Shyamalan re-thinks his approach to Tales from the Crypt

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

The Tales from the Crypt brand began as a horror anthology comic book published by EC Comics in the 1950s alongside EC's other horror anthology titles The Vault of Fear and The Haunt of Horror. After serving as the inspiration for an Amicus film in the '70s (as did The Vault of Horror), Tales from the Crypt got its greatest exposure as an HBO television series that ran for seven seasons and got a few feature film spin-offs, my favorite of which is DEMON KNIGHT.

A couple months ago, it was announced that TNT is working with M. Night Shyamalan to bring a new version of  the Tales from the Crypt series to the airwaves. Little is known about what the network and Shyamalan have planned for the Crypt, but it is clear that it's going to have to be a little different from the beloved HBO show – especially because they don't have the rights to use the iconic story-sharing Cryptkeeper of that one, the skeletal puppet voiced by John Kassir. That version of the Cryptkeeper is property of HBO, so the TNT show will have to come up with their own take on the character, who was a long-haired punster in the original comics and was played by Ralph Richardson as a somber, hood-wearing figure in the 1972 Amicus film.

While it is somewhat disheartening that our old puppet pal won't be hosting the new series, it is understandable. Maybe they'll find an actor who can embody the spirit of the Cryptkeeper of the comics.

Talk has been going around that Shyamalan's anthology would be taking a different approach than the HBO series, one more like American Horror Story, where each season would tell one, multi-episode tale. Speaking with /Film, Shyamalan revealed that this is an approach he may be abandoning, 

You know, I can’t say 100% but I’m thinking right now, where I am, if you’d asked me this six months ago I would have a different answer, but where I am right now it’s more individual Black Mirror kind of stuff right now."

Personally, I hope he does go with standalone episodes like the HBO series. I would much rather watch that than see Tales become a show of season-long stories.

Brenda Bakke in TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT