The Most Chilling Twilight Zone Episodes
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- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsMartin BalsamWill KuluvaMargaret FieldA wax-museum employee fights to preserve five figures of famous murderers.Another entry that just creeped me out when I was younger. Wax figures are creepy as is, but when you thrown in that they’re wax figures of famous murderers, it’s horrifying. The casting is all well-done too, from the wax figures to Martin Balsam, who’s good in anything I see him in.
- DirectorDon MedfordStarsJoseph SchildkrautOscar Beregi Jr.Karen VerneA former German SS captain returns to Dachau concentration camp and begins reminiscing on the power he enjoyed there, until he finds himself on trial by those who died at his hands.This in my eyes is the most mature Twilight Zone episode. Though many episodes nod to World War 2, none put us on a concentration camp. Seeing this ex-Nazi go insane is so satisfying and justified. I love that the finale of this episode has to say (play clip?)
- DirectorIda LupinoStarsRobert KeithMilton SelzerVirginia GreggWealthy Jason Foster is dying and he invites his greedy heirs to a Mardi Gras party where they must wear the masks he specially had made for them or else be cut off from their inheritance.
- DirectorAlvin GanzerStarsRod SerlingJanice RuleShepperd StrudwickA schoolteacher keeps seeing a strange little girl in her apartment building.This one has always creeped me out
- DirectorRichard C. SarafianStarsTelly SavalasMary LaRocheTracy StratfordA frustrated father does battle with his stepdaughter's talking doll, whose vocabulary includes such phrases as "I hate you" and "I'm going to kill you".Watching Erich, a dirt bag of a character, be mocked and teased by a small doll is so amusing. Yes the episode is creepy on the surface, but when I watch it, I’m more entertained than anything. It’s so fun watching this battle between man and doll.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsRod SerlingVera MilesMartin MilnerWhile waiting in a bus station, Millicent Barnes has the strange feeling that her doppelganger is trying to take over her life.This is the epitome of Twilight Zone. Where logic is thrown out the window. I love how the “twins” are almost evil, always smiling and almost taunting the main characters.
- DirectorJames SheldonStarsJohn LarchCloris LeachmanDon KeeferOn an isolated family farm, a young boy with vast mental powers, but lacking emotional development, holds his terrified family in thrall to his every juvenile wish.
- DirectorDouglas HeyesStarsRod TaylorJim HuttonCharles AidmanThree astronauts return to Earth after seemingly having made an encounter that dooms them and their craft to erasure from existence itself.Very good dramatic acting!
- DirectorAlvin GanzerStarsInger StevensAdam WilliamsLew GalloA young woman driving cross-country becomes frantic when she keeps passing the same man on the side of the road. No matter how fast she drives, the man is always up ahead, hitching her for a ride.If there’s an episode that scared me before The Howling Man, it was definitely The Hitch-Hiker. The idea of a ghost hitch-hiker stalking this woman, who’s all alone, was terrifying. To a point where I had nightmares about this hitch-hiker stalking me. Under any circumstance, he looks like such a sweet guy, but throw on the “ghost hitch-hiker” label, and he’s the scariest guy I’ve ever seen.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsWilliam ShatnerChristine WhiteEd KemmerA man, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinced that a monster only he sees is damaging the plane he's flying in.This is the classic “boy who cried wolf” story done in such a creative way. The episode sets itself up perfectly by starting a character who has recently been released from mental health care. He’s been declared as cured, yet still worries about riding a plane . The stage is set and everything that happens after is just history. This is definitely one of the most iconic episodes of all time. Every time I revisit it, I wonder if it’ll hold up, and yeah it always does.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsGladys CooperNora MarloweMartine BartlettTelephone calls begin to haunt a disabled elderly woman.Calls from the grave?! Yes please.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsJohn DehnerWalter BrookeJay AdlerA businessman who has recently returned from Africa is plagued by superstitions and the dire warnings of a native witch doctor.It’s a haunting jungle episode which is something I didn’t know I needed.
- DirectorDouglas HeyesStarsJohn CarradineH.M. WynantRobin HughesSeeking refuge from a storm, a traveler comes upon a bizarre abbey of monks, who have imprisoned a man who begs for his help. When he confronts the head monk, he is told that the man is the Devil, and he must decide whom to believe.I saw this episode for the first time in high school and was genuinely creeped out by it. The idea that the devil can be stored away and released is the freakiest concept, and the way this entire episode is put together makes it even scarier.
- 1959–196425mTV-PG8.1 (2.7K)TV EpisodeDirectorAbner BibermanStarsCollin Wilcox PaxtonRichard LongPamela AustinIn a future society, everyone must undergo an operation at age 19 to become beautiful and conform to society. One young woman desperately wants to hold onto her own identity.It’s a very scary concept - living in a world where everyone is alike. It scares me just thinking about it.
- DirectorDouglas HeyesStarsRod SerlingAnne FrancisElizabeth AllenA woman is treated badly by some odd salespeople on an otherwise empty department store floor.A very clever idea that is both well-executed and even a little creepy.
- DirectorAbner BibermanStarsCliff RobertsonFrank SuttonGeorge MurdockVentriloquist Jerry Etherson is convinced that his dummy, Willie, is alive and evil. He locks Willie in a trunk and makes plans for a new act with a new dummy. Too bad he didn't clear those plans with Willie first.Uncle Ben is in the house! I love seeing Cliff Roberts in such a young role. This is the best dummy episode from the twilight zone, and the ending is honestly pretty unsettling.
- DirectorPerry LaffertyStarsMike KellinSimon OaklandDavid SheinerAs a U.S. Navy destroyer cruises near Guadalcanal in the South Pacific, its sonar detects muted but constant hammering on metal undersea. The eerie sounds emanate from a submarine on the ocean floor, apparently there since World War II. The ship's chief boatswain's mate becomes very nervous, having served aboard that sub - and he was its sole survivor.Fun ghost story on the sea. Moved too slowly though.
- DirectorMontgomery PittmanStarsLee MarvinJames BestStrother MartinOld West lawman Conny Miller visits the grave of a man who he failed to track down to prove he was never afraid of him but gets more than he bargained for.Reminds me of a story I read in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark which now that I think about it they probably got it from this show.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsPhyllis ThaxterAlex NicolWallace RooneyNewlywed Alex Walker finds himself being pulled back to his childhood and back to his widowed mother in the house where he grew up.A Haunting in Mother-In-Law’s House.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsRichard ConteJohn LarchSuzanne LloydA fatigued man fights to stay awake as he explains to a psychiatrist that if he falls asleep it will trigger a nightmare, which will cause his heart to fail.Despite appreciating the sudden ending, the episodes soundtrack is just so bizarre and gets old fast. Sorry to the fans of this one.