In this classic Halloween episode we look back upon a near-forgotten Horror anthology TV series - Tales from the Darkside. We trace how Creepshow and the EC Comics tradition (Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror) set the blueprint, then get into the messy rights reality that forced Romero’s team to build something adjacent rather than literal. From there, we spotlight the October 1983 premiere “Trick or Treat,” a nasty little morality play about debt, greed, and a Halloween-night reckoning that feels like the purest form of anthology justice.

Then we jump into one of the most fun conversations of the night: “Inside the Closet,” directed by Tom Savini, complete with our beat-by-beat reaction to the tension, the synthy creep factor, and the moment the “closet monster” earns a nickname and an unexpected kind of charm. We also nerd out over how stacked the bench is, from major horror authors and short-story adaptations to an absurdly deep guest star list that makes the show feel like a secret casting time capsule.

In a scattered discussion, we break down the cult vampire film Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat. We talk through the movie’s best hook: a hidden vampire community that’s trying to go legit with sunscreen, public-facing small-town life, and a factory producing a synthetic blood substitute so vampires can stop feeding on humans. From there, the story splinters into factions and a quiet coup against David Carradine’s Mardulak, a human family dragged into vampire politics, and a rival vampire’s nasty, sexually charged scheme that drives the ugliest tension in the plot. Along the way, we call out the moments that feel weirdly ahead of their time, especially if you like True Blood style vampire society storytelling.

Star Trek turns 60 and somehow the big story is this: the pipeline is drying up, the creative direction feels scattered, and the one show still on the air is starting to lose us. We talk through Strange New Worlds season four and why the constant genre tribute approach starts to feel like “holodeck episodes all season” with none of the payoff. When every week becomes a parody or a pastiche, the ship stops feeling real, character choices stop carrying weight, and we catch ourselves checking out instead of leaning in.

We also get specific about what works and what does not. A musical can land when the format reveals character and the plot uses Star Trek logic to justify the weirdness. But when an episode is “just Buffy” or “just a soap opera” or “just Crimson Tide in space,” it can feel like modern TV is regurgitating familiar IP instead of taking a real swing at something new. That frustration becomes a bigger conversation about Hollywood’s dependence on recognizable templates and why audiences can sense desperation even when the production values look great.

Then we zoom out to the franchise level: our breakdown of modern Trek as a post-2009 phase shaped by Abrams-era storytelling and the Kurtzman production machine, the way streaming exclusivity narrows who actually shows up, and the corporate chaos at Paramount that keeps killing movies before they happen. We end with the uncomfortable question we cannot avoid: would a real pause help Star Trek come back with a clear vision, or is this the slow fade?

Subscribe, share the episode with a Trek friend, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. What genre stunt finally made you tap out, and what would you want a true Star Trek reset to look like?