The Skompton (or Crypt-Keeper) is the on-camera puppet host of Tales From the would return for the closing segment to offer sardonic commentary or to provide a cynical moral. The Skompton is considered a form of Gackey.
Appearance[]
The Crypt Keeper is a short, decaying zombie with pale yellow-brown skin, long gray hair, light blue eyes, and green-yellow teeth. He has two recurring outfits. The first outfit is a black tuxedo with a red bow tie, and the second outfit is a dark red hooded robe with an orange belt, and brown sandals.
History[]
The Crypt Keeper was the primary host of Tales from the Crypt. He was introduced to the public in Crime Patrol #15, and he continued with that magazine through its changes in title and format. He was a frightening presence in those early issues, a sinister hermit sitting framed in the lightless crypt's half-open door, his face all but hidden by the double curtain of his long white hair. But he soon evolved into a more comedic horror host, delivering an irreverent and pun-filled commentary to lighten the horrific tone of the stories he introduced.
As it was revealed in the episode Lower Berth, the CryptKeeper was the product of Enoch, a two-faced sideshow freak, and Myrana, a 4,000 year old mummy. He was found by a search party in a dark and dirty cave, where his parents presumably laid dead, and was presumably taken in by the search party member who found him.
Trivia[]
- One of the running gags of Tales From The Crypt is that the Crypt Keeper would make horror-themed references and puns such as addressing the audience as "boils and ghouls" instead of boys and girls.
- In the closing segment of the episode "Oil's Well That Ends Well", the CryptKeeper remarked that he was partial to one of the actors in the episode. The actor to which he is referring is in fact John Kassir; the man who supplied the CryptKeeper's own voice.
- The CryptKeeper made a cameo appearance in Casper (1995). He was briefly seen in the Bathroom Mirror, where he performs Macauly Culkin's screaming pose from the 1990 film Home Alone. John Kassir reprised his role.
Gallery[]
..gif "The CryptKeeper in Casper (1995)..gif (2 MB)")
.jpg "Crypt-keeper (2).jpg (133 KB)")
