When I was little, I shared a bedroom with my older brother. Of course, I had the top bunk so at bedtime I was eye level with posters of Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Ghostbusters. The familiarity of Luke Skywalker, Michelangelo, and Venkman was a small sense of security when the lights were out. From where the bed was positioned, I was also near the window. Which meant any scary thing my 5-year-old mind could conjure up, was probably right outside the glass. Like any good parent, my Mom would always make sure the small 19” TV on our dresser was left on to prevent total darkness.
While her intentions were good, what would come on that tiny TV after the news was much scarier than anything from my imagination: Tales From The Darkside.
Hot off the success of 1982’s Creepshow, legendary horror director George A. Romero felt television would be the perfect place to continue his brand of anthology horror. But instead of the comic book aesthetic of Creepshow or the whimsical wonder of The Twilight Zone, Romero wanted storytelling to be the primary focus. With the help of other horror greats like Stephen King and Clive Barker, Tales From The Darkside debuted in October of 1983 and was officially picked up for syndication in early 1984.
Each episode seemed to follow a simple template: within a half-hour, a character is introduced and antagonized by some sort of supernatural presence. This leads to the character’s impending doom or serves as some sort of satisfactory lesson. What set Tales From The Darkside apart from other anthology shows of the era was its tone. Despite each episode being horror-related, there was always a bit of dark comedy to either soften the blow of the occasional hammy acting or to build a false sense of security to heighten the actual horror.
I think it was the dark humor that really sucked me in at such a young age. It was on a surface level where I had no problems understanding it.
Instead of purposely leaning into camp, it sort of dumbed the narrative down a little. It was not a kid’s show by any means, but it went a long way to keep the stories focused leading up to their conclusions. This inadvertently kept the attention of younger viewers who should’ve been asleep by the time it aired.
For me, it was the opening theme. I remember getting goosebumps when seeing the split second of blue skies and fluffy clouds following images of lush countryside. Had this opening not been accompanied by an ominous synth chord blaring from my TV’s tiny speaker, it probably wouldn’t have been so bad. But then the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up with the ascending 4-note riff. By the time the narrator entered the theme, I was already wrapped up in my blanket in the corner of my bed.
“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.”
After the last line, the screen shifts into an eerie black and white inversion. The swirling synth and distorted shots of nature now looked even creepier. The blood-soaked title card flashes on the screen and the show begins.
Not only does this opening sequence put you in the mood for the next half hour, but it subtly plays upon fear of imagination without showing anything overtly horror-related. As a kid, this truly scared me in a way I couldn’t explain. Sure, the show would deal with monsters or whatever, but for me, that intro was the real horror. Growing up near a forest preserve, my backyard didn’t look much different than the nature shots in that opening. On clear nights, I could see the lights of the city illuminating the sky, making the forest darker and foreboding. I truly felt like that dark side was within rock throwing distance from the safety of my bedroom.
Making matters worse were the commercial bumpers. It was just a static image of the title card on top of the inverted countryside. But it had an extremely loud synth bleep that would have me jump out of my skin every single time.
Tales From The Darkside was a relatively quiet show but I swear, the production company had the sound design lower so when the commercial break bumper flashed on the screen, it was a bonus scare at no extra charge. And it always kept me on my toes. Being on the top bunk, I couldn’t reach the TV to turn it down, and turning it off would mean sitting in complete darkness. This in of itself was anxiety-stricken terror.
The closing credits were no picnic either. The theme song played again across a bed of blurry credits. But there was an additional line of dialog from the narrator.
“The Darkside is always there waiting for us to enter. Waiting to enter us. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight…”
It was like one final threat before trying to go to sleep. A promise even. How could a 5-year-old sleep after that? I always remember trying to, but to no avail. I certainly wouldn’t want to enter this aforementioned Darkside, but how could it enter me? What would it want? What is it? For all intents and purposes, these questions were the embodiment of anything and everything scary to me. I would toss and turn for the remainder of the night letting my imagination run wild until nightmare-soaked sleep.
It’s interesting to me how this is my earliest memory of horror. I’m sure I saw one of the Universal Monster movies at that age or something scary looking like Godzilla. But as for straight-up horror, it had to be Tales From The Darkside. Even more interesting is how I can’t pinpoint a single episode from back then that had a lasting effect on me. It was always that theme song, bumpers, and outro. A testament to how important sound design is in storytelling.
My experience with Tales From The Darkside wasn’t an every-night occurrence, but it was always a similar outcome when it was. Giving in and going to sleep at bedtime before this show came on was definitely an incentive though. It might sound silly as an adult, or even watching reruns now but this show gave me a proper introduction to what horror is all about. The fear of the unknown and the foreboding inevitability of experiencing unpleasantness. One thing is for certain; I did try to enjoy the daylight.
Tales From The Darkside is currently streaming on SHUDDER.