Doorway to Death (26 Jan. 1973)
"Ghost Story" Doorway to Death (original title)

When a family moves into a new apartment in San Francisco, young Robert starts exploring, and discovers the empty apartment upstairs. He opens a door and sees a cabin in the woods with a ... See full summary »

Director:

Daryl Duke

Writers:

Richard Matheson (developer), Jimmy Sangster

Stars:

Barry Nelson, Susan Dey, Henry Jones

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Barry Nelson	...	Jim
Susan Dey	...	Peggy
Henry Jones	...	Truthers
Leif Garrett	...	Robert
Dawn Lyn	...	Jane
Scott Thomas	...	The Man
Larry Fleischman	...	The Moving Man
Carolyn Stellar	...	The Woman

Storyline

When a family moves into a new apartment in San Francisco, young Robert starts exploring, and discovers the empty apartment upstairs. He opens a door and sees a cabin in the woods with a man chopping wood, who beckons to him. Robert brings his younger sister, Jane to meet "the man upstairs," who expresses an interest in meeting their older sister, Peggy. When Peggy goes upstairs and opens the same door Robert had opened, she only finds a closet. However, strange noises emanating from the empty apartment, and wet footprints in her own bedroom cause Peggy to visit the apartment again, and this time, she finds a terrifying surprise waiting for her.

---

Genres:

Horror | Thriller

---

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1973 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

William Castle Productions, Screen Gems Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

When people talk of "Ghost Story", this is usually the one they remember...

Widower with three kids in San Francisco moves his family into an older apartment house for a suspiciously low fee, later discovering that the address above them has been empty for quite a while, due to a bad reputation. Gripping hour from William Castle's anthology series "Ghost Story" (which had been retitled "Circle Of Fear" by the time this episode aired). Youngsters Leif Garrett and Dawn Lyn (real-life siblings) are the first to discover a man upstairs who beckons them into his snowbound secret world...but it is older sis Susan Dey whom he really wants! The 'safe' ending unfortunately belies the shock effect writer Jimmy Sangster was probably hoping to instill--on the other hand, nobody wants to see Susan Dey fall prey to a man with an ax. Safe or not, it's a memorable yarn, topped by strong performances and a very fine visualization of the eerie happenings.