Episode
Tales from the Darkside: Do Not Open This Box
Overview
An aged inventor and his wife come into possession of a box marked "Do not open this box." The wife opens it and finds it empty. The next day a man comes to claim the box and the lady makes up a story about losing the box. The man begins giving them nice things in exchange for eventually getting the box back. The couple begin living the sweet life thanks to the stranger but when they finally give the box back, the man tells them that it contained a human soul - since the box was opened the soul has escaped and now the man needs a replacement.
Details
- Series
- Tales from the Darkside
- Season
- Season 4
- Episode
- Episode 15
- Air date
- 1988-05-15
- Runtime
- 22 min
Episode context
Do Not Open This Box is Episode 15 in Season 4 of Tales from the Darkside. It aired on 1988-05-15. The runtime is 22 min.
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Episode 14: The Cutty Black Sow
On her deathbed, Jamie's great grandmother tells him the tale of a Celtic demon, the Cutty Black Sow, that comes to claim the soul of anyone dying that night, and Jamie vows to protect her soul from the beast.
Episode 16: Family Reunion
Janice, a young mother, swears to a social worker, Trudy, that her husband Robert kidnapped their son Bobby six months ago and she hasn't seen either of them since. Trudy agrees to find the father and son, but discovers that everything isn't what she was led to believe.
More episodes from this season
Episode 13: The Apprentice
Jane is hired by a Puritan museum but ends up mysteriously going back in time where she is forced to work as a near slave in the past.
Episode 17: Going Native
An alien is sent to Earth to study the nature and behavior of human beings. The alien, who resembles a normal Earth female, meticulously studies photographs of still life from large cities, simultaneously fascinated with and disgusted by the disarray and degeneration depicted in the pictures. The alien joins a therapeutic support group in an effort to better understand the seemingly contradictory humans. As she develops personal relationships with each group member, she begins to further understand the origin of and reasons for the behavior of humans, albeit from an outside observer's vantage point. The other members of the group see the alien as distant and detached, a condition that they assume is rooted in a self-denial complex. As the alien speaks at one of the group meetings, she suddenly realizes that she has been experiencing the exact same feelings as the humans that she has been studying. She has become human-like through assimilation, trapped within the emotional shell of ano
Episode 12: The Deal
Screenwriter Tom Dash unwittingly makes a deal with the Devil and finds he must get out of it by finding a new victim or offer up his soul.
Episode 18: Hush
A babysitter is called in to take care of a sick boy. As a game, the two make up a pretend creature out of household parts, one that eats sounds. The creature comes to life, sucking the sound and the life out of everything in the house. The two try to evade it, but the boy's uncontrollable coughing gives him away. The creature then becomes sensitive enough to the girl's heartbeat to find and kill her too, then goes out into the world for more "food"".
Episode 11: Love Hungry
Betsy, an overweight woman, receives an anonymous package with an earpiece that will supposedly help her diet. It transmits the "voices" of her food as is being eaten, but Betsy still has problems and the next gift is a pair of glasses that let her "see" her food as well...
Episode 19: Barter
A mother tries to get a reprieve from her noisy drums-practicing son by making a deal with an ammonia-seeking alien. Spoofs the I Love Lucy television series.
Episode 10: Payment Overdue
Michael, a heartless collection agent, finds out that Jeanette doesn't quite understand the rules of going into debt, and has some unpleasant problems as a result.
Episode 20: Basher Malone
A wrestler seeking one great opponent finds himself tricked into fighting a demon from Hell.
Episode 9: Sorry, Right Number
Katie receives a mysterious phone call from a woman warning about her husband's death...but he isn't dead yet. Katie ignores the phone call, and her husband dies. At the funeral, a despairing Katie calls up herself...and finds herself talking to...herself. She tries to warn her past self, despite knowing that it won't do any good, then collapses in despair.
Episode 8: Seymourlama
Much to his parents' frustration, a spoiled young boy, Seymour, is declared the High Lama by a group of monks.