Crypt Keeper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Crypt Keeper is the host of the comic series Tales from the Crypt as well as the 1990s horror show of the same name, produced by HBO and later shown on network television and basic cable. This character is somewhat similar to the host of The Twilight Zone, in that he cleverly sets up the premise of the episode's story, and then after the story, makes closing remarks in a clever fashion. In the Crypt Keeper's case, these were usually in particularly poor taste, and near the same level of humor as puns.
The television incarnation of the Crypt Keeper had the appearance of a ghoulish skeleton with bits of decaying flesh hanging off the bones, long, stringy grey hair, and a high pitched, cackling laugh. The Crypt Keeper was not actually played by a human, but was a sort of puppet voiced by John Kassir. According to episode twenty of season two, "Lower Berth," the Crypt Keeper was conceived by runaway travelling sideshow performers, a two-faced elephant man and a cursed, 4,000 year old mummy[1]. Based on visual references at the beginning of every episode, the Crypt Keeper lived in the crypt of a castle in rural Europe.
Before 1954 the Crypt Keeper (along with the similarly conceived Vault Keeper and the Old Witch) served as narrator for many horror comics published by EC Comics, until the Comics Code put a stop to it in 1954. See EC Comics for more information.
In 1972, the Crypt Keeper starred in Tales from the Crypt, an anthology horror film, portrayed by Ralph Richardson. This incarnation had a more human appearance. He was also in the three spin-off films for the television series Demon Knight, Bordello of Blood and Ritual.
