text:
Talk:Richard Matheson

Sorcery
California Sorcery is a collection of fiction from "The Group" (California writers including Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Bloch who were responsible for the bulk of the Twilight Zone scripts). The book has an overview of the development of the group, with biographical details on each member provided there and, in brief, before that member's story. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Koyaanis Qatsi (talk • contribs) 11:18, 25 May 2002 (UTC)

Duel
Wasn't "Duel" a TV movie? --squadfifteen, 18/10/05
 * Yas it was, direction by young Spielberg does not elevate it to a "major motion picture." Intro needs a revise 70.173.179.59 (talk) 23:36, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

 * Years later: The quotation from Steven Spielberg upon Matheson's death probably should be covered in our Spielberg biography and certainly should be in our movie article Duel (1971 film).
 * --P64 (talk) 17:49, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

Time article made a mistake
Richard Corliss of Time Magazine wrote the movie review of I am Legend, called Will Smith Gets Lost in His Legend. In this article Corliss writes:

 * Some of Matheson's TV fables — the Twilight Zone story about the gremlin on the airplane wing, the Tales of Terror jape about a Zuni fetish doll chasing Karen Black around her apartment — linger at the base of many a viewer's spine, three or four decades after they were first aired.

I emailed Corliss and said:

68.93.142.116 (talk) 08:45, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Replacing "Career" section
I've replaced the "Career" section from the last good version before it was blanked at 01:40, 5 June 2009 by 76.64.225.108. It was blanked without explanation, and someone has since created an empty Career section and placed an template. If this section requires massive editing, please discuss that here or place the relevant template. Please do not gut the article by blanking entire sections without explanation. 12.233.146.130 (talk) 20:41, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Wow, Old Man Matheson is still alive!
I thought he was dead. This article indicates he is still alive! Wow, that is great. I love his books. I am just starting to read them and they really are a treasure. I am now reading a book called "He is Legend" which is a tribute to Matheson and I thought it was in the form of a memorial, so I am glad to see the old man around to enjoy the tribute. In the picture, he looks healthy, not sure if he wants to gin up a few more books, though the beauty of his books is that they inspired others to write, so his work is the gift that keeps on giving. From my end, I just read them and quite glad I have discovered his works. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.139.67.70 (talk) 15:51, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

Death
As of this moment, there is no reliable source that confirms Richard's death, so the prudent thing would do would be to wait until we have one before we post on his death. --Jsderwin (talk) 21:48, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

His daughter and son have both confirmed his death on Facebook and friend and author Steve Niles on twitter. 67.53.110.10 (talk) 21:51, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

 * I completely understand what you're saying, but we have to wait until it appears as a news story from a reliable 3rd party as per Wiki rules. The only 3rd party reference I found so far has been removed, oddly enough. http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/174619-rip-richard-matheson-1926-2013 Just wait until you have one, then add it, if you'd be so kind. --Jsderwin (talk) 21:56, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Also, keep your eye on this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2013, as it may update with a credible link, or adjust it, if you see fit once you have one. --Jsderwin (talk) 21:57, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

 * http://io9.com/r-i-p-richard-matheson-author-of-i-am-legend-and-many-564036878 Funny how a shitty movie news sites are considered more credible than social networking, even when the source is family... 67.53.110.10 (talk) 21:59, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Agreed. This is a huge flaw in the over-emphasis on "reliable" sources. What's more reliable than a family statement on the person's facebook page? Nhprman 22:04, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 * http://guardianlv.com/2013/06/richard-matheson-i-am-legend-creator-has-died-age-87/ Another source. 67.53.110.10 (talk) 22:03, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/09/an-open-letter-to-wikipedia.html Nice find on that verification! --Jsderwin (talk) 22:05, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Yah, I know. I have first person information on several topics, but it's not considered viable data for Wiki because it hasn't been verified by a 3rd party. Just check out this letter from Philip Roth:

 * FYI, the LA Times article's "sources" for the passing of Matheson? "Author Richard Matheson, who was 87, has died at home. His family announced his passing in a protected Facebook post; the news was shared by publisher Tor/Forge." Both of which were cited here. The "sources" criterion is bogus. Nhprman 23:48, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Obituaries

 * Today I added references to Locus Online News and Sky News obituaries. The shorter, first-utilized source LA Times (discussed above) may be or may become redundant in which case it should be deleted. It remains because I did not confirm that. Its title does support listing I Am Legend in the infobox.
 * --P64 (talk) 17:34, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

 * The article now cites 9 obituaries and other posthumous articles --presently refs 3-6, 9, 16, 19-21; the latter six "Retrieved 26 June 2013". The redundant sources (19, for example) should be deleted and the remaining citations completed. --P64 (talk) 17:52, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

Tidbits from Sky News
Here are three quotations from today's Sky News obituary [ref name=skynews]. The material may be worth incorporation here or in some of the linked articles. --I guess he means the Bela Lugosi Dracula (1931 film) --Duel (1971 film) --39th Saturn Awards (tomorrow); our articles do not mention the "visionary award"
 * Matheson often began with simple ideas, once saying he had written I Am Legend because: "I saw Dracula and it was scary, so I thought if everybody in the world was a vampire, it would be scarier."
 * Steven Spielberg: He[SS] said in a statement: "Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic imagination created seminal science-fiction stories and gave me my first break when he wrote the short story and screenplay for Duel.
 * Saturn Award: He[RM] was scheduled to receive the visionary award at the Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films' Saturn Awards on Wednesday. The organisation said it will be presented posthumously.

