6.8/10274 votes#1 - The Circus
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1986
A skeptical journalist travels on assignment to a sideshow. Seated in a small theatre, he is greeted by a perverse caretaker/M.C. who promises (in seemingly generic fashion) to unearth strange, horrible, and presumably fake creatures. The journalist nevertheless feels disgusted when he sees a demonic vampire devour an actual lamb. He chastizes the caretaker for endorsing such horrific "entertainment". However, when fully realizing that these are actual CREATURES, the startled journalist attempts to flee the circus and unknowingly retreats into the arms of the vampire. The caretaker subsequently transforms him into a new exhibit, currently on display for the faithful flock of sideshow attendants who DELIGHT in being frightened.
Director: Michael Gornick
Writer: George A. Romero
6.4/10281 votes#2 - I Can't Help Saying Goodbye
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 10/5/1986
A young girl develops a talent for seeing the fate of those about to die and develops the habit of saying "Goodbye" to them when she does, and her family grows increasingly upset as a result.
Director: John Strysik
Writer: Jule Selbo
4.5/10245 votes#3 - The Bitterest Pill
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/1986
A boy treated poorly by his parents gets the upper hand when an eccentric uncle shows up and tries to convince the parents to finance him to develop his newest invention - a pill that increases brain power and memory. He has a stroke and dies but not before the boy swallows the one and only prototype, and soon puts his parents into the same position he was before.
Director: Bryan Michael Stoller
Writer: Jule Selbo, Michael P. Kube-McDowell
5.9/10234 votes#4 - Florence Bravo
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/1986
The ghost of a feminist torments the woman who buys her home.
Director: John Lewis
Writer: Edithe Swensen
7.5/10322 votes#5 - The Geezenstacks
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/1986
A little girl, Audrey, discovers she can control her family by manipulating her doll family, the Geezenstacks, within her dollhouse.
Director: Bill Travis
Writer: N/A
6.1/10255 votes#6 - Black Widows
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1986
Audrey Webster is concerned about her reclusive mother, but when she pursues the matter discovers exactly why her mother stays away from others, and what awaits Audrey on her own upcoming wedding night.
Director: Karl Epstein
Writer: Michael McDowell
5.6/10220 votes#7 - Heretic
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1986
A rich art collector buys a stolen painting from a thief. The painting portrays a man before the Spanish Inquisition. The collector, Harte, is soon visited by a mysterious man who begs him to repent of his sins and give up the wrongfully-gained picture. Harte ignores the warnings and finds himself sucked into the painting where he is to be tortured as a sinner and heretic. He recants to the Inquisitor, who lets him go. Once out of the painting, Harte refuses to give it up, and receives a personal visit from the Inquisitor in the real world. The thief returns to take the picture, and Harte is nowhere to be found...in this world.
Director: Gerald Cotts
Writer: Edithe Swensen
6.0/10305 votes#8 - A Serpent's Tooth
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/16/1986
A kibbitzing mother, Pearl, warns her unlistening family but her warnings start to come true.
Director: Frank De Palma
Writer: Edithe Swensen
6.6/10250 votes#9 - Baker's Dozen
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/23/1986
Ruby Cuzzins, a New Orleans baker, sells "magic" cookies and gives unscrupulous Henry adman a sample of her wares. Convinced, Henry tries to get her to go into business with him but gets his comeuppance when she refuses.
Director: John Harrison
Writer: George A. Romero
4.7/10242 votes#10 - Deliver Us from Goodness
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 11/30/1986
Valeria is a saint - literally - and finds it more then she can bear. She seeks out a way to fall from Grace but is unable to do so no matter how hard she tries.
Director: Warner Shook
Writer: Jule Selbo
7.9/10427 votes#11 - Seasons of Belief
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 12/29/1986
On Christmas Eve, a couple decide to preoccupy their restless children by telling them a fable concerning a massive, winged creature called "The Grither". The children initially balk at the story, which describes the creature as a proud, hateful beast who becomes enraged when it hears its name being spoken aloud. Although it lives at the North Pole, its humongous ears allow it to hear its name being spoken from anywhere in the world, and the parents assure the children that The Grither is well on its way to their house to kill them. The children become progressively more frightened as the story continues, eventually to the point of utter hysteria. Finally, in an effort to calm their children, the parents reveal that the story is make believe. At that moment, the huge arms of The Grither smash through the windows of the house and break the necks of the parents as the children look on in horror.
