Did anyone else think the opening sequence for this show was unbelievably scary?
Something about the music, his voice, the montage of woods to dark . Growing up, I would always plug my ears when this show came on & even now I usually hit mute.
"You unlock this door with the key of imagination..."
The scariest and best part of the show by far. As a kid, watching the opening sequence scared the living daylights out of me.
shareme i rememebr staying up late at night when i was a little kid watchign TV I'd watch night court,.. then...I knew it was coming..that evil, scary music.. but i could not help but just stare.... stare as the intro played... the scene with the trees spook me out to this day.. I get creeped out going into the woods.
But I'd do anything to have back to back Tales from the darkside/ 80's twillight zone back!
nWo 4-Life! Halloween Rules!(The Holiday)
Every time I heard the theme song come on the tv, I would be scared *beep* and change the channel with a quickness! Lol.
share[deleted]
I love the intro to this show, The shots of the trees and even the farm, there's just something creepy about it with the music and voice over it.
shareI used to watch this show on an old TV when I was at my grandmother's drafty old house. It was always on late at night, and you couldn't turn on too many of the lights in the place at one time because the fuses would blow. So my brother and I always had to walk up the narrow stairway to the guest bedroom with a flashlight in the dark.
Let me tell you, walking up those stairs into the dark bedroom was about a million times creepier after watching this just before bedtime.
I grew up as a minister's kid in Texas. This show was the exact opposite of what my folks wanted me to watch on TV, so of course, it was my FAVORITE thing to watch. In 1986, I was 12 years old and still quite impressionable. My mother was particularly opposed to me watching horror films as she labeled it all as Satanic propaganda. If she only knew what we were watching! I surmise that "Tales from the Darkside" was perhaps the most subversive television ever to air, simply because it's only purpose for existence was to transmit evil thoughts. Most of the stories were about horrible things happening to good people. I'm not sure why I got off on seeing this so much, but I did. It all really touched a nerve with me. When the show would come on at 10:30PM, I would summon my 5 year old brother to the bedroom where our TV was. We made up a code for the show, "Tees from the Dee". My mother had no idea what we were talking about, but referring to the "Darkside" would surely set off her alarms. Interrupting my brother from whatever action figure he was playing with, I whispered something to the effect of, "Drop what you're doing. Tees from the Dee is coming on now." As someone else mentioned on this board, I believe it came on directly after "Night Court." Then of course there was the creepy theme music and demonic voice over. In order not to draw attention to the TV, we had to turn the volume down incredibly low. We would have to ease up really close to the television with our ear turned to the speaker in order to hear. Once the credits were over, we could turn the volume back up, because "Tees from the Dee" played more like a weird and creepy soap opera than a horror film with lots of gore and screaming. If I remember correctly, when it would go to commercial, there was a surge of creepy music so I had to be ready with the volume control. This TV had no remote control so muting was not an option and you had to sit close in order to work the dial. I developed my love and patience for slow psychological horror from watching this show, and I learned that things are more scary when they find their way underneath your skin. These kinds of psychological "mites" burrow down into your soul and eventually drive you mad. THAT'S real horror to me, and that's what "Tees from the Dee" provided. The opening sequence scared me so much, because of the trees and the farm that everyone has mentioned. It all seemed so normal and harmless, but the music says otherwise. I liken this kind of contradictory playfulness to the French Surrealist painter, Magritte.
Trenton Doyle Hancock
The narrator's deep creepy voice really makes my skin crawl. Ditto the spare shivery music.
I'm a totally bitchin' bio writer from Mars!
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Last time I checked, my name wasn't torpedoboy4. Never respond to the last post on a thread unless you are specifically replying to said post.
I'm a totally bitchin' bio writer from Mars!
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Was looking for posts that addressed the voiceover's über subtle descent from pleasant to demonic. When I became an adult I watched it again. Notice how each sentence he utters subtly increases in creepiness, where the pleasant facade- masking the creepiness - gives way to full on terror. Musically you can hear octave chords play in the beginning,which transitions to minor chords, then ultimately you hear tritones and diminished chords at the end.
Blend the music, the increasingly creepy visuals , and the degeneration of the voiceover together tho give the terror fest that is this introduction.
Just the imagining of this even during the day makes my eyes water with childhood fright
even right now.
It's devices like these that give me the hope that my
writing craft will one day send chills down one's spine.
Blend the music, the increasingly creepy visuals , and the degeneration of the voiceover together tho give the terror fest that is this introduction.
...Just the imagining of this even during the day makes my eyes water with childhood fright even right now.
Dude, that opening was AMAZING, i saw the dubbed version in spanish here in latin america and it was still just as creepy
i think its mostly the overly creepy music, almost stereotypical creepy music which you dont hear anymore on TV, the trees shots, the farm....and all of a sudden.....THE FADE INTO NEGATIVE COLORS....hell, that was what freaked me out the most
i always thought that negative colors look so damn evil and demonic
As a suggestion, another creepy music in the vibe of TFTD is the opening and closing credits of "Unsolved Mysteries", go check it out
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