--P64 (talk) 17:34, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Richard Matheson. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100325043342/http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?categoryID=203 to http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?categoryID=203

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 23:29, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Richard Matheson


text:
Talk:Harlan Ellison/Archive 5

Date of Death
Most sources say he died on June 28, 2018. The L.A. Times mistakenly say he died the night before. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.38.189.88 (talk) 17:17, 29 June 2018 (UTC)
 * His own web page says 28 Jun, as does the original Twitter notice from Christine Valada. Moscow Mule (talk) 18:50, 29 June 2018 (UTC)
 * It might be relevant that un-verified Twitter accounts are never WP:RS, so information from that source would be inadmissible; perhaps "Vulture" is a RS and, in turn, did better fact-checking on the account owner and assertions, but the fact remains that we can't keep restoring a bare link to the Tweet in the article. 2600:8800:1880:91E:5604:A6FF:FE38:4B26 (talk) 03:23, 5 July 2018 (UTC)

Disputed statement
The following statement appears regarding City on the Edge of Forever: "Ellison also novelized the story at that time, for the Star Trek Fotonovel series." This is incorrect; it's possible the person who added it is not familiar with the (somewhat hard to find) book series which consisted of images from the episode with captions taken verbatim from the episode. It was not a novelization in any way shape or form, and was in fact simply a reproduction of the TV episode, which Ellison took issue with. I recommend this statement be deleted unless there's a source that says Ellison was involved in the actual production of the Fotonovel which, given his objections to the changes to his script and the fact his original script had only just been published, makes no sense. 136.159.160.8 (talk) 22:11, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree that it's dubious and should be removed. -Jason A. Quest (talk) 01:30, 14 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I edited it to clarify it was in 1977 and was the aired version of the script and was not done by Ellison, though a brief interview with him is included in the Fotonovel. Sir Rhosis (talk) 22:23, 15 July 2018 (UTC)
 * It's still misleading: it's an abridged photo comic, not a novelization (which usually involves expanding on a photoplay). -Jason A. Quest (talk) 00:55, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

No mention of his sister?
His documentary says he stopped speaking to his sister after his mother's funeral, and his IMDb page mentions an older sister named Beverly. His FindAGrave page shows the graves of his parents and sister along with his own. She died in 2010. How is she not at all mentioned in this article, even as a quick mention in his early life? https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190968329/beverly-c-rabnick

I've since added that information, but I'm not crazy about how I phrased it if anyone can do a better job.

An Erroneous Ellison Award
I removed the Saturn Award accredited to him, which had Citation #93 and this link:

http://harlanellison.com/awards.htm

To quote Harlan Ellison's Awards at Ellison Webderland (maintained by Rick Wyatt)

"Saturn Award (of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films) 1976 Superior Achievement and Merit in Fantasy Film: A Boy and His Dog (awarded despite Ellison's work on ABAHD being uncredited)"

This is contradicted by Wikipedia's entry for 3rd Saturn Awards, which states that neither Ellison nor anyone was awarded a Saturn award in 1976, though Ellison did receive a Golden Scroll award. The Academy had only the Golden Scroll Award until it was renamed the Saturn Award in 1978. A Boy and His Dog was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film, but not for Best Fantasy Film. The fantasy film to win the Golden Scroll in 1976 was Doc Savage: Man of Bronze.

I have emailed webmaster Rick Wyatt to give him the correction.RickRiffel2020 (talk) 21:48, 3 September 2019 (UTC)RickRiffel2020 3 September 2019

Popularity?
So, how many books did he sell? Ellison has always been a writer more popular among the media than the sci-fi readers, to me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:346:580:1FD0:502B:6FE2:67D6:75FC (talk) 16:02, 31 May 2020 (UTC)

Hugos.
Right …

How are we defining ‘Hugo Awards,’ here?

At various point, the article tells us Ellison won eight Hugos.

Whereas the list of Hugos he won … run’s to eleven items …

What’s happening … ?

Cuddy2977 (talk) 17:54, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

Marriage to Susan Allen Toth: incorrect
Susan Allen Toth was never married to Harlan Ellison. She married the architect James Stageberg in 1985 and they were married till his death. Her last b ookw as about caring for him in his final years.

https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll38:225?pn=false#/kaltura_video

https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/12637084/

https://www.amazon.com/No-Saints-around-Here-Caregivers/dp/0816692866 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.125.196.140 (talk) 03:11, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

A cursory look at the material suggests that Susan Toth and Susan Allen Toth are two separate people. 75.137.172.90 (talk) 15:31, 28 May 2021 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Harlan Ellison/Archive 5


text:
Charles Beaumont

Charles Beaumont (born Charles Leroy Nutt; January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres. He is remembered as a writer of classic Twilight Zone episodes, such as "The Howling Man", "Static", "Miniature", "Printer's Devil", and "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You", but also penned the screenplays for several films, such as 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Intruder, and The Masque of the Red Death.

Novelist Dean Koontz said "Charles Beaumont was one of the seminal influences on writers of the fantastic and macabre." Beaumont is also the subject of the documentary Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man by Jason V. Brock.

