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Fewer television shows have had a more lasting impact upon me than The Twilight Zone. Equal parts sci-fi, fantasy and horror, I doubt there has ever been a more well-rounded show in the entire history of television. Creator/narrator Rod Serling and his brilliant team of writers explored a variety of bizarrely profound topics, including time travel, fortune telling, death, parallel dimensions, night terrors and space travel from an imaginative and human perspective. From the crisp writing to the phenomenal acting, there’s an authenticity about the show that rockets it into a different stratosphere from other shows of a similar ilk. Rod Serling was a beautiful genius.
Just about everything was done on this innovative show during its original five-year run from 1959-64. From zombies, witches, genies and voodoo to apocalypses, space invaders, cameras and newspapers able to capture the future before it happens and creepy walking, talking, murderous dolls (Talky Tina in “Living Doll”) long before Annabelle was even a notion in the Warrens’ stream of consciousness, there’s hardly an original idea that went untapped. It explored everything from man’s fear of death coming like a thief in the night (or the form of a handsome stranger – Robert Redford – at your door in “There’s Nothing in the Dark”) to encounters with the devil (“Printer’s Devil”), the dangers of global warming (“The Midnight Sun”), horrendous wax figures coming to life (“The New Exhibit”) and more tender chapters involving aging (“Kick the Can” and “The Trade-Ins”) or the angst of unrequited love (“Jess-Belle” and “Miniature” – two of my personal favorites). Why, I was watching an episode recently that I hadn’t seen in a while involving a disenchanted man yearning for a simpler time. He travels back to a small town in Indiana in the year 1881, and while he acknowledges that he can’t alter anything because it could have serious repercussions on the future, he falls in love with a schoolmarm and saves her from a fire at the schoolhouse before ultimately traveling back to face the present (“No Time Like the Past”). Maybe I have Back to the Future on my brain because of the Oct. 21, 2015 date, but does that remind anyone else of Doc Brown and Clara in Back to the Future Part III?
Do you remember the first time you watched the iconic episode “To Serve Man” when you realized with astonishment that it was a cookbook (oh, the horror!) and the benevolent aliens actually intended to eat every human being who had unknowingly boarded their spaceships? I know I never will. I was watching it with my grandparents who had just purchased several volumes of the show’s best episodes on VHS (it was the early ‘90s). I knew I was hooked from that moment on. Later on when I was in high school and my parents got cable, I began watching all the episodes religiously on Syfy. I can’t begin to speculate how many New Year’s Eves/Days I’ve spent alone watching their annual Twilight Zone Marathon. And yet each time I watch an episode, it’s still as if I were watching it with a 9-year-old’s pair of eager eyes. Like the most complex onion or the best lover that ever was in existence, there’s fascinating layer after layer to peel back and explore. From the narrator’s clever foreshadowing to the inventive camera angles, haunting music and memorable guest stars giving some of the finest performances of their acting careers, there’s simply nothing better than The Twilight Zone – even if it’s one of the “weaker” episodes many like to criticize. (Why is so much shade cast at “Black Leather Jackets,” “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” and “The Bewitchin’ Pool”?)
Submitted for your approval, I’ve come up with a list of 10 of the most unsettling episodes to enjoy this Halloween season (though I tried not to spoil the endings):
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“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”
“There’s a man on the wing!” If you haven’t seen this episode, immediately do so. William Shatner gives an incredible performance as a man who’s recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is terrified during his flight – and with good reason. Haven’t we all been there before? Aren’t we all precariously close to falling over the brink of sanity with the slightest nudge to stimulate our over-anxious minds? Fewer episodes explore the human psyche of fear so frighteningly well. It builds to a dizzying crescendo that’s tough to beat even by today’s standards of terror. [Season 5, Episode 3]
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“The Howling Man”
From the moment the narrator hooks you, this is hands down one of the most chilling episodes. It tells the tale of a hiker who’s lost his way during a bad storm and manages to stumble upon a castle harboring a dark secret. The castle is really a hermitage that claims to have captured the devil. However, the hiker only sees a harmless looking man in the cell who begs him to help him escape. Sinister howls are heard echoing all throughout the episode. Whom should the hiker believe? Whom would you believe? [Season 2, Episode 5]
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“The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank”
Is there anything creepier than waking up during your own funeral or being one of those in attendance and seeing a man rise up in his own coffin? Everything about this episode is unsettling, from the acceptance of it being “a miracle” to the way everyone in the town is not-so-secretly afraid and uncomfortable to be around him after his resurrection. Was he brought back from the dead or was it a faulty medical diagnosis? I especially love the colloquialism of this episode – it really feels like you’ve been transplanted back to the 1920s Midwest, for better or for worse. [Season 3, Episode 23]
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“Stopover in a Quiet Town”
There are a few episodes of The Twilight Zone involving someone waking up and being in an unfamiliar, deserted place, but this is the best of the best. A married couple wakes up hungover in an unfamiliar house and town without any other people in sight. They stagger around trying to fathom just what happened to them last night and perplexed because everything around them is seemingly fake. The phantom childish giggles heard throughout the episode only up the ante on the creepy factor. [Season 5, Episode 30]
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“The Hitch-Hiker”
There are countless cautionary tales about the evils of picking up hitchhikers, but none are stranger than this episode. It’s about a woman traveling alone cross-country who keeps seeing the same man as a hitchhiker, but how can the same man appear everywhere she travels? This one manages to disturb the viewer in a vague, frantic way, as you’re left to wonder why the man is stalking her and how he manages to always remain one step ahead of her. [Season 1, Episode 16]
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“Night Call”
There are so many urban legends involving telephones that today’s generation won’t ever be able to fully appreciate, as most of us have done away with our landlines. In this episode, an old woman receives mysterious phone calls from an unknown caller. She can’t ever make out what the caller’s saying because of the distortion on the line, and she eventually has the phone company trace the calls with spine-tingling results. While some might cite “Long-Distance Call” as one of the scariest episodes, this one always terrified me more because the old woman receiving the phone calls is so vulnerable. [Season 5, Episode 19]
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“The After Hours”
I have an irrational fear of statues coming to life, and I’ve always attributed that to this episode involving the darker side of mannequins and a department store after-hours. Marsha White is just your average department store shopper looking for a gold thimble who’s taken to the ninth floor where that is the only item for sale. After realizing the thimble is scratched, she goes back to return it only to discover there’s no ninth floor. And what happens next is the stuff nightmares are made of … which brings us to the next episode on the list. [Season 1, Episode 34]
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“Perchance to Dream”
An episode with a decidedly film noir feel to it, it involves a man with a heart condition who’s terrified to go to sleep for fear of never waking up as the result of his intense, bizarre nightmares. This episode is chock-full of disturbing imagery (including a carnival) and is the epitome of making someone uncomfortable about the inner workings of the human mind and that of the imagination. Some might say this episode’s concept paved the way for A Nightmare on Elm Street. Another episode involving a recurring nightmare not for the faint of heart is “Twenty-Two.” [Season 1, Episode 9]
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“Mr. Garrity and the Graves”
Can Jared Garrity really bring back the dead of the Old West town of Happiness, Arizona? That’s the question for you to ponder, as the tension builds to insurmountable odds. Don’t let that name fool you – Happiness has endured a violent, bloody past and there are more bad guys than good guys waiting to be revived out in that cemetery. Is it black magic or con artistry at its finest? There are many Old West-themed episodes, but this one is memorable because it stars so many wonderful character actors. [Season 5, Episode 32]
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“The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”
I saved this one for last because it’s my favorite episode ever and because it’s creepy in a more subtle way. I think this episode makes me laugh more than anything. But I’ve included it here because it makes you think about mankind and our suspicious nature. It’s terrifying how quickly things escalate out of control, as neighbor accuses neighbor of being an extraterrestrial visitor hell-bent on destroying Earth. The sad truth is Maple Street is indicative of any Main Street USA town – then or now. If placed in a similar situation today, I think mankind would still respond in a chaotic, violent manner. [Season 1, Episode 22]
And that’s what makes The Twilight Zone so understatedly brilliant – the episodes engage, haunt and make us think no matter how many decades have come and gone, no matter how supernatural or far-fetched the plots seem, there’s a certain element of realism lurking just beneath the shadowy surface. Rod Serling always manages to get that final superior smirk because he and his equally talented cohorts (Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Montgomery Pittman, etc.) probably understood human nature better than most ever will.
Editor’s Note: Season 4 of The Twilight Zone was expanded to an hour and shot on video, much to Serling’s dismay. The show reverted back to its 30-minute, film format for the final season.
Watch episodes of The Twilight Zone any time with a subscription to CBS All Access.
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