From Season One, Episode 1, loneliness and isolation have been a major theme of The Twilight Zone. By the late 50’s, the age of extended families living under one roof or even in the same community had significantly disappeared in America, and it continues today, with mammoth urban apartment complexes, little-box suburbs, and condominium associations filled … Continue reading THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 9: Alone Again, Unnaturally
THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: Josephine Tey’s The Franchise Affair
Has it really been nearly eight years since I last read Josephine Tey? She seems to stir up a hornet’s nest of opinion whenever one of her books comes up. All I know is that I love a good academic mystery, and someone who knew that recommended Miss Pym Disposes (1946). Beautifully written, funny, dark, and sad, … Continue reading THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: Josephine Tey’s The Franchise Affair
BIG WHOOP: The Murder on the Links Turns 100
“When Conan Doyle popularized Sherlock Holmes in The Strand of the nineties, he lit such a candle as the publishers will not willingly let out. Not a week passes which does not bring a 'detective' story from one quarter or another, and . . . among the later cultivators of this anything but lonely furrow the name of Agatha … Continue reading BIG WHOOP: The Murder on the Links Turns 100
THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 8: No Explanations, Please!
The other day, a friend of mine tweeted: “The Outer Limits was the most interesting of all those late 50s/early 60s US anthology series. I much prefer it to The Twilight Zone.” I like my friend, but he was wrong. In the days of Elon Musk’s Twitter, this sort of wrong opinion is harmless; plus, it’s only … Continue reading THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 8: No Explanations, Please!
THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 7: Here Be Monsters
I understand that the big water-cooler show these days is HBO’s The Last of Us, about a horrible plague that sweeps the globe, turning everyone into giant mushrooms. I’m really looking forward to watching that one – never in a million years!!!!!!!!!! I don’t like gore, I don’t like gross-out imagery and, for some reason, I have … Continue reading THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 7: Here Be Monsters
RANKING MARPLE #2: The Body in the Library
“For several years I treasured up the possibility of a suitable ‘Variation on a well-known Theme’. I laid down for myself certain conditions. The library in question must be a highly orthodox and conventional library. The body, on the other hand, must be a wildly improbable and highly sensational body.” Agatha Christie, in her Foreword … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #2: The Body in the Library
THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 6: Other Dimensions Are Where You Find Them
Last week, we watched The Twilight Zone not to learn answers or to receive moral lessons. Instead, Rod Serling unsettled us with the fear of the unknown, the situation that has no answer. This week, in the most classic of the episodes we watched, Serling shows us that he can scare us and explain it all away. Instead of … Continue reading THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 6: Other Dimensions Are Where You Find Them
DATELINE MEETS “THE OMEN”: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
The laudatory editorial comments that appear on the front and back covers and fill four pages of Janice Hallett’s latest novel do her no favors. “Agatha Christie has found her heir . . . “ “The Queen of tricksy crime . . . “ “Agatha Christie for the 21st century . . . “ “A new Agatha Christie … Continue reading DATELINE MEETS “THE OMEN”: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 5: Stretching the Boundaries of Imagination
When I was in eighth grade, I had this wonderful English teacher who loved to make us write stories. I want to say for the record that the tales I produced – none of which I can remember – were wholly original, but they were clearly influenced by The Twilight Zone. Fortunately, my teacher enjoyed my … Continue reading THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 5: Stretching the Boundaries of Imagination
THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART FOUR: Classic Chills
There’s a moment early in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) when a car driver (Albert Brooks) and a hitchhiker (Dan Ackroyd) are discussing which TZ television episode was the scariest. It’s a great intro to the movie, and it ends with Ackroyd saying to Brooks, “Do you want to see something really scary?” He then turns away from the … Continue reading THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART FOUR: Classic Chills
Ah Sweet Mystery! 