Roald Dahl is to modern writing what Jack Kirby is to comic book art: a distinctive, beautifully minimalist artist, who manages to convey in a single deftly structured sentence what others can’t begin to describe in pages. His characters are well-developed, his descriptions concise, and his scenarios compelling. His children's’ books are wildly imaginative, packed with fantastic creatures (I still insist The Vermicious Knids would make an awesome band name), outlandish situations, and just the right touch of nastiness (the tormentors of his underdog heroes always suffer ironic fates). His more "adult" fare of short stories continue his tradition of clean, simple writing, while grounding his stories more in reality (although at times not much), and giving the nastiness dial a big turn to the right. The wicked endure greater pains, and even the "good" are suffered even graver injustices.

Dahl’s quick page-turners seemed a perfect fit for television, and so Tales of the Unexpected was borne unto British airwaves. Combining a Twilight Zone anthology format with Dahl himself in the Rod Serling role, channeling equal parts Alistair Cook and Alistair Crowley from his cozy fireside chair. Coupling Dahl’s enchanting stories with some amazing actors (Julie Harris, Telly Savalas, John Gielgud, and many others), the series goes down like a good martini: dry, crisp, and intoxicating.

Acorn Media has packaged together the complete first two seasons of the series, which contains 25 episodes (all but 4 of which were based upon Dahl’s works. The other four sprang forth from the pen of other authors, including Robert Bloch) spread across 4 discs. Even at their weakest, the episodes are still wholly entertaining and fun. At their best, they are disturbing, chilling, and provocative. Rather than try to break down every episode (a feat so Herculean even Steve Reeves would wince at the thought), I’ll give you a selection of my favorite tales.

Georgy Porgy, easily the most disturbing episode of the series, concerns a handsome young vicar fawned over by the single, oversexed women of his parish. Father George finds himself haunted by memories of his free-spirited mother (played by a brilliantly double-cast Joan Collins), who scarred young George with incestuous advances and a fatal viewing of a rabbit giving birth. All of this comes to a head with his most aggressive pursuer, a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to his mother and threatens to devour George whole...but figuratively, or literally?

Dahl explores some surprisingly erotic fare in Skin, a tale positively soaked in loss: loss of hope, love, and dignity. A vagrant walking past an art gallery discovers the work of his old friend has become quite the commodity. He finds his potential way out of his homeless situation with a truly rare piece by the artist in question: a full back-tattoo. The question is, how can he display it?

The Way Up To Heaven casts a beautifully neurotic Julie Harris (who played Nell in The Haunting) as Mrs. Foster, a woman with a paralyzing fear of being late. Unfortunately, her slow-moving husband (a perfectly cast Ronald Culver) has a tendency to dawdle, leaving her in near-hysterics. His habits proves to be fatal...but for whom?

Julie Harris also stars as the titular Mrs. Bixby in Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat. After a long, torrid affair with The Colonel (played by the ever-smooth Richard Greene), Mrs. Bixby receives a parting gift of a mink coat. Unfortunately, she can’t bring her coat home without her dentist husband becoming suspicious. A pawn shop may be her ticket out...but not the way she expects.

Besides that, we’ve got tales of gambling, shrewish wives, lambs-leg cudgels, taxidermist landladies, "fingersmiths," brains in jars, boarding-school sadists (a favorite theme of Dahl’s), royal jelly, two tales of the charmingly inept William Botibol (..."and L as in Love"), wine-tasting, poisoned chocolates, and so much seediness it’s almost overwhelming. However, Dahl manages to make all the sleaze classy, by offering up some satisfying "just desserts" for the antagonists of his tales, and by his heroes being so genuinely lovable at times that you practically cheer for them (Timothy West in "Royal Jelly" proves to be such a well-meaning and caring father that you can’t help but like him). They’re not nearly as "macabre" as the box copy might have the "tidbits of horror" sound, they’re nonetheless great tales, blending drama and black comedy with near-perfect results.

Acorn Media does a commendable job on their release of Tales of the Unexpected. The four dual-layered discs look and sound surprisingly clean given the low-budget television nature. Colors were fairly solid, and dialogue was easily understandable. There were a few instances of unexplainable video glitches (a cell of fast-moving stripes would occasionally pop into frame for up to a minute at a time), and sometimes the picture was a little less than clear, but it’s more than acceptable. Extras include a rather beefy bio on Roald Dahl, some fascinating production notes, and beautifully complete filmographies for all the major players in the series.

Again, this series is far from the "horror" that some make it out to be. Sure, sometimes the nastiness can prove to be pretty gruesome, but Dark Shadows it isn’t. However, I still highly recommend this very adult, incredibly well-done series for those who long for the good old days when television actually had some content to it.