The center tombstone shot with the letters in Crypt leading up to it is in a weird no-man's land where it's difficult to hit from either the upper or lower right flippers. If you can hit it reliably, do so to play for multiball. Otherwise, shoot the lit spinner to light the center scoop for a mode, then focus on playing the modes.
A light will move between the three drop targets. Hit a drop target with the plunge when it's lit to score the skill shot. Skill shots score 4,000,000 the first time and an additional 1,000,000 each subsequent time. Missing a skill shot scores 1/10 of the skill shot value.
Start a mode at the center scoop when lit. If the scoop is not lit, shoot the lit spinner to light the scoop. Bumpers and slingshots alternate which spinner is lit. However, the right spinner is a full orbit that sends the ball down the left spinner, so you'll trigger both spinners and are guaranteed to light the scoop with a full left orbit shot.
Making the scoop starts the mode that is currently flashing in the clock on the center of the table. Any spinner will rotate the flashing mode with each spin; however, the currently flashing mode can be locked by pressing the door handle plunger at any time during gameplay, preventing the flashing mode from rotating (helpful for ensuring you get something like Light Extra Ball).
Starting at the top and going clockwise, the 12 clock modes are the following:
Multiple modes can be running at once by relighting and shooting the mode scoop while another mode is running. The exceptions are Skull Cracking and Electric Chair, the multiball modes: the mode start scoop cannot be relit while one of these is running. Playing all 12 modes lights the scoop for Crypt Jam, the game's wizard mode: this is just a 6-ball multiball with 25 seconds of unlimited ball save where any switch in the game scores 1,000,000 points. After Crypt Jam ends, all modes unlight and can be played again.
Shoot the tombstone between the center scoop and the 3-bank drop targets to earn letters in Crypt. Crypt letters also seem to be able to be spotted by 10 bumper hits. When Crypt is completed, the tombstone will lower; shoot the scoop behind it to start multiball. The tombstone can be a finnicky target, and often doesn't register hits quite as well as, say, the bookcase on Addams Family.
The C toward the first multiball is given at the beginning of the game, and two letters are spotted for free at the start of each ball until the first multiball is played, so multiball is guaranteed to be ready to start ball 3 at the very least. Also for the first multiball only, you can start or restart the multiball at the center spinner just left of the right ramp, in addition to the start at the Crypt.
Crypt Multiball begins as a 3-ball multiball. The jackpot starts at 25,000,000 points. Shooting a ball into the Crypt increases the jackpot by 1,000,000 points times the number of balls in play. Shooting any spinner increases the jackpot by 130,000 points per spin. The left ramp scores the first jackpot. The second jackpot is at the right ramp: it starts at 2x the value of the first jackpot, and the spinner/Crypt shots to increase it add double value as well. Up until the double jackpot is collected at the right ramp, hitting the left captive ball adds a ball to the multiball, up to a maximum of 6 balls in play.
After collecting the double jackpot, it's time to start working on Monster Jackpots. You must hit the tombstone 5 more times to spell Crypt again; each hit adds a ball if there are not already 6 in play, and finishing Crypt scores a Monster Jackpot of 50,000,000 points plus the double jackpot you scored. Multiple Monster Jackpots can be collected during the same multiball: each one requires another spelling of Crypt, and each one is worth 50,000,000 more than the previous, with no known limit. After the first Monster Jackpot, though, there is no way to add more balls to the multiball (neither the tombstone nor the captive ball do so anymore).
If the first multiball of the game ends and no jackpots were scored, shoot the Crypt or the center spinner within 12 seconds for a multiball restart.
If something is flashing in front of the left ramp, shooting the left ramp collects it: Rats, Bats, Ghosts, and Goblins are worth about 3,000,000 each (the exact value is unclear). Shooting the left ramp when nothing is flashing scores about 750,000 points and starts one of the features flashing. Completing the Rats, Bats, Ghosts, and Goblins starts a Frenzy mode if one is flashing at the right ramp, or lights a Frenzy mode if nothing is flashing at the right ramp.
There are 4 Frenzy modes in the game: Living Dead, Chainsaw, Grave Digger, and Play the Organ. They are all 15-second frenzy modes where each switch hit scores 250,000, 500,000, 750,000, or 1,000,000 points respectively. Light or start the next frenzy mode in the sequence by shooting the right ramp once or completing a set of Rats, Bats, Ghosts, and Goblins at the left ramp. Any ramp shot at any time in the game counts toward these goals, including during multiball, so try to start them during a multiball if at all possible for best value. Any scoring from frenzy modes, which the game calls "Fast Goring" to parody other Data East games having "Fast Scoring", is added to your score in bonus, not immediately.
Hit a target to light it. Spell Keeper to relight the left out lane kickback. Spelling Keeper also advances the bonus multiplier through the sequence of 2x-4x-6x-8x: if the bonus is 8x instead, each individual Keeper target scores 1,000,000 points.
In addition to being used on the skill shot, these targets function similarly to the Keeper targets. Completing the bank advances the bonus multiplier up through the 2x-4x-6x-8x sequence, or each drop target scores 1,000,000 points if bonus multiplier is maxed at 8x. Going through the left in lane then shooting any drop target scores a Door Prize mystery award of between 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 points.
In addition to all features mentioned above regarding starting and lighting modes, a full right orbit shot scores 500,000 points. Making consecutive orbit shots each score 500,000 more than the previous, up to a maximum of 2,500,000 each.
Awards are given for certain numbers of captive ball hits throughout the game, which works similarly to the ramp value on Data East's Star Wars: 5 captive balls scores 5,000,000, 10 captive balls scores 10,000,000 (or an extra ball), 20 captive balls scores 20,000,000, etc. If there is a maximum, it is at least 30,000,000 at 30 hits.
Tales from the Crypt has a conventional in/out lane setup. The left out lane has an automatic kickback that unlights once used; it is lit at the start of the ball, relit by completing Keeper targets, or upgraded into a super kicker that does not unlight for the rest of the ball by collecting the corresponding mode award. The right out lane always scores 3,000,000 points. The left in lane lights the drop targets for the Door Prize mystery, and the right in lane starts Chop Pops, where all bumpers score 1,000,000 points for a few seconds instead of their conventional 100,000.
This game can detect, and rewards you for, a death save. This occurs when a nudge or freak bounce returns the ball into play after it goes down an out lane. Death saves score 3,000,000 points. I will not elaborate further on how to do one, since it's very easy to damage the machine or hurt yourself trying, and it is still an illegal maneuver in tournaments, even though the game knows how to recognize them.
Base bonus is simply a count of switch hits, and is multiplied by the bonus multiplier, which is advanced by completing the Keeper targets or the drop targets. Scoring from Frenzy modes is then added to the post-multiplier bonus and awarded at the end of the ball as "Fast Goring". Max bonus multiplier is 8x; there is no way to carry base bonus or bonus multiplier between balls; there is no mid-ball bonus collect.
Extra balls appear to be worth 50,000,000 points in competition/novelty play, though the manual does not confirm this for certain. I am not aware of a point value assigned to a special (or even a way to earn a special, incidentally).
The multiball restart is dependent on the multiball being short and no jackpots being collected: a setting define whether either, one of the two, or both needs to be true to make the restart available, or the restart can be turned off outright.
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