Tales from the Crypt

by Jack Oleck

Tales from the Crypt

Trapped in catacombs that smelled of ancient death, five forsaken men and women poured out the foul secrets of their fetid souls to a strange, sinister, black-robed monk.

Maitland... forever doomed to a living, waking nightmare. Joanne... who wanted one thing from Santa Claus - murder. Elliot... this heartless young man received visitors from beyond the grave. Rogers... he treated the blind and helpless like dogs; they turned the tables with razor sharp vengeance. Jason... returned and returned and returned from the dead.

Five tormented people.
Five terrible confessions.
One long scream of terror at the end.
Tales from the Crypt.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories

121 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Deacon D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1972 film Tales from the Crypt is one of my all-time favorites and this anthology is adapted from the screenplay of the film. The handsome face in my Goodreads avatar happens to be that of the unfortunate Arthur Grimsdyke, as portrayed by Peter Cushing in the movie.

This short novel features five twisted tales based on stories featured in classic EC Comics, and they're all pretty damn awesome, if familiar.

I was pretty excited to find a beautiful copy of this old paperback, and it certainly was a fun, quick read!

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

what you would expect. Pretty much word for word of the movie. The first story with the escaped mental Santa stalking a murderess and her daughter was a highlight. My favorite was the final tale/ The wicked ex-military man that runs a home for the blind in an uncaring fashion. The blind rise up and fight back. The razors in the dark was a very nice touch.

[Dave/Maggie Bean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one at eight or nine years of age, and it scared the crap out of me. (When I saw the film, incidentally, the scene in which Peter Cushing rises from his grave in search of payback gave me nightmares for a months). Only later did I realize that most of the stories were pale imitations of the gory, pre-Comics Code masterpieces of yesteryear.

This isn't to say that it's poorly written. Oleck was good at establishing atmosphere, believe it or not. The book is actually better than the film in that respect. One doubts, however, that he was familiar with the comic, as the macabre humor is noticeably lacking. All in all, though, it's readable and(according to a few older friends) even nostalgia-inducing to a degree. Should you spot a battered copy lying on an equally battered card-table at a meigborhood yard sale, go ahead and spend the fifty cents.

Three stars for fond memories -- and weeks of lost sleep.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a kid, I loved this Amicus anthology and have always been a huge fan of anything EC Comics, so discovering this book was a joy. The book follows all the same beats as the movie, with only a slight adjustment to the events of each story. I look forward to seeing how the follow-up adaptation of Vault of Horror holds up compared to this horror gem.

[Griffith Ruck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty tame and cliche. I feel like all of the stories moved far too quickly for much horror or suspense to build up (more of a limitation of the medium of short stories but I still don't think that's an excuse). The descriptions and imagery used was pretty great though.