Yup, that's me as a witch and my brother as a Mexican Bandito. I wore my mom's old dress along with my Bavarian sweater and a cape my mom made. My mom made the hat which I still have! This was before one could buy all the Halloween outfits, so you had to create your own. My mom was great in creating something from her wealth of stuff she had. She made my crooked nose out of bandaid and used regular make up for our ghoulish looks.
Since this is the day before Halloween, I was thinking of some shows that scared the hell out of me and I kept thinking of The Twilight Zone. I recall some of the episodes that really unnerved me when I first saw them and decided to share them with you.
1. IT'S A GOOD LIFE-1959
To this day, this Twilight Zone episode freaks the hell out of me. A young Billy Mumy, known for "Lost in Space"( and now over 70 yrs old), plays the supreme brat that no one dares defy. This kid just thinks what he wants and it happens which makes all the adults very terrified. They know, if they dare disagree with Trump, er, I mean this brat, they will be sent to the cornfield. Billy Mumy was really good as nasty, vile kid.
2. THE HOWLING MAN-1960
When I was a kid, I saw this episode and I did not expect this scene at all. A traveller ends up in a monastery where he hears a man ..howling. The monks, especially the head monk ( played, impeccably, by John Carradine) tells the traveller not to believe anything he says and that they captured the devil. Of course, the traveller is sceptical. I truly thought this would be some parable about not assuming a man is evil for some reason, but..I was wrong and thought that montage where the man turns into the devil shocked me. The way this was photographed was inspiring and the makeup is great.
3. THE HITCHHIKER -1960
Inger Stevens plays a young woman driving to a new city and a new life. She sees this man who is hitchhiking but she feels uncomfortable to pick him up, but she continues to see him. She feels nervous and uncertain so, she calls her mom but she hears her mom say that her daughter died in a car accident. The hitchhiker is the person to lead her to her final destination. This was one of the first episodes I watched and it was eerie and unsettling.
4. THE MASKS-1964
Yeah, I have to place 2 more episodes that are creepy. This episode is not so eerie but it is disturbing when an old, dying, rich man brings his remaining relatives to celebrate Mardi Gras. The 3 relatives are not nice at all, greedy, vain and lazy and only want the old man’s money but, in order to get the money, the old man told them that they must wear these Mardi Gras masks. He had them created to represent their main character trait. I love this episode because it stays with you and you feel justified in the end but what an ending.
5. NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET-1963
Before he became Capt. Kirk, William Shatner was in this very famous episode as a man, who is recovering from having a nervous breakdown and was in the sanitarium to heal. While on the plane, he sees this monster on the wing of the plane trying to damage the wing. Understandably, he becomes very upset but no one believes him. He is trying to have someone believe him but to no avail. When Shatner opens up the cover over the window to meet the monster looking back at him, I jumped. I was a kid and it really got to me where I still look at the wings of the plane, when I am flying. Yes, I admit to this and I can’t help it.
Have you ever watched the original Twilight Zone? Which episodes creeped you out?
I loved the Twilight Zone. I was a young teenager when the shows ran originally and my mother would yell at me to go to bed. I remember being totally engrossed in the stories, but that is too long ago for me to remember any specific ones. The Outer Limits was another spooky series.
You and your brother looked cute, dear friend. Thanks for playing Show & Tell with that family photograph!
Thanks too for showing us those scenes from the scariest episodes of The Twilight Zone. I have seen every episode of the series several times in my life, and it was fun to review some of them here today. Nothing those writers of the 1950s could dream up comes close to the horror we are actually experiencing in today's world. Yessum, Billy Mumy was quite convincing as an evil little brat. As I'm sure you read, the wonderful actor June Lockhart, Will Robinson's mother on Lost In Space and Timmy's mom on Lassie, died a week ago at the age of 100. I always admired June.
Yes! I remember that episode The Howling Man. Like you, I was horrified as the man transformed into the devil as he walked past a series of columns. It is a brilliantly executed scene, and the lighting and the terrifying music track contributed significantly.
I also recall The Hitchhiker, another great piece of writing and filming. Poor Inger Stevens died at age 35, her death ruled a suicide. The episode titled The Masks stuck with me as well. It actually was one of the inspirations behind a mini horror film I produced for my college film course, the other being a story I read in a horror comic. A masked murderer returns home after killing a woman in broad daylight in view of witnesses. When he removes his mask, he discovers that his face has changed to look exactly like the mask.
WARNING: A young William Shatner appears in your final clip. Some viewers might want to turn away. :) Yessum, that Shatner episode was especially memorable.
Another episode I remember and loved was the one in which a young woman has recovered from facial reconstruction surgery to correct her grotesque features. Her face is wrapped in bandages. Off camera, the team of doctors and nurses surround her as the bandages are removed. Everyone gasps. Alas, the operation failed to correct her hideous deformities. The camera moves in to reveal that the young woman looks like Marilyn Monroe (or Marilyn Munster, take your pick.) Next, we see the faces of the doctors and nurses. They are alien. Turns out, the medical procedure took place on a planet where beauty and ugliness are reversed.
One more ep that comes to mind is the bespectacled gentleman who discovers that he is the lone survivor of a nuclear holocaust. It's AOK that he is all alone, he reasons, because he is an avid reader, and now he has all the time in the world to read every book he has ever wanted to read. Suddenly, he drops his reading glasses and they shatter on a hard block of rubble. Now he has all the time in the world to be utterly alone with nothing to fill his days.
Come see me if you can, dear friend BB. Otherwise, take care, have a happy Halloween, and I hope to see you next month when I return from my hiatus.
