Master of Horror Mick Garris and writer A.L. Katz crafted this, the third of the premiere episodes of the sixth season of Tales from the Crypt. It’s a deeply meta narrative, where Rolanda (Rita Rudner), an artist for the Tales from the Crypt comic book, grapples with an abusive boss, Vern Caputo (Richard Lewis). He dismisses her, she retaliates, and the police end her life. But the horror doesn’t end there. She awakens in her bed, forced to relive the same day over and over, trapped in a nightmarish cycle.

“Looks like it’s curtains for me kiddies. Then again, maybe the Venetian blinds would look better. I don’t know. When I started this little makeover, I was pretty excited. I thought a little Slaytex paint, some new scream doors, maybe even some scare conditioning. I could turn my little doomicile into a regular pied-à-terror. But, I tell ya, kiddies, between the dust and the ghost overruns, your pal the Crypt Keeper’s going out of his mind! Which is kinda like the woman in tonight’s terror tale. It’s about a comic book artist who’s about to experience a terrible case of déjà boo. I call it “Whirpool.””

As the episode draws to a close, a startling revelation emerges. Rolanda is, in fact, Vern’s superior, and the entire narrative is a product of his comic book. He’s ensnared in a time loop, experiencing the same abuse he once inflicted on her. It’s a jarring role reversal that plunges us deeper into the twisted world of EC Comics.

This is based on “Whirlpool” from Vault of Horror #32, written by Al Feldstein and William Gaines and drawn by Johnny Craig. In that story, a woman is trapped in a world of unending horror, which may or may not be all in her mind.