Circle of Fear (1972–1973)
"Ghost Story" (original title)

An anthology of suspense dramas concentrating on individuals confronted with supernatural occurrences.

Stars:

Sebastian Cabot, Sheila Larken, Meg Foster

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Sebastian Cabot	...	Winston Essex (14 episodes, 1972)

Storyline

Anthology series focusing on the supernatural. Winston Essex opened each episode by taking the audience into his spooky old mansion and introducing the plot, which could range from a vampire preying on college students to a ghost haunting a house to an old man using voodoo against his own family. On January 5, 1973, the series changed its title to "Circle of Fear", the Essex character was no longer part of the show, and the stories didn't always feature supernatural themes

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Plot Keywords:

anthology | supernatural power

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Circle of Fear

Company Credits

Production Co:

William Castle Productions, Screen Gems Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (23 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Beginning with the 14th episode, the series title changed from "Ghost Story" to "Circle of Fear" and Sebastian Cabot's role as host was eliminated.

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Connections

Follows Circle of Fear: The New House (1972)

User Reviews

Still scares me thinking about it after 30 years

SPOILERS.

I don't remember it ever being called Ghost Story, so maybe I missed the first few episodes. We called it Circle of Fear. At the beginning they had some mesmerizing circles spinning around. You knew when it was coming on.

There was only one episode that didn't scare me. They were in a twelve-story building and all of a sudden people were headed to the 13th floor. This was Hell. It didn't make much sense, but then I was 8.

I think the first one I saw was the one with the little walnut headed monsters. They made weird noises for communication and didn't like light. Just as the hero was about to save the girl, it was already too late. The walnut heads dragged her into a hole and apparently ate her. The end. Now, time to go to sleep. I couldn't sleep after that! Too freaky.

I remember the Susan Dey episode. That was my favorite, so I'll spoil it for you. Mind you, most of what I remember is pictures, so the plot might not be 100% accurate. Here goes. She inherits a mansion from her grandfather. She stays there all alone, of course, and it was a warm summer day outside. But then she's upstairs by that one odd door and hears noises inside. She opens it. Empty room. She starts to leave. Hears more noises. Opens it again. Instead of a room, it leads outside, and it's snowing. There's a crazy old man near a tree with an axe, a shovel, and a big sack he's burying. I think the crazy old man was her dead grandfather. He looks at her. She freaks and slams the door. It keeps alternating between an empty room and a snowy outdoors throughout the episode and the crazy old man gets closer every time. I don't know why she kept opening the door each time. I wouldn't have. Obviously time didn't work right inside that one door. At the end (ooh, I'm getting goosebumps) the man is gone and she gets the courage to go out and see what he buried by the tree. There's nothing there. Then she sees him come out the same door, lock it, and come at her with an empty sack and an axe. So that means earlier, she was watching him bury her own body after he had already killed her with the axe. That one scared the crap out of me. I think they ended it with a picture of the mansion and a 'For Sale' sign in front. Still got the goosebumps.

I want the whole series on DVD.