I was an avid Twilight Zone viewer as a child and have been throughout the years. Now I guess I've seen every episode at least 2 or 3 times and probably more. The one the scared my sister and I ( I still remember her screaming and crying--she was younger than I) was "Eye of the Beholder" episode that we always called "the doctors and nurses" episode because they are what scared the crap out of my sister and thrilled me.
Though I always wanted store bought costumes when I was a kid, the homemade ones were always the best. I did a Mexican theme one year since we had serapes and sombreros that we'd gotten in Tijuana.
As a big scaredy cat I have never watched The Twilight Zone. I recognise the boy from Lost in Space though, I loved that, and Inger Stevens from The Farmer’s Daughter.
You and your brother were so cute in your costumes, Birgit! ☺ I loved the Twilight Zone as a kid and remember all except the Inger Stevens episode. Can't think of a specific episode that was too scary for me, but it was a long time ago.
They used to do Twilight Zone marathons every holiday a decade or so back. My mother would turn it on and then remember all of them. Some it would take her some time to recall. (So many mother memories lately. I guess that happens when someone passes.)
At one point they were teaching Twilight Zone in 8th grade. It was The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. It's been a few years since I caught an 8th grade class in that unit, so I don't know if they still do it or not.
I loved the Twilight Zone. I was a young teenager when the shows ran originally and my mother would yell at me to go to bed. I remember being totally engrossed in the stories, but that is too long ago for me to remember any specific ones. The Outer Limits was another spooky series.
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteYou and your brother looked cute, dear friend. Thanks for playing Show & Tell with that family photograph!
Thanks too for showing us those scenes from the scariest episodes of The Twilight Zone. I have seen every episode of the series several times in my life, and it was fun to review some of them here today. Nothing those writers of the 1950s could dream up comes close to the horror we are actually experiencing in today's world. Yessum, Billy Mumy was quite convincing as an evil little brat. As I'm sure you read, the wonderful actor June Lockhart, Will Robinson's mother on Lost In Space and Timmy's mom on Lassie, died a week ago at the age of 100. I always admired June.
Yes! I remember that episode The Howling Man. Like you, I was horrified as the man transformed into the devil as he walked past a series of columns. It is a brilliantly executed scene, and the lighting and the terrifying music track contributed significantly.
I also recall The Hitchhiker, another great piece of writing and filming. Poor Inger Stevens died at age 35, her death ruled a suicide. The episode titled The Masks stuck with me as well. It actually was one of the inspirations behind a mini horror film I produced for my college film course, the other being a story I read in a horror comic. A masked murderer returns home after killing a woman in broad daylight in view of witnesses. When he removes his mask, he discovers that his face has changed to look exactly like the mask.
WARNING: A young William Shatner appears in your final clip. Some viewers might want to turn away. :) Yessum, that Shatner episode was especially memorable.
Another episode I remember and loved was the one in which a young woman has recovered from facial reconstruction surgery to correct her grotesque features. Her face is wrapped in bandages. Off camera, the team of doctors and nurses surround her as the bandages are removed. Everyone gasps. Alas, the operation failed to correct her hideous deformities. The camera moves in to reveal that the young woman looks like Marilyn Monroe (or Marilyn Munster, take your pick.) Next, we see the faces of the doctors and nurses. They are alien. Turns out, the medical procedure took place on a planet where beauty and ugliness are reversed.
One more ep that comes to mind is the bespectacled gentleman who discovers that he is the lone survivor of a nuclear holocaust. It's AOK that he is all alone, he reasons, because he is an avid reader, and now he has all the time in the world to read every book he has ever wanted to read. Suddenly, he drops his reading glasses and they shatter on a hard block of rubble. Now he has all the time in the world to be utterly alone with nothing to fill his days.
Come see me if you can, dear friend BB. Otherwise, take care, have a happy Halloween, and I hope to see you next month when I return from my hiatus.
What a great photo of you and your brother Birgit…so much better having lovingly made outfits by your mom and such wonderful memories xxxx
ReplyDeleteI was an avid Twilight Zone viewer as a child and have been throughout the years. Now I guess I've seen every episode at least 2 or 3 times and probably more. The one the scared my sister and I ( I still remember her screaming and crying--she was younger than I) was "Eye of the Beholder" episode that we always called "the doctors and nurses" episode because they are what scared the crap out of my sister and thrilled me.
ReplyDeleteThough I always wanted store bought costumes when I was a kid, the homemade ones were always the best. I did a Mexican theme one year since we had serapes and sombreros that we'd gotten in Tijuana.
Lee
For the most part, I avoided the Twilight Zone. It freaked me out.
ReplyDeleteHope your day is pain free.
As a big scaredy cat I have never watched The Twilight Zone. I recognise the boy from Lost in Space though, I loved that, and Inger Stevens from The Farmer’s Daughter.
ReplyDeleteYou and your brother were so cute in your costumes, Birgit! ☺ I loved the Twilight Zone as a kid and remember all except the Inger Stevens episode. Can't think of a specific episode that was too scary for me, but it was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI was a bigger fan of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," particularly the episode "The Jar." https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394054/?ref_=ttep_ep_17
ReplyDeleteThey used to do Twilight Zone marathons every holiday a decade or so back. My mother would turn it on and then remember all of them. Some it would take her some time to recall. (So many mother memories lately. I guess that happens when someone passes.)
ReplyDeleteAt one point they were teaching Twilight Zone in 8th grade. It was The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. It's been a few years since I caught an 8th grade class in that unit, so I don't know if they still do it or not.