If you like to scare yourself with spooky stories and horror movies, chances are you're a bit of a Twilight Zone buff.
This show, created and mostly written by Rod Sterling, combined many different genres to create the perfect cocktail for fear. He often combined themes from psychological thrillers with those from the sci-fi genre, with hints of fantasy sprinkled through as well. The stories often had an overreaching moral that really made you consider how you personally relate to the truly terrifying stories. It was a stark contrast to other shows on the air at the time, like Leave it to Beaver, which was much more lighthearted.
With five seasons, running from 1959 to 1964, this show had America on the edge of their seats the whole way through. This was a time wrought with very real fears, such as the Cold War, for viewers to latch onto. This was also a very interesting time for ideas about the supernatural, as space travel was right around the corner.
Do you remember watching this show with your family? Which episode sticks out in your mind as the absolute scariest? Let us know if we missed your favorite in the comments, and please SHARE with your family and friends on Facebook to see if they remember these episodes!
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1. Nightmare At 20,000 Feet — Season 5, Episode 3
We can't make a list of terrifying Twilight Zone episodes without mentioning this one, so let's get it out of the way. When a man recovering from a mental breakdown thinks he sees a gremlin of sorts on the wing of the aircraft, no one believes him. He's driven to desperate circumstances, and while he's being dragged away to an asylum, you see that he could have been right the entire time.
2. Shadow Play — Season 2, Episode 6
A man named Adam Grant is sentenced to death by electric chair after being convicted of murder. The catch is that he claims the whole situation is just a recurring nightmare he has, and if they kill him, the entire universe will cease to exist. If that doesn't make you think about your place in this world, I don't know what will.
3. Time Enough At Last — Season 1, Episode 8
Ever wonder what would happen after a nuclear war wiped everyone off the planet but you? One man fed up with being nagged finds out, finally getting enough time to get to his books. This played on a very, very real fear of the time.
4. Nothing In The Dark — Season 3, Episode 16
Death is one of the scariest subjects of all. In this episode, an elderly woman afraid to die is hesitant to help a wounded officer for fear that he is death himself. This is one of those episodes that's scary because it makes you evaluate your own way of living life.
5. The Hitch-Hiker — Season 1, Episode 16
A young woman named Nan Adams keeps running into the same hitch-hiker on her drive. No matter how fast or far she goes, he's always there… creepy.
6. The Midnight Sun — Season 3, Episode 10
After the earth falls out of orbit (um, what?) two women suffer through incredible heat as the planet hurtles closer and closer to the burning sun.
7. And When The Sky Was Opened — Season 1, Episode 11
When three astronauts blast off into space, their ship disappears from radar for a moment. It reappears and crash-lands in the desert. Later, when two of the astronauts go to a bar, one of them doesn't feel well and gives a call to his parents. Over the phone, he's told that his parents in fact have no son, and moments later, he vanishes. He also vanishes from the newspaper headline, as well as from everyone's memory except that of one fellow astronaut.
8. Stopover In A Quiet Town — Season 5, Episode 30
In this episode, a couple wakes up hungover in a strange home. They have no idea where they are, and when they try to find help in the town, they're confronted by things like mannequins sitting in the driver's seat of stationary cars.
9. Little Girl Lost — Season 3, Episode 26
A father hears the screams of his daughter, so he goes to her room to check on her. To his horror, little Tina is nowhere to be found. She hasn't been kidnapped, though, because her father can still hear her eerie cries though she is nowhere in sight. He finds out that she has slipped away into another dimension.
10. Night Call — Season 5, Episode 19
Mysterious calls throughout the night give an elderly woman named Elva Keene quite a scare. Despite all she does to try to get the caller to stop, they simply will not. By the end of the episode, she comes to a very disturbing realization.
Which episode scared you the most? Please SHARE with family and friends on Facebook to see which was their favorite!
