Tag Archives: show

Horror On TV: Twilight Zone 5.26 “I Am The Night — Color Me Black”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As a small community prepares to execute a remorseless killer, the sky above the town turns pitch black.  Even as the Sheriff and the town priest try to figure out what’s happening, the town prepares to administer its own version of justice.

Some reviewers have complained that this Twilight Zone episode is a bit too heavy-handed for its own good but it’s actually one of my favorite episodes,  (Then again, I’ve always been against the death penalty and, for the most part, critics only consider a show to be heavy-handed when they disagree with the message.)  While the writing may not be subtle, this is a well-acted episode and, while watching it, you truly do get the feeling that a community is slowly giving into the darkness of hatred.

This episode was written by Rod Serling and directed by Abner Biberman.  It was originally broadcast on March 27th, 1964.

Horror On TV: Thriller 1.28 — Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Of all of the world’s real-life monsters, Jack the Ripper is one of the most iconic.  Whether it’s because he was never actually caught or because he committed his savage crimes during an era that we associate with emotional and sexual repression or maybe just because he has a memorable name, Jack the RIpper continues to both fascinate artists of all genres and haunt the nightmares of viewers and readers like me.

(Check out my review of Murder By Decree for an example of my fascination.)

Tonight’s episode of televised horror on the Lens deals with Jack the Ripper.  This episode of Thriller was originally broadcast on April 11, 1961 and is based on a short story by Robert Bloch.  It was directed by actor Ray Milland.  

Without further ado, here is Yours Truly, Jack the RIpper…

Horror On TV: Ghost Stories Episode 2 “Last Flight Out”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

When I first decided to feature episodes of televised horror, I very much wanted to include the classic Twilight Zone episode, Nightmare At 20,000 Feet.  However, the full episode wasn’t available on YouTube and that was truly unfortunate.  Along with being a scary episode of classic show, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet was all about flying, which is something that scares me.

However, as I was searching through YouTube, I did come across an episode of Ghost Stories entitled Last Flight Out, which also deals with this very primal fear that so many of us have.  It’s no Nightmare at 20,000 Feet but it’s effective in its own way.

As for Ghost Stories, it was a horror anthology series that aired from 1996 to 1997 on the Fox Family Channel.  As you can probably guess, each episode told a story about ghosts and, in the great anthology tradition, each story ended with a twist.  Each episode was narrated by Rip Torn.

Horror On TV: Hammer House of Horror 1.10 “Guardian of The Abyss”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, that sucked!

For those of you who missed it, tonight’s installment of televised retro horror was going to be an episode of Goosebumps that was entitled “Shocker on Shock Street.”
Within seconds of that post being published, YouTube decided to suspend the account that was hosting the video!

Thanks a lot, YouTube!  Way to protect those valuable reruns of Goosebumps!

As a last minute replacement for that forbidden episode of Goosebumps, here’s an episode of Hammer House of Horror.  First broadcast way back in 1980, Into the Abyss deals with Satanists in London.  It may not be R.L. Stine but it is Hammer and that’s not bad.

Enjoy!

Horror On TV: Goosebumps 3.1 “A Shocker On Shock Street”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Much as I knew that, when I started featuring horror-themed television show for October, I would have to include at least one episode of Are You Afraid of The Dark?, I also knew that I simply had to include at least one episode of Goosebumps.  

After all, R.L. Stine helped to introduce me to horror so I owe him a great deal.

The episode below — A Shocker On Shock Street — first aired on September 6th, 1997.

(AGCK!  Apparently, the copyright police suspended the YouTube account that hosted this video!  Sorry about that — Lisa)

Horror On TV: Twilight Zone 5.19 “Black Leather Jackets”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Scott, Fred, and Steve may be teenage rebels but they’re rebels with a cause!  And that cause, of course, is to conquer humanity and maybe find a girlfriend.  And, of course, all three of them wear black leather jackets…

This is actually one of the sillier episodes of The Twilight Zone but I like it.  I think any girl who has ever wondered if boys are from a different planet can appreciate this episode.

Black Leather Jackets was originally broadcast on January 31st, 1964.  It was written by Earl Hamner, Jr. and directed by Joseph N. Newman.

Horror On TV: The Twilight Zone 3.2 “The Arrival”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

When Flight 107 out of Buffalo, New York makes a perfect (if unannounced) landing, airport officials are shocked to discover that the airplane has no passengers, no luggage, and no pilots!  It’s up to Grant Sheckley (Harold J. Stone) to solve the mystery but Sheckley has a secret of his own.

This episode of The Twilight Zone was written by Rod Serling and directed by Boris Sagal.  It was originally broadcast on September 22nd, 1961.

Horror On TV: One Step Beyond Ep. 16 “The Burning Girl”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

When I first started searching YouTube for episodes to use in this feature, I came across quite a few episodes of an old black-and-white TV show called One Step Beyond.  Running for three seasons (from 1959 to 1961), One Step Beyond was hosted by John Newland.  Every week, Newland would tell the audience about some sort of possible paranormal phenomena.  Then, a dramatization of a “real” event would be shown and occasionally, the show would end with Newland interviewing the real people whose story we had just watched.

To me, that all sounds like a lot of fun.

The 16th episode of One Step Beyond was called The Burning Girl and it dealt with a teenage girl who, whenever she got upset, could apparently cause fires to spontaneously erupt.  It was written by Catherine Turney and directed by John Newland himself.

It was originally broadcast on May 5th, 1959 — presumably long before Stephen King even had the idea to write about a girl named Carrie.

Horror On TV: Are You Afraid Of The Dark? — “The Tale of Vampire Town”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

When I first decided to devote some of October to featuring horror related TV shows, I knew that I’d have to include at least one episode of the classic Nickelodeon TV series Are You Afraid of the Dark?  Back in the 90s, Are You Afraid of The Dark? was the best because it was a show about scary things but it was on Nickelodeon so you could watch it without having to worry about your mom coming in the room and making you change the channel.

The episode “Tale of Vampire Town” is about — you guessed it! — vampires.  It was originally broadcast on April 24th, 1999 and it was notable for being one of the darker episodes of the series.

Horror On TV: Thriller 1.30 “Parasite Mansion”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Down here in Dallas, channel 47 is the local Me-TV affiliate.  Me-TV specializes in showing old TV shows from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.  The network sells itself as a nostalgic refuge for people who are several decades older than me, a place where they can go to escape from Seth McFarlane producing sitcoms and Maury Povich conducting DNA tests.

But you know what?

I like Me-TV and I’m glad that it exists.  It probably has something to do with me being a history nerd at heart.  I love the chance to see what the world was once like.  Add to that, some very good shows were produced in the 50s and 60s.  Just because a lot of us weren’t there to experience them firsthand doesn’t mean that we can’t appreciate them in rerun syndication.

Case in point: Thriller.

Thriller aired for two seasons in the early 60s.  It was an anthology series, in the tradition of The Twilight Zone.  Whereas The Twilight Zone was hosted by Rod Serling, Thriller was hosted by horror icon Boris Karloff, who always introduced the macabre material with a bemused gleam in his eyes.

Parasite Mansion was the 30th episode of Thriller and it originally aired on April 25th, 1961.  In this episode, Marcia (Pippa Scott) crashes her car outside of a dilapidated Southern mansion.  When she awakens, she finds herself in the position of being the unwilling guest of the eccentric family that lives inside the mansion.  I like this episode, largely because I can never resist Southern gothic atmosphere.

Incidentally, the family’s matriarch is played Jeannette Nolan and, if she sounds familiar, that’s probably because she was one of the many actresses to voice Mrs. Bates in Psycho.