Tales from the Darkside Vol 1

(various, USA, 1988)

Tales from the Darkside Vol 1 is a compendium of five mildly spooky episodes of the well-known television series, starting with Stephen King's 1987 episode "Sorry, Right Number".

Television horror tends often to be a rather whimsical, anecdotal affair – even when masters like King or David Cronenberg are involved – trying desperately for the retro-charm of old Twilight Zone stories.

But I do recommend an episode called "The Moth" (first aired in 1987) written by Michael McDowell of Beetlejuice (1988) fame, directed by Jeffrey Wolf, and starring Debbie Harry.

With its dank, claustrophobic setting in a Southern swamp, its battle of wills between two hard women, and its wicked Satanic themes, it has a bracing perversity far preferable to the sickly sermons which all too often conclude King's fables.

MORE anthologies: Aria, The Blues, Fallen Angels, Inside Out, Lumiere and Company, Strangers, Wild Palms

© Adrian Martin May 1993