Shudder announces beloved series Tales From the Crypt will be streaming in May, and releases teaser
- Carla Davis
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Shudder has an exciting announcement regarding their Halfway to Halloween schedule, and it’s something a lot of horror fans will definitely tune in for. Subscribers will be able to watch all seven of the beloved horror anthology series Tales From the Crypt starting in May.
Tales From the Crypt ran for seven seasons on HBO, but has been MIA from streaming for many years, much to the frustration of fans who have been clamoring for it. It was one of the first horror series to run on cable, so it was not censored for general audiences; this resulted in a more graphic, gory (and sexy) series than was common at the time. Though it was syndicated in the 1990s on FOX and CBS, the series was heavily edited for those mainstream stations.
A lot of notable stars appeared in Tales From the Crypt, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Ruck, Bill Paxton, Iggy Pop, Lance Henriksen, Tim Curry, Ewan McGregor, Michael J. Fox, and Patricia Arquette.
Why was Tales From the Crypt absent from HBO (and other streamers)?
The short answer to that question is that the streaming rights were tangled up legally. According to the voice of the Cryptkeeper John Kassir, this was due to the death of William Gaines, the publisher for EC Comics. EC was the publisher of the original Tales From the Crypt comic books, which the series was based on.
When Gaines died, his rights to the series were inherited by his family, who, according to Kassir, most likely “gave them to a lawyer, who most likely doesn’t work in the industry.” This snafu also made rebooting the series impossible, though many tried. M. Night Shyamalan tried in the early 2000s, and even his star power couldn’t make it happen.
But Shudder HAS made it happen, and the first season will premiere on Friday, May 1. Additional seasons will release each proceeding Friday through June 12. John Kassir himself debuted the teaser and poster art at the opening night of Overlook Film Festival, where he was also part of a panel for the show.
Courtney Thomasma, EVP for AMC Glodal Media’s linear and streaming products described Tales From the Crypt as “the kind of genre-defining, wonderfully twisted entertainment our members crave, and we’re proud to give the Crypt Keeper a place to cackle once again.”
According to the press release, “The reopening of the Tales From the Crypt content archive is made possible by Dark Castle Entertainment, Lauren Shuler Donner and Walter Hill (Tales From the Crypt Holdings). Tales From the Crypt Holdings is represented by CAA.”
Watch the teaser below:
Comments