Tales from the Darkside is an anthology TV series from the 1980s produced by George A. Romero. Similar to The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, each episode was an individual short story that ended with a plot twist. Unlike these other series, which frequently had science fiction stories, Tales from the Darkside centered mostly around horror stories. However, the series also contained some comical episodes as well to lighten up the mood.

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 Harlan Ellison and Clive Barker were also featured.

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 former three previously appeared in episodes of the TV series).

Opening sequence

As in the case of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, the series begins each episode with a bizarre menagerie of sites, accompanied by a narrator giving a forboding voice-over. The following is the voice-over from Tales from the Darkside as given by the show's narrator, Paul Sparer:

"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:

"The Darkside is always there waiting for us to enter; waiting to enter us. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight."

Technical data

• episodes: 92
• runtime: 30 minutes
• sound: mono
• aspect ratio: 1.33 : 1
• series premiere: September 30, 1984
• last episodes: July 1988

See also

• 1984 in television
• List of Stephen King films
• List of television programs

External links

• IMDb entry for Tales from the Darkside (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086814/)
• IMDb entry for Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100740/)
• All Movie Guide entries for Tales from the Darkside: [1] (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:48502) [2] (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:48504) [3] (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:81425)
• All Movie Guide entry for Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:48510)
• TV Tome entry for Tales from the Darkside (http://www.tvtome.com/TalesfromtheDarkside/)
• Jump The Shark entry for Tales from the Darkside (http://www.jumptheshark.com/t/talesfromthedarkside.htm)