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Season guide

Tales from the Darkside: Season 4

20 episodes Premiered Sep 27, 1987 Updated Sep 27, 2026
Previously on Tales from the Darkside

Season 4 Lore Primer

Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.

  • ⚡ Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Tales from the Darkside Season 3.
  • ⚡ Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
  • ⚡ Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
  • ⚡ Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
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Season 4 Episodes

Episode Guide

🛡️ SPOILER SHIELD

Season 4 Progress Shield

Future titles & synopses blurred. Tap "Reveal" on any card to peek.
Binge Efficiency Engine

Season 4: Filler vs. Essential Canon

Filter episodes by narrative weight. Focus on essential mytharc and skip standalone side quests.

25%
75%
Mytharc (5): Crucial lore & season climaxes
Core (15): Character development & subplots
Side Quest (0): Standalone / filler
S4·E1 Mytharc

Beetles

Sep 27, 1987 · 22 min

An Egyptologist working on a sarcophogus ignores a curse and meets a horrific fate when he ignores it.

S4·E2 Core

Mary, Mary

Oct 4, 1987 · 22 min

A woman who lives with mannequins because she is unable to deal with real people gets a rude awakening.

S4·E3 Core

The Spirit Photographer

Oct 11, 1987 · 22 min

Despite the discouragement of his friend, a middle-aged photographer, Algernon, tries to captures spirits on film.

S4·E4 Mytharc

The Moth

Oct 18, 1987 · 22 min

Sybil, a woman on the verge of death, is obsessed with the thought that after she dies her soul will dwell within a moth, and she begs her mother to hold the moth until she can be

S4·E5 Core

No Strings

Oct 25, 1987 · 22 min

A mobster who has finally defeated his old rival hires a reluctant puppeteer to string up his rival and make it dance for him. The mobster is unaware that puppet and puppeteer both

S4·E6 Core

The Grave Robber

Nov 1, 1987 · 22 min

In this comedic episode, two treasure hunters discover a lost Egyptian tomb and accidentally revive a mummy. The mummy, Tapok, doesn't try to strangle them, but rather challenges t

S4·E7 Core

The Yattering and Jack

Nov 8, 1987 · 22 min

A normal, everyday, plain-as-day man, Jack Polo, lives a normal, everyday life...despite the fact that strange poltergeist-like events occur around him. He seems oblivious to every

S4·E8 Core

Seymourlama

Nov 15, 1987 · 22 min

Much to his parents' frustration, a spoiled young boy, Seymour, is declared the High Lama by a group of monks.

S4·E9 Mytharc

Sorry, Right Number

Nov 22, 1987 · 22 min

Katie receives a mysterious phone call from a woman warning about her husband's death...but he isn't dead yet. Katie ignores the phone call, and her husband dies. At the funeral, a

S4·E10 Core

Payment Overdue

Feb 14, 1988 · 22 min

Michael, a heartless collection agent, finds out that Jeanette doesn't quite understand the rules of going into debt, and has some unpleasant problems as a result.

S4·E11 Core

Love Hungry

Feb 21, 1988 · 22 min

Betsy, an overweight woman, receives an anonymous package with an earpiece that will supposedly help her diet. It transmits the "voices" of her food as is being eaten, but Betsy st

S4·E12 Core

The Deal

Feb 28, 1988 · 22 min

Screenwriter Tom Dash unwittingly makes a deal with the Devil and finds he must get out of it by finding a new victim or offer up his soul.

S4·E13 Core

The Apprentice

May 1, 1988 · 22 min

Jane is hired by a Puritan museum but ends up mysteriously going back in time where she is forced to work as a near slave in the past.

S4·E14 Core

The Cutty Black Sow

May 8, 1988 · 22 min

On her deathbed, Jamie's great grandmother tells him the tale of a Celtic demon, the Cutty Black Sow, that comes to claim the soul of anyone dying that night, and Jamie vows to pro

S4·E15 Core

Do Not Open This Box

May 15, 1988 · 22 min

An aged inventor and his wife come into possession of a box marked "Do not open this box." The wife opens it and finds it empty. The next day a man comes to claim the box and the l

S4·E16 Core

Family Reunion

May 22, 1988 · 22 min

Janice, a young mother, swears to a social worker, Trudy, that her husband Robert kidnapped their son Bobby six months ago and she hasn't seen either of them since. Trudy agrees to

S4·E17 Core

Going Native

Jun 19, 1988 · 22 min

An alien is sent to Earth to study the nature and behavior of human beings. The alien, who resembles a normal Earth female, meticulously studies photographs of still life from larg

S4·E18 Core

Hush

Jul 10, 1988 · 22 min

A babysitter is called in to take care of a sick boy. As a game, the two make up a pretend creature out of household parts, one that eats sounds. The creature comes to life, suckin

S4·E19 Mytharc

Barter

Jul 17, 1988 · 22 min

A mother tries to get a reprieve from her noisy drums-practicing son by making a deal with an ammonia-seeking alien. Spoofs the I Love Lucy television series.

S4·E20 Mytharc

Basher Malone

Jul 23, 1988 · 22 min

A wrestler seeking one great opponent finds himself tricked into fighting a demon from Hell.

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