Life and work
Beaumont was born Charles Leroy Nutt in Chicago, on January 2, 1929, the only child of Charles Hiram Nutt (an auditor of freight accounts for the Chicago & Alton Railroad) and Violet "Letty" (Phillips) Nutt, a homemaker who had been a scenarist at Essanay Studios. His father was 56 when Charles was born; Letty, his mother, was 22 years her husband's junior. Letty is known to have dressed young Charles in girls' clothes, and once threatened to kill his dog to punish him. These early experiences inspired the celebrated short story "Miss Gentilbelle", but according to Beaumont, "Football, baseball, and dimestore cookie thefts filled my early world".

School did not hold his attention, and his last name exposed him to ridicule, so Charles Nutt found solace as a teenager in science fiction. He dropped out of high school in tenth grade to join the Army in the final years of World War II. He also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, disc jockey, usher, and dishwasher before selling his first story to Amazing Stories in 1950. During his time as an illustrator, he briefly used the pseudonyms Charles McNutt (circa 1947/48) and E.T. Beaumont (inspired by a female artist named "Miss Beaumont" with whom he had collaborated in Everett, Washington), before settling on the name Charles Beaumont. He soon adopted this name legally and used it both personally and professionally for the rest of his life.

In 1954, Playboy magazine selected his story "Black Country" to be the first work of short fiction to appear in its pages. It was at this time that Beaumont started writing for television and film.

Beaumont was energetic and spontaneous, and was known to take trips (sometimes out of the country) at a moment's notice. An avid racing fan, he often enjoyed participating in or watching area speedway races, with other authors tagging along. Beaumont and several friends built their own SCCA H Modified racecar dubbed the "Monzetta", consisting of Panhard mechanicals and a Devin body and chassis, which was raced at many Southern California tracks including Paramount Ranch Racetrack.

His cautionary fables include "The Beautiful People" (1952), about a rebellious adolescent girl in a future conformist society in which people are obligated to alter their physical appearance (adapted with friend and frequent writing partner John Tomerlin as an episode of Twilight Zone, "Number 12 Looks Just Like You"), and "Free Dirt" (1955), about a man who gorges on his entire vegetable harvest and dies from having consumed the magical soil he used to grow it.

His short story "The Crooked Man" (also published by Playboy in 1955) presents a dystopian future wherein heterosexuality is stigmatized in the same way that homosexuality then was, with heterosexual people living furtively like pre-Stonewall gay and lesbian people. In the story, a heterosexual man meets his lover in a gay orgy bar; they try to have sex in a curtained booth (she dressed in male drag) and are caught.

Beaumont wrote several scripts for The Twilight Zone, including an adaptation of his own short story, "The Howling Man", about a prisoner who might be the Devil, and the hour-long "Valley of the Shadow", about a cloistered Utopia that refuses to share its startlingly advanced technology with the outside world.

Beaumont scripted the film Queen of Outer Space from an outline by Ben Hecht, deliberately writing the screenplay as a parody. According to Beaumont, the directorial style is not informed by his satiric intent. He penned one episode of the TV show Steve Canyon, titled "Operation B-52", in which Canyon and his crew attempt to set a speed record in a B-52 accompanied by a newsman who hates Air Force pilots.

Beaumont was much admired by his colleagues (Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Roger Corman). Many of his stories have been re-released in the posthumous volumes Best of Beaumont (Bantam, 1982) and The Howling Man (Tom Doherty, 1992), and a set of previously unpublished tales, A Touch of the Creature (Subterranean Press, 1999). In 2004, Gauntlet Press released the first of two volumes collecting Beaumont's Twilight Zone scripts.

Beaumont wrote several scripts for Roger Corman including The Intruder. According to Filmink " In Corman-ology, Beaumont’s often confused for Richard Matheson."

A book-length biography of Beaumont, titled Trapped in the Twilight Zone: The Life and Times of Charles Beaumont, by Roger Anker, is due to be published by Centipede Press in late 2024.

Illness and death
In 1963, when Beaumont was 34 and overwhelmed by numerous writing commitments, he began to suffer the effects of "a mysterious brain disease" which seemed to age him rapidly. His ability to speak, concentrate, and remember became erratic. While some people attributed all of this to Beaumont's heavy drinking, his friend and colleague John Tomerlin disagreed: "I was working closely with Chuck at the time, and we were good enough friends for me to know that alcohol by itself could not possibly account for the odd mental state that he was in."

"He was rarely well," his friend and colleague William F. Nolan later recalled. "He was thin, and kept having headaches. He used Bromo-Seltzer like most people use water. He had a big Bromo bottle with him all the time". The disease also affected his work. "He could barely sell stories, much less write. He would go unshaven to meetings with producers, which would end in disaster. [A script writer has] got to be able to think on your feet, which Chuck couldn't do anymore; and so the producers would just go, 'We're sorry, Mr. Beaumont, but we don't like the script'."

The condition might have been related to the spinal meningitis he suffered as a child. His friend and early agent Forrest J. Ackerman has asserted an alternative, that Beaumont suffered simultaneously from Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease. This claim was supported by the UCLA Medical Staff, who subjected Beaumont to a battery of tests in the summer of 1964 that indicated that it might be either Alzheimer's or Pick's. Nolan recalls that the UCLA doctors sent Beaumont home with a death sentence: "They said 'There's absolutely no treatment for this disease. It's permanent and it's terminal. He'll probably live from six months to three years with it. He'll decline and get to where he can't stand up. He won't feel any pain. In fact, he won't even know this is happening'." In Nolan's own words: "Like his character 'Walter Jameson,' Chuck just dusted away".

