I loved watching The Twilight Zone as a kid. But I really enjoyed Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, too. I recognized some of the episodes right away because I had read the stories by H. P. Lovecraft, C. M. Kornbluth, and Fritz Leiber that the episodes were based on. Take a look at the Table of Contents and you’ll see some familiar authors and stories.
The Introduction by Carol Serling extolls her husband’s love of horror and the supernatural. And, Carol Serling discusses the projects cut short by Rod Serling’s untimely death at the age of 50 after heart surgery in 1975.
How many of these stories do you recognize. Were you a fan of Night Gallery? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- x – Introduction – Carol Serling
- 1 – The Escape Route – Rod Serling – na The Season to be Wary, Little Brown: Boston, 1967
- 71 – The Dead Man – Fritz Leiber – nv Weird Tales Nov ’50
- 104 – The Little Black Bag – C. M. Kornbluth – nv Astounding Jul ’50
- 138 – The House – André Maurois – vi Harper’s Jun ’31
- 141 – The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes – Margaret St. Clair – ss Maclean’s, 1950
- 152 – The Academy – David Ely – ss Playboy Jun ’65
- 163 – The Devil Is Not Mocked – Manly Wade Wellman – ss Unknown Jun ’43
- 171 – Brenda – Margaret St. Clair – ss Weird Tales Mar ’54
- 184 – Big Surprise [“What Was in the Box”] – Richard Matheson – ss EQMM Apr ’59
- 191 – House—with Ghost – August Derleth – ss Lonesome Places, Arkham: Sauk City, WI, 1962
- 199 – The Dark Boy – August Derleth – ss F&SF Feb ’57
- 215 – Pickman’s Model – H. P. Lovecraft – ss Weird Tales Oct ’27
- 230 – Cool Air – H. P. Lovecraft – ss Tales of Magic and Mystery Mar ’28; Weird Tales Sep ’39
- 240 – Sorworth Place [“Old Place of Sorworth”; Ralph Bain] – Russell Kirk – nv London Mystery #14 ’52
- 261 –The Return of the Sorcerer – Clark Ashton Smith – ss Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror in September 1931
- 279 – The Girl with the Hungry Eyes – Fritz Leiber – ss The Girl With the Hungry Eyes, ed. Donald A. Wollheim, Avon, 1949
- 297 – The Horsehair Trunk – Davis Grubb – ss Colliers May 25 ’46; ; as “The Secret Darkness”, EQMM Oct ’56
- 308 – The Ring with the Velvet Ropes – Edward D. Hoch – ss With Malice Toward All, ed. Robert L. Fish, Putnam, 1968
Some great stories here from some of my favorite writers — Leiber, Kornbluth, Wellman, Matheson, Derleth, HPL… Over the years I read most, if not all of the stories. I never missed an episode of NIGHT GALLERY and I remember many of these episodes, the only weak one being Matheson’s “Big Surprise,” a brief shaggy dog story that went nowhere but featured (if memory is correct) John Carradine. What I remember most about the show was one story (also brief, more of a filler) in which I first heard the name Cthulhu pronounced; of course they did not pronounce it anyway near what HPL had intended (and still don’t).
Jerry, when I watched NIGHT GALLERY I really loved the cool paintings.
I did watch it, but not as religiously as Twilight Zone. And I would probably have to read what the plots were about to remember some of the stories, as the titles don’t immediately tell me, as they seem to tell you. I do remember “Pickman’s Model” by Lovecraft, the story that is.
When I was much younger, some of the first books I remember buying were paperback anthologies by Rod Serling, like Rod Serling’s Triple W: Witches, Warlocks, and Werewolves and Stories They Wouldn’t Let Me Do on Television.
Jeff, I had those Rod Serling paperback anthologies, too. Serling died too young.
I recognize nearly all of the authors and several of the stories, but I mostly missed out on the series itself. Because of school and then the Air Force I have nearly a ten year gap in tv watching between 1962 and 1972. It’s not that I didn’t see anything at all, but I rarely saw anything regularly. Plus, the streaming outlook for this series is not good. Netflix and Hulu don’t have it at all. Amazon sort of has Season One but, as it frequently is with Amazon, there’s a catch, which is that you can watch Season one with ads. Not for me. With the catalog they have Amazon could be the best of the streaming services if they’s just drop the con artistry.
Michael, I’m in the middle of watching NIGHT GALLERY: THE COMPLETE SERIES and once I’m done with that I’ll post a review.
I watched it too but like Jeff, the title doesn’t tell me. Did Joan Crawford star in the first episode. I seem to remember that. Will look it up.
Patti, I’m watching DVDs of NIGHT GALLERY now. In “Eyes,” an affluent blind woman (Joan Crawford) goes to devious lengths in order to see for one day.
Night Gallery (TV Series)
Miss Claudia Menlo (segment “Eyes”)
– Pilot (1969) … Miss Claudia Menlo (segment “Eyes”)
From IMDB on Joan Crawford
Patti, thanks for the information!
Directed by a very young Steven Spielberg.
Steve, Spielberg was a wunderkind.
And the director of the pilot episode with Joan Crawford was a young guy named Steven Spielberg. Whatever became of him?
Fred, Steven Spielberg took his opportunity on NIGHT GALLERY to dazzling heights!
I watched both Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, but only sporadically. We only had 1 tv and my folks weren’t fans. I did get my own tv in my teens and did watch some, probably reruns is where I watched most. I think I preferred Night Gallery.
Maggie, I’m enjoying watching NIGHT GALLERY DVDs. Some of the episodes I remember, others seem new to me.
I thought the best single episode of NIGHT GALLERY was the Harlan Ellison story ” Paladin of the Last Hour” with Danny Kaye.
Ray, I haven’t gotten to that episode yet while watching the DVDs of NIGHT GALLERY, but now I’m impatient to view it!
Oh man, Night Gallery creeped the crap out of me and my brother when we were growing up. We loved that show. It would air on a local PBS station on either Friday or Saturday, early in the evening before it even got dark out, and it stilled creeped us out. I’ve watched several Twilight Zone episodes with Mary. I need to watch some Night Gallery with her.
Carl, NIGHT GALLERY: THE COMPLETE SERIES is available on DVD. I’m about halfway through the 43 episodes.
I can actually stream the via Amazon Prime because of IMDB TV. It usually adds commercials before each episode, but that is a small price to pay.
Carl, I’m a fan of AMAZON PRIME Video, too. And, as you say, the commercials are an acceptable price for the content.
I loved both The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.
K. and I were talking about this just last night. It’s too bad that Rod Serling didn’t live longer. I’m confident that he and Stephen King would have teamed up for some truly great stuff and none of us would ever sleep.
Beth, a team of Rod Serling and Stephen King would be unbeatable in the horror genre!
Not a horror fan. Didn’t watch Night Gallery.
Rick, not all the episodes of NIGHT GALLERY were horror. There were SF episodes like “Little Black Bag” included in the mix.
It’s 86 here right now. Waaaay too hot!
Rick, we went from 94 to 64!