AMC Global Media, formerly AMC Networks, has landed the domestic streaming rights to HBO’s horror anthology series “Tales from the Crypt,” which is set to debut on its streaming service Shudder next month, The Desk has learned.
The announcement was made during the Overlook Film Festival, a horror-filled event taking place in New Orleans. John Kassir, the voice of the original Crypt Keeper on the show, debuted a new trailer at the event that confirmed the show will start streaming on Shudder on May 1.
It will be the first time that Tales from the Crypt has been offered on a streaming platform ever; while HBO distributed the show during its initial run on television in the early 1990s, the rights to the program are owned by Geffen Film Company and Tales from the Crypt Holding, which kept the program from streaming on HBO Go, HBO Now and HBO Max.
Dark Castle Entertainment, Lauren Shuler Donner and Walter Hill control Tales from the Crypt holdings, and licensed the program to AMC Global Media, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
All seven seasons of the show will stream on Shudder, and will be presented in its original, uncensored form, according to a promotional teaser trailer released on Thursday.
Shudder costs around $9 per month or $90 per year as a standalone service, giving horror fans ad-free access to movies and shows within its library. Shudder’s programming is also available to stream through AMC Plus, which costs $8 per month with ads or $11 per month for commercial-free streaming.
Shudder and AMC Plus are also offered through some streaming TV services, including Philo, which includes access to AMC Plus and other services like HBO Max and Discovery Plus as part of its $33 per month “Bundle Plus” plan. That plan also unlocks access to more than 70 premium cable networks like Comedy Central, AMC Networks, IFC, BBC America, Sundance, History Channel, Lifetime, Nickelodeon, Animal Planet, TV Land, Paramount Network and MTV.
Some customers of Charter’s Spectrum TV receive AMC Plus for free with their pay TV service.