Several fellow writers, including Nolan and friend Jerry Sohl, began ghostwriting for Beaumont during 1963–1964, so that he could meet his many writing obligations. Privately, he insisted on splitting these fees. By 1965, however, Beaumont was too ill to even create or sell story ideas. His last on-screen writing credit was for the 1965 film Mister Moses, officially a screenplay written with (but more likely written by) Monja Danischewsky.

On February 21, 1967, Beaumont died in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 38. His son Christopher later said that his father, "[...]looked ninety-five and was, in fact, ninety-five by every calendar except the one on your watch".

Twilight Zone credits
The following is a list of episodes Beaumont penned for The Twilight Zone (an asterisk indicates that the episode was credited to Beaumont, but ghostwritten by Jerry Sohl).
 * "Perchance to Dream"
 * "Elegy"
 * "Long Live Walter Jameson"
 * "A Nice Place to Visit"
 * "The Howling Man"
 * "Static" (story by OCee Ritch)
 * "The Prime Mover" (story by George Clayton Johnson)
 * "Long Distance Call" (co-written with Bill Idelson)
 * "Shadow Play"
 * "The Jungle"
 * "Dead Man's Shoes" (story only; ghostwritten by OCee Ritch)
 * "The Fugitive"
 * "Person or Persons Unknown"
 * "In His Image"
 * "Valley of the Shadow"
 * "Miniature"
 * "Printer's Devil"
 * "The New Exhibit" *
 * "Passage on the Lady Anne"
 * "Living Doll" *
 * "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" (co-written with John Tomerlin)
 * "Queen of the Nile" *

Short stories

 * "The Devil, You Say?" (Jan 1951, Amazing Stories, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "The Beautiful People" (Sep 1952, If, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "Fritzchen" (1953, Orbit #1)
 * "Place of Meeting" (1953, Orbit #2)
 * "Elegy" (Feb 1953, Imagination, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "The Last Caper" (Mar 1954, F&SF)
 * "Keeper of the Dream" (1954, Time to Come)
 * "Mass for Mixed Voices" (May 1954, Science Fiction Quarterly)
 * "Hair of the Dog" (Jul 1954, Orbit #3)
 * "The Quadriopticon" (Aug 1954, F&SF)
 * "Black Country" (Sep 1954, Playboy)
 * "The Jungle" (Dec 1954, If, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "The Murderers" (Feb 1955, Esquire)
 * "The Hunger" (Apr 1955, Playboy)
 * "The Last Word" (with Chad Oliver, Apr 1955, F&SF)
 * "Free Dirt" (May 1955, F&SF, adapted for The Twilight Zone as a radio drama)
 * "The New Sound" (Jun 1955, F&SF)
 * "The Crooked Man" (Aug 1955, Playboy)
 * "The Vanishing American" (Aug 1955, F&SF)
 * "Last Rites" (Oct 1955, If)
 * "A Point of Honor" / "I'll Do Anything" (Nov 1955, Manhunt)
 * "A Classic Affair" (Dec 1955, Playboy)
 * "Traumerei" (Feb 1956, Infinity Science Fiction)
 * "The Monster Show" (May 1956, Playboy)
 * "The Guests of Chance" (with Chad Oliver, Jun 1956, Infinity Science Fiction)
 * "You Can't Have Them All" (Aug 1956, Playboy)
 * "Last Night in the Rain" / "Sin Tower" (Oct 1956, Nugget)
 * "The Dark Music" (Dec 1956, Playboy)
 * "Oh Father of Mine" / "Father, Dear Father" (Jan 1957, Venture)
 * "The Love-Master" (Feb 1957, Rogue)
 * "The Man Who Made Himself" / "In His Image" (Feb 1957, Imagination, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "Night Ride" (Mar 1957, Playboy)
 * "The Customers" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "Fair Lady" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "The Infernal Bouillabaisse" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "Miss Gentilbelle" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "Nursery Rhyme" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "Open House" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "Tears of the Madonna" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "The Train" (Apr 1957, The Hunger and Other Stories)
 * "A Death in the Country" / "The Deadly Will Win" (Nov 1957, Playboy)
 * "Anthem" (Apr 1958, Yonder)
 * "Mother's Day" (Apr 1958, Yonder)
 * "A World of Differents" (Apr 1958, Yonder)
 * "The New People" (Aug 1958, Rogue)
 * "Perchance to Dream" (Oct 1958, Playboy, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "The Intruder" (1959, excerpt of chapter ten of the novel)
 * "The Music of the Yellow Brass" (Jan 1959, Playboy)
 * "The Trigger" (Jan 1959, Mystery Digest)
 * "Sorcerer's Moon" (Jul 1959, Playboy)
 * "The Howling Man" (Nov 1959, Rogue, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "Buck Fever" (Mar 1960, Night Ride and Other Journeys)
 * "The Magic Man" (Mar 1960, Night Ride and Other Journeys)
 * "The Neighbors" (Mar 1960, Night Ride and Other Journeys)
 * "Song For a Lady" (Mar 1960, Night Ride and Other Journeys, adapted for Twilight Zone)
 * "Gentlemen, Be Seated" (Apr 1960, Rogue, adapted for The Twilight Zone as a radio drama)
 * "Three Thirds of a Ghost" / "The Baron's Secret" (Aug 1960, Nugget)
 * "Blood Brother" (Apr 1961, Playboy)
 * "Mourning Song" (1963, Gamma #1)
 * "Something in the Earth" (1963, Gamma #2)
 * "Auto Suggestion" (1965, Gamma #5)
 * "Insomnia Vobiscum" (1982, Best of Beaumont)
 * "My Grandmother's Japonicas" (1984, Masques #1)
 * "Appointment with Eddie" (1987, The Howling Man)
 * "The Carnival" (1987, The Howling Man)
 * "The Crime of Willie Washington" (1987, The Howling Man)
 * "The Man with the Crooked Nose" (1987, The Howling Man)
 * "To Hell with Claude" (with Chad Oliver, 1987, The Howling Man)
 * "The Wages of Cynicism" (1999)
 * "Adam's Off Ox" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "Fallen Star" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "A Friend of the Family" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "The Indian Piper" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "The Junemoon Spoon" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "Lachrymosa" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "A Long Way from Capri" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "Moon in Gemini" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "Mr. Underhill" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "The Pool" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "Resurrection Island" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "The Rival" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "Time and Again" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "With the Family" (2000, A Touch of the Creature)
 * "I, Claude" (with Chad Oliver)
 * "The Rest of Science Fiction" (with Chad Oliver)