Director: Michael McDowell
Writer: Michael McDowell
6.4/10261 votes#12 - Miss May Dusa
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1/18/1987
A robber accidentally brings a mannequin to life - its gaze turns him into a statue. The now-living mannequin flees into the night, unaware of her powers or the harm she can bring.
Director: Richard Blackburn
Writer: Richard Blackburn
6.4/10266 votes#13 - The Milkman Cometh
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 1/25/1987
A man, Garry, hears from his neighbor a bizarre tale of how the unseen neighborhood milkman grants wishes to anyone who leaves their request in the empty bottles to be picked up. Garry tries it for himself and soon finds his every wish granted. His final wish is for a daughter, and his curiosity is too great and he tries to confront the milkman. Garry gets a glimpse of a deformed mutant creature before it disappears and then realizes exactly how the "milkman" will fulfill his wish - by impregnating his wife.
Director: John Strysik
Writer: N/A
6.5/10224 votes#14 - My Ghostwriter: The Vampire
Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 2/1/1987
Hack writer Peter, writing worse and worse vampire stories, buys a coffin for inspiration and finds it occupied by Count Draco. Peter manages to protect himself, and the two strike a deal: Draco will supply new inspiration based on his life experiences, and Peter will write the books. Peter becomes wealthy, but refuses to share the proceeds. With the aid of Peter's secretary, Draco manages to get the drop on the writer and kill him, and the vampire and secretary strike up a new arrangement.
Director: Frank De Palma
Writer: N/A
5.0/10215 votes#15 - My Own Place
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 2/8/1987
Laura, a desperate woman, tries to get an apartment by herself but is forced to take in Ram, an immigrant from Calcutta. When Ram dies partly due to her involvement, Laura finds that she has inherited an entire family of ghostly Hindus.
Director: Theodore Gershuny
Writer: Theodore Gershuny, Perry Lang
5.3/10206 votes#16 - Red Leader
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 2/15/1987
A crooked tycoon makes a deal with the Devil in return for power and wealth.
Director: John Harrison
Writer: Edithe Swensen
6.7/10234 votes#17 - Everybody Needs a Little Love
Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 2/22/1987
Robert, a lonely divorced man, fixated on a mannequin, but the question soon becomes - is the mannequin alive?
Director: John Harrison
Writer: John Harrison
5.6/10204 votes#18 - Auld Acquaintances
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 3/1/1987
Two long-lived witches, Elizabeth and Mary, vie once more over an amulet in the modern day that they agreed to share hundreds of years ago.
Director: Richard Friedman
Writer: Edithe Swensen
5.8/10205 votes#19 - The Social Climber
Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/8/1987
A shoemaker's apprentice discovers a strange power when he finds he can step into other peoples' lives simply by putting on their shoes.
Director: Armand Mastroianni
Writer: Ellen Sandhaus
5.2/10199 votes#20 - The Swap
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 5/3/1987
Anna Belle's plot to murder her husband to gain his money backfires with unpleasant results.
Director: John Drury
Writer: Richard Benner
5.1/10200 votes#21 - Let the Games Begin
Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 5/10/1987
When Harry Carson has a heart attack, an angel and a devil fight for who will get his soul and it's up to Harry to make the right choice.
Director: John Lewis
Writer: Peter O'Keefe
5.8/10213 votes#22 - The Enormous Radio
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/1987
Irene and Jim discover that a new radio they buy lets them overhear the neighbors, but Irene soon turns paranoid as she wonders whether they can hear her.
Director: Bill Travis
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Tales from the Darkside Season 3
Every episode of Tales from the Darkside Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Tales from the Darkside Season 3!
Tales from the Darkside is an anthology horror TV series created by George A. Romero, each episode was an individual short story that ended with...
Genres:DramaSci-Fi & Fantasy
Network:Syndication
Season 3 Ratings Summary
"The Circus" is the best rated episode of "Tales from the Darkside" season 3. It scored 6.8/10 based on 274 votes. Directed by Michael Gornick and written by George A. Romero, it aired on 9/28/1986. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "I Can't Help Saying Goodbye".