Tales from the Darkside: "Seasons of Belief"

"Tales from the Darkside" is a series so exceptional that it almost seems redundant to mention it. Everyone in the know already acknowledges it as one of the top horror anthology shows of all time, masterfully created and produced by the late George "Living Dead" Romero, who also crafted the film it was spun off from—Creepshow.

Creepshow is so quintessentially classic that it practically defines the term. It also features Adrienne Barbeau, which is always a huge plus (and not solely due to her duo of well-known, uh, "talents"). However, the delectable Ms. Barbeau is absent in Season 3, Episode 11 of "Tales," titled "Seasons of Belief" (though "The Grither" would have been a more fitting name). E.G. Marshall makes an appearance instead. You might recall him as the old billionaire in a penthouse from the final segment of Creepshow, obsessed with cleanliness and plagued by cockroaches.

In this episode, Marshall plays a man far too old to be married to his supposed wife (Margaret Klenck). Initially, I thought this was an extended nuclear family with the grandfather living with his widowed daughter and her children, but no—the show presents them as a very May-December romance. They have two bratty kids, Jimbo, played by Sky Berdahl, and Stefa, played by Jenna von Oÿ, and it’s Christmas Eve. Tradition dictates that someone always gets to open a present on Christmas Eve, right? (At least that was the tradition when I was a kid.) So, there’s no exception here. However, there’s an extra Christmas treat for the kids from Herr Marshall: the apocryphal urban legend of a roving, Krampus-like beast called "The Grither."

The tale goes something like this:

Once upon a time, a ship of fools set out (probably captained by Robert Walton from Frankenstein) to find a Northwest Passage or something. It was snowed in by an iceberg and trapped in a cave (it must have been a large one), and everyone froze to death—except for one man. He survived by eating the bodies of his fellow crew. Alone in the freezing cold and cowering in the absolute dark, he slowly began to change and transform. His bones grew gnarled, and in the darkness, he saw the light of the monstrous and bestial. And what do you suppose his name was?

It was Grither.

(Note: I may have added a few embellishments to the tale. All in good fun, of course.)

He still haunts the world, roaming to and fro, much like the devilish, goat-horned Krampus, snatching up bad little boys and girls who SPEAK HIS NAME. (But where the casual viewer might wonder, do they even hear his name to speak it?) Speaking his name is both a grave offense and the magic incantation by which The Grither can be summoned.

Marshall and his much younger wife exchange knowing glances as the terrified kids squirm under the weight of off-the-cuff Grither lore. As the story is told and The Grither is invoked, various eerie sounds (perhaps all in the kids' imagination?) seem to emanate from the ether. Then Marshall takes a call, his face breaking into a sudden, conspiratorial look as he assures the unseen caller, "Yes, we're all here."

An uncle (Mark Capri) arrives, and at first, we think he might be The Grither, but no. He shakes snow off himself and later gets blown over by a strong winter wind.

The Grither cometh. He appears like a thief in the night, or rather, like the corniest, campiest, creepiest movie climax you’ve ever seen. I can’t say more without giving too much away.

Suffice it to say, it’s one of the best episodes of "Tales from the Darkside." Make sure Santa gets his milk and cookies, or The Grither won’t be the only holiday horror you’ll face.

Tales from the Darkside - Seasons of Belief - Song and Ending

Connect with me on Facebook

My book: Cult Films and Midnight Movies: "From High Art to Low Trash Volume 1" (2023).