Collections published during Beaumont's lifetime

 * The Hunger and Other Stories (Apr 1957; UK title Shadow Play)
 * Yonder (Apr 1958)
 * Night Ride and Other Journeys (Mar 1960)
 * The Magic Man (1965) (containing nine stories from The Hunger, three from Yonder and six from Night Ride)
 * The Edge (1966) (containing three stories from Yonder and eight from Night Ride)

Collections published posthumously

 * Best of Beaumont (Nov 1982) (featuring selected from previous collections and four not previously collected)
 * Selected Stories (1988) (reprinted as The Howling Man, 1992) (featuring stories from previous collection and eight previously uncollected stories)''
 * A Touch of the Creature (2000) (fourteen previously unpublished/unfinished stories)
 * Mass for Mixed Voices (2013) (expanded version of Selected Stories with two previously unpublished stories ["Life of the Party" and "The Child"], a new introduction, and three new story prefaces)
 * Perchance to Dream (2015)
 * The Carnival and Other Stories (2022)

Film

 * Tradita (1954)
 * Queen of Outer Space (1958)
 * Ursula (1961, based on Beaumont's short story "Miss Gentilbelle")
 * Night of the Eagle (1962) U.S. title Burn, Witch, Burn! (screenplay co-written with Richard Matheson and George Baxt based on Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber)
 * Premature Burial (1962) (based on "The Premature Burial" by Edgar Allan Poe)
 * The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
 * The Intruder (1962, based on Beaumont's novel. Also acted in a supporting role.)
 * The Haunted Palace (1963) (based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name and by the short novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft)
 * 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) (based on the short novel The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney)
 * The Masque of the Red Death (1964) (based on eponymous short story by Edgar Allan Poe)
 * Mister Moses (1965)
 * Journey Into Darkness (1968, based on Beaumont's short story "The New People")
 * Brain Dead (1990) (produced posthumously, from his screenplay)
 * Miss Gentilbelle (2000)

Novel

 * Run from the Hunter (1957, as Keith Grantland, co-authored by John Tomerlin)
 * The Intruder (1959)

Nonfiction

 * Remember? Remember? (1956, essays on American pop culture between the world wars)
 * Omnibus of Speed: An Introduction to the World of Motorsport (1958, with William F. Nolan)

Comics

 * Li'l Bad Wolf (untitled story) Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #170 (1954)
 * "A Soft Life" Woody Woodpecker #29 (1955)
 * "Why Birds Leave Home" Tweety and Sylvester #8 (1955)
 * "The Mystery of Whalers' Cove" Mickey Mouse #43 (1955)
 * "The Adventure of the Silver Parrot" Mickey Mouse #45 (1955/56)
 * "The Mardi Gras Mystery" Mickey Mouse #46 (1956)
 * "The Mystery of Diamond Mountain" Mickey Mouse #47 (1956)
 * "The Mammoth Adventure" Mickey Mouse #48 (1956)
 * "The Case of the Vanishing Bandit" Mickey Mouse #48 (1956)
 * "The Giant Pearls of Agoo Island" Mickey Mouse #49 (1956)
 * "Trouble Cooking" Mickey Mouse #51 (1956-7)

Note
Beaumont co-wrote the stories with William F. Nolan.

title: Charles Beaumont


text:
Talk:Charles Beaumont

Untitled
California Sorcery is a collection of fiction from "The Group" (California writers including Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Bloch who were responsible for the bulk of the Twilight Zone scripts). The book has an overview of the development of the group, with biographical details on each member provided there and, in brief, before that member's story.

Comment that was originally on article
"I need some help here. Perhaps his last screenplay was for a movie called "Brain Dead" also (apparently) known as "Paranoia" This was the movie that caused Peter Jackson's "Brain Dead" to eventually be retitled, "Dead/Alive" This should explain why trying to look up some of these things is a little tricky." by User:Beep54. ~ Eliz 81 (C)  08:06, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Book publication date
I revised the projected publication date of the book as per an exchange of emails with publisher Jerad Walters. I realize that this is not up to Wikipedia sourcing standards, but neither was the date that was originally in the article. 😎 HMishkoff (talk) 18:55, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Charles Beaumont


text:
William F. Nolan

William Francis Nolan (March 6, 1928 – July 15, 2021) was an American author who wrote hundreds of stories in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, and crime fiction genres.

Career
Nolan became involved in science-fiction fandom in the 1950s, and published several fanzines, including Ray Bradbury Review. During this time, Nolan befriended several science-fiction and fantasy writers, including Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and  Ray Russell. Nolan became a professional author in 1956. Nolan is perhaps best known for coauthoring the novel Logan's Run, with George Clayton Johnson, but wrote literally hundreds of pieces, from poetry to nonfiction, to prose, for many publications, such as Sports Illustrated, Rogue, Playboy, Dark Discoveries, Nameless Digest, and others. Nolan wrote several mystery novels, including the "Challis" series. He also had a long career in the movie industry, primarily working for Dan Curtis, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 1976 horror film Burnt Offerings which starred Karen Black and Bette Davis.

Nolan was also a prolific editor of collections (by others), and anthologies, most recently co-editing two anthologies with friend, filmmaker, and writer Jason V Brock: The Bleeding Edge (2009), with stories from fellow writers Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, John Shirley, Dan O'Bannon, and several others, and The Devil's Coattails (2012), which featured offerings from Ramsey Campbell, S. T. Joshi, Richard Selzer, Earl Hamner Jr., and more, both from Cycatrix Press. Nolan teamed up with Bluewater Productions for a comic book series, Logan's Run: Last Day, released in 2010. In addition, he developed comics based on one other property of his for Bluewater: Tales from William F. Nolan's Dark Universe (featuring stories adapted by Nolan and Brock and published in 2013). Another comic book mini-series Sam Space (forthcoming) has been scripted and approved.

Among his many accolades, Nolan was nominated once for the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He was voted a Living Legend in Dark Fantasy by the International Horror Guild in 2002, and in 2006 was bestowed the honorary title of Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. In 2010, he received the Lifetime Achievement Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association (HWA). In 2013 he was a recipient, along with Brian W. Aldiss, of the World Fantasy Convention Award in Brighton, England by the World Fantasy Convention. In May 2014, Nolan was presented with another Bram Stoker Award, for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction; this was for his collection about his late friend Ray Bradbury, called Nolan on Bradbury: Sixty Years of Writing about the Master of Science Fiction. In 2015, Nolan was named a World Horror Society Grand Master; the award was presented at the World Horror Convention in Atlanta, GA in May of that year.

Personal life
Nolan was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernadette Mariana Kelly, a stenographer, and Michael Cahill Nolan, an adventurer, and sportsman. His family was Irish Catholic. He briefly attended the Kansas City Art Institute. Later, he worked for Hallmark Cards, Inc. writing verses and illustrating greeting cards before moving to California with his parents.

After a few years working in offices, he met Charles Beaumont, who would remain a close friend until Beaumont's untimely death at age thirty-eight. Beaumont was instrumental in Nolan becoming an author.

Nolan was a close friend to radio writer Norman Corwin as well as speculative writer Ray Bradbury. He was also a member of the influential Southern California School of Writers in the 1950s–1960s (known informally as "The Group"), many of whom wrote for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and other popular series of the day. Nolan was an ethical vegetarian and loved animals. In later life, he still wrote new material and was active in various literary projects, and conventions (he was Guest of Honor at Killer Con and Portland's Orycon, as well as a special guest at the World Horror Convention, World Fantasy Convention, and many others), and promotional opportunities.

Though estranged for more than ten years, he had been married since 1970. He resided in Vancouver, Washington. With regard to his work, he said: "I get excited about something, and I want to write about it."

Nolan died from complications of an infection in July 2021 at the age of 93.

Appearances: films, TV and documentaries

 * The Intruder (1962) as villain "Bart Carey"
 * Charles Beaumont: The Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man (JaSunni Productions, LLC; 2010) as himself
 * The AckerMonster Chronicles! (JaSunni Productions, LLC; 2012) as himself

Logan

 * Logan's Run (1967) – Novel (with George Clayton Johnson)
 * Logan's World (1977) – Second novel in the original "Logan Trilogy"
 * Logan's Search (1980) – Third novel in the "Logan Trilogy"
 * Logan's Return (2001) – Novella, released as an e-book

The Black Mask

 * The Black Mask Murders (1994) – Novel
 * The Marble Orchard (1996) – Novel
 * Sharks Never Sleep (1998) – Novel

Sam Space

 * Space for Hire (1971) – Novel
 * Look Out for Space (1985) – Novel
 * 3 For Space (1992) – Collection
 * Far Out (2004) – Collection
 * Seven for Space (2008) – Collection

Challis

 * Death Is For Losers (1968) – Novel
 * The White Cad Cross-Up (1969) – Novel
 * Helle on Wheels (1992) – Novella
 * The Brothers Challis (1996) – Collection

Kincaid

 * Pirate's Moon (1987) – Novella
 * Broxa (1991) - Novella
 * The Winchester Horror (1998) – Novella
 * Demon! [Reprint of Broxa] (2005) – Novella
 * Kincaid: A Paranormal Casebook (2011) – Collection

On Max Brand

 * Max Brand's Best Western Stories (1981) – Brand Collection
 * Max Brand's Best Western Stories II (1985) – Brand Collection
 * Max Brand: Western Giant (1986) – Anthology/Bibliography
 * Max Brand's Best Western Stories III (1987) – Brand Collection
 * Tales of the Wild West (1997) – Brand Collection
 * More Tales of the Wild West (1999) – Brand Collection
 * Masquerade (2005) – Brand Collection
 * King of the Pulps (forthcoming) – Biography

On Dashiell Hammett

 * Dashiell Hammett: A Casebook (1969) – Critical study
 * Hammett: A Life at the Edge (1983) – Biography
 * Dash (2004) – Stage Play
 * A Man Called Dash: The Life and Times of Samuel Dashiell Hammett (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015 [tentative release date]) – Definitive biography

On Ray Bradbury

 * Ray Bradbury Review (1952) – Anthology
 * The Ray Bradbury Index (1953) – Pamphlet
 * The Ray Bradbury Companion (1975) – Biography/bibliography
 * The Dandelion Chronicles (1984) – Pamphlet
 * The Bradbury Chronicles (1991) – Anthology (with Martin H. Greenberg)
 * Nolan On Bradbury: Sixty Years of Writing about the Master of Science Fiction (2013; Hippocampus Press) – Collected nonfiction book (Edited by S. T. Joshi)

Other biographies and nonfiction

 * Adventure on Wheels (1959) – John Fitch autobiography
 * Barney Oldfield (1961) – Biography
 * Phil Hill: Yankee Champion (1962) – Biography
 * John Huston: King Rebel (1965) - Biography
 * Sinners and Supermen (1965) – Nonfiction collection
 * Steve McQueen: Star on Wheels (1972) – Biography
 * Hemingway: Last Days of the Lion (1974) – Biographical chapbook
 * McQueen (1984) - Biography
 * The Black Mask Boys (1985) – Biography/Anthology
 * How to Write Horror Fiction (1990) – Reference
 * Let's Get Creative: Writing Fiction That Sells! (2006) - Reference

Bibliographies

 * The Work of Charles Beaumont (1986)
 * The Work of William F. Nolan (1988)

Anthologies and collections (as editor)

 * The Fiend in You (1962) – Anthology (with Charles Beaumont; Nolan is uncredited)
 * The Pseudo-People (1965)
 * Man Against Tomorrow (1965)
 * Il Meglio Della Fantascienza (1967)
 * 3 To the Highest Power (1968)
 * A Wilderness of Stars (1969)
 * A Sea of Space (1970)
 * The Edge of Forever (1971) – Collection of Chad Oliver stories
 * The Future is Now (1971)
 * The Human Equation: Four Science Fiction Novels of Tomorrow (1971)
 * Science Fiction Origins (1980) - Anthology (with Martin H. Greenberg)
 * Urban Horrors (1990) – Anthology (with Martin H. Greenberg)
 * California Sorcery, Edited by Nolan and William Schafer (1998)
 * Offbeat (2002) – Collection of Richard Matheson stories
 * The Bleeding Edge (2009) – Anthology (with Jason V Brock)
 * The Devil's Coattails (2012) – Anthology (with Jason V Brock)

Verse

 * The Mounties (1979) – Broadside
 * Dark Encounters (1986) – Collection
 * Have You Seen the Wind? (2003) – Collection, with prose
 * Ill Met by Moonlight (2004) – Collection, with prose and artwork
 * Soul Trips (2015) – Collection

Auto racing-specific works

 * Omnibus of Speed (1958) – Anthology (with Charles Beaumont)
 * Men of Thunder (1964) – Collection
 * When Engines Roar (1964) – Anthology (with Charles Beaumont)
 * Carnival of Speed (1973) – Collection

Horror works

 * Things Beyond Midnight (1984) – Collection
 * Blood Sky (1991) – Chapbook
 * Helltracks (1991) – Novel
 * Night Shapes (1995) – Collection
 * William F. Nolan's Dark Universe (2001) – Career retrospective
 * Nightworlds (2004) – Collection

Miscellaneous works

 * A Cross Section of Art in Science-Fantasy (1952) – Chapbook
 * Image Power (1988) – Pamphlet
 * Rio Renegades (1989) – Western novel
 * Simply An Ending (2002) – Pamphlet
 * With Marlowe in L.A. (2003) – Pamphlet

Other Nolan collections

 * Impact-20 (1963) – Short stories
 * Alien Horizons (1974)
 * Wonderworlds (1977)
 * Down the Long Night (2000)
 * Ships in the Night: And Other Stories (2003) – Collection of sci-fi, Western, etc.
 * Wild Galaxy: Selected Science Fiction Stories (2005)
 * Like a Dead Man Walking and Other Shadow Tales (edited by Jason V Brock; a mix of science fiction, horror, poetry, and literary stories; Centipede Press, 2014)

Screenplays

 * Burnt Offerings (1976)
 * Who Goes There? (a.k.a. The Thing) Screen treatment (1978), written for Universal Studios (not produced), published by Rocket Ride Books in "Who Goes There?: The Novella That Formed The Basis of THE THING" (2009)

Television scripts

 * Brain Wave (1959) – One Step Beyond
 * Mental Lapse (1959) – Wanted: Dead or Alive
 * Black Belt (1960) – Wanted: Dead or Alive
 * The Joy of Living (1971) – Norman Corwin Presents
 * The Norliss Tapes (1973) – NBC Movie of the Week
 * The Turn of the Screw (1974) – ABC miniseries
 * Trilogy of Terror (Millicent and Therese; Julie) (1975) – ABC Movie of the Week
 * Melvin Purvis: G-Man (1975)
 * Sky Heist (1975) – NBC Movie of the Week
 * The Kansas City Massacre (1975) – ABC Movie of the Week
 * Logan's Run (1977) – Pilot for CBS series
 * First Loss (1981) – 240-Robert
 * The Partnership (1981) – Darkroom
 * Bridge Across Time, a.k.a. Terror at London Bridge (1985) – NBC Movie of the Week
 * Trilogy of Terror II (The Graveyard Rats; He Who Kills) (1996) – USA Movie of the Week

title: William F. Nolan


text:
Talk:William F. Nolan

Untitled
More on one of the sources: California Sorcery is a collection of fiction from "The Group" (California writers including Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Bloch who were responsible for the bulk of The Twilight Zone scripts). The book has an overview of the development of the group, with biographical details on each member provided there and, in brief, before that member's story.
 * How can you say those guys wrote the bulk of TZ scripts? Bradbury wrote one.  Ellison wrote none for the original.  Bloch wrote none.

Why put inproduced scripts first in Nolan's article? Sir Rhosis 06:04, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:William F. Nolan


text:
Befunge

Befunge is a two-dimensional stack-based, reflective, esoteric programming language. It differs from conventional languages in that programs are arranged on a two-dimensional grid. "Arrow" instructions direct the control flow to the left, right, up or down, and loops are constructed by sending the control flow in a cycle. It has been described as "a cross between Forth and Lemmings".

Befunge was created by Chris Pressey in 1993 for the Amiga. The language was designed to be as hard to compile as possible, featuring self-modifying code and a multi-dimensional playfield. Despite this, several compilers have been written for the language. The original Befunge-93 specification limited programs to an 80x25 grid, and while not Turing-complete, subsequent extensions like Funge-98 expanded the concept to achieve Turing completeness.

The name "Befunge" originated from a typing error in an online discussion. While it was designed to be difficult to compile, compilers such as bef2c and Betty have managed to implement the language using various techniques. Befunge programs are characterized by their use of arrows to change control flow, and they can produce outputs like random number sequences or classic "Hello, World!" messages.

History
The language was originally created by Chris Pressey in 1993 for the Amiga, as an attempt to devise a language which is as hard to compile as possible. Note that the  command allows for self-modifying code. Nevertheless, a number of compilers have subsequently been written. A number of extensions to the original "Befunge-93" specification also exist, most notably Funge-98, which extends the concept to an arbitrary number of dimensions and can be multithreaded, with multiple instruction pointers operating simultaneously on the same space. Befunge-extensions and variants are called Fungeoids or just Funges.

The Befunge-93 specification restricts each valid program to a grid of 80 instructions horizontally by 25 instructions vertically. Program execution which exceeds these limits "wraps around" to a corresponding point on the other side of the grid; a Befunge program is in this manner topologically equivalent to a torus. Since a Befunge-93 program can only have a single stack and its storage array is bounded, the Befunge-93 language is not Turing-complete (however, it has been shown that Befunge-93 is Turing Complete with unbounded stack word size). The later Funge-98 specification provides Turing completeness by removing the size restrictions on the program; rather than wrapping around at a fixed limit, the movement of a Funge-98 instruction pointer follows a model dubbed "Lahey-space" after its originator, Chris Lahey. In this model, the grid behaves like a torus of finite size with respect to wrapping, while still allowing itself to be extended indefinitely.

Etymology
The word Befunge is derived from a typing error in an online discussion, where the word 'before' was intended.

Compilation
As stated, the design goal for Befunge was to create a language which was difficult to compile. This was attempted with the implementation of self-modifying code (the 'p' instruction can write new instructions into the playfield) and a multi-dimensional playfield (the same instruction can be executed in four different directions).

Nevertheless, these obstacles have been overcome, to some degree, and Befunge compilers have been written using appropriate techniques.

The bef2c compiler included with the standard Befunge-93 distribution uses threaded code: each instruction is compiled to a snippet of C code, and control flows through the snippets just as it does in a Befunge interpreter (that is, conditionally on the value of some 'direction' register). This does not result in a significant advantage over a good interpreter. Note that the bef2c compiler is not correct since it does not handle either 'p' or string mode, but it would not be impossible to make it do so (although the C language might not be well-suited for this).

The etty compiler, for example, treats every possible straight line of instructions as a subprogram, and if a 'p' instruction alters that subprogram, that subprogram is recompiled. This variation on just-in-time compilation results in a much better advantage over an interpreter, since many instructions can be executed in native code without making intervening decisions on the 'direction' register.

Sample Befunge-93 code
The technique of using arrows to change control flow is demonstrated in the random number generator program below. The Befunge instruction pointer begins in the upper left corner and will travel to the right if not redirected. Following the arrows around, the  instructions send the instruction pointer in random cardinal directions until the pointer hits a digit, pushing it to the stack. Then the arrows navigate to the  to output the digit from the stack and return the pointer to the first directional randomiser. There is no  to terminate this program, so it produces an endