PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The dawning of October 2, 1959, will live in horror infamy forever. Without knowing it, the life of the anthology story was about to change. It was the birth of the blending of worlds, and the creation of a show where anything was possible. The Twilight Zone aired its pilot on CBS on that fateful October night, and it’s still being discussed and emulated sixty years later. Sure, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (check out our horror TV series retrospective here) came out four years prior, but there was something special about this Rod Sterling series that made it the poster child for the horror anthology genre.
Six decades ago, the fateful pilot that started it all tells of a lone man who wakes up and wanders around a deserted town. It appears as though he’s the last man on earth. As we go along for the tense and creepy ride, we find out that there’s a reason why he seems to be all alone.
Rod Sterling narrates the beginning and the end of each twenty-two minute story, which normally takes an ordinary world and incorporates elements of reality, horror, and science fiction to create unsettling, mind-bending stories. It’s a quick and hard-hitting format that makes the audience think about the possibility of other realms.
The Twilight Zone lasted for five seasons (1959-1964) with a total of 156 episodes in its original incarnation. It was voted number five in TV Guide’s List of the Greatest Shows Of All Time. The show spawned a feature film, comic books, radio shows, and three separate revivals over the last three decades (the latest coming last year at the hands of Get Out’s Jordan Peele). New writers and directors would pop up for each short story, and they would often introduce later known actors. Among the reputable lineup for this show are authors Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), Jerome Bixby (The Man From Earth), and Richard Matheson (I Am Legend).
What stands out about The Twilight Zone are the twist endings and the chilling narration of Sterling, which was laid over the show’s iconic theme song. Unlike some of the other anthology shorts of this time period, these stories stand the test of time and are remembered fondly by their audience. Each episode was unique and left the viewers wondering what flavor of story they’d be obsessed with next week. This show brought weekly episodic horror into the mainstream and set a formula that is copied to this very day. The horror community stands here together, sixty years later, and still remembers that anything can happen in The Twilight Zone.
