator pitch premise for a Tales from the Crypt episode that it’s hard not to love. A murderer (Kyle MacLachlan) escapes from prison and flees to the Mexican border, only to find himself handcuffed to the corpse of the state trooper who was pursuing him. Oh, and a hungry vulture is hot on his tail the entire time. If that weren’t enough, the whole thing is written and directed by the person who is responsible for writing Die Hard, Die Hard 2, and 48 Hours. 

“Carrion Death” starts in a satisfying place, only to heighten itself with each act and basically turn into a macabre one-man show for MacLachlan. MacLachlan rarely disappoints, and he gets the opportunity to really let loose and ham it up in the best way possible. He’s chewing so much scenery that he’s got more in his mouth than the vulture. Like many of the best Tales from the Crypt episodes, “Carrion Death” isn’t afraid to go out on a cruel ending that has plenty of bite – figuratively and literally.

“Easel Kill Ya”

Season 3, Episode 8; Written by Larry Wilson; Directed by John Harrison

Tales From the Crypt, at the end of the day, is all about karma coming back to bite people who deserve it the most. “Easel Kill Ya” has one of the most effective karmic twists in the series, and it’s why this episode is a Tales from the Crypt all-time hall of famer. This is yet another exercise in efficient simplicity that follows such a clean structure that it makes it feel like some twisted urban legend that’s been passed around a campfire. It’s also another episode where the lead actor — which in this case is Tim Roth — really channels something special that elevates a basic role into something greater. 

In “Easel Kill Ya,” Roth’s Jack Craig is a struggling artist whose work won’t sell — that is, until an accidental murder turns into the ultimate source of inspiration. Craig is backed into a difficult corner in which accruing a higher body count will help him pay the bills and escape his low status, but he begins to crumble under the pressure and guilt. “Easel Kill Ya” saves its best material for the end, and it’s the sort of cruel karma that makes the Cryptkeeper cackle.

“People Who Live In Brass Hearses”

Season 5, Episode 5; Written by Scott Nimerfro; Directed by Russell Mulcahy

“People Who Live in Brass Hearses” almost feels like Russell Mulcahy doing a Coen Brothers imitation in this absurdist horror heist. Bill Paxton and Brad Dourif play ne’er-do-well brothers who plan to rob an ice cream man who did them wrong. They’re the exact type of buffoonish troublemakers that populate Coen Brothers movies, right down to Paxton’s character having a bizarre butter obsession that comes up more often than you’d think. 

Paxton and Dourif are both a delight here as they embrace their inner idiot. However, it’s Michael Learner’s ice cream man that will stick with audiences the most. Nearly every single Tales from the Crypt episode features some type of unbelievable plot twist, but “People Who Live in Brass Hearses” builds to one of the series’ best final acts. It’s a disturbing delight and a Tales from the Crypt episode that will make you never look at ice cream trucks the same.

“Cutting Cards”

Season 2, Episode 3; Written by Mae Woods & Walter Hill; Directed by Walter Will

Not every Tales from the Crypt episode involves supernatural material or is even necessarily a horror story. That being said, extreme personalities are plentiful in Tales from the Crypt, and “Cutting Cards” is an episode that specializes in this territory. There’s a remarkably simple premise to “Cutting Cards,” an episode that’s directed by Walter Hill of The Warriors and The Driver fame, but feels more like the type of story that Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez would have tackled in the ’90s. 

A pair of gamblers, played to heightened perfection by Lance Henriksen and Kevin Tighe, engage in increasingly over-the-top and unconventional games to determine who is the best. “Cutting Cards” perpetually escalates even though it’s a relatively slow-burn installment. It’s not until the outlandish complications that are taken in the episode’s final act that “Cutting Cards” comes together. The ending is simultaneously gruesome, tragic, hilarious, and profound in a manner that only Tales from the Crypt can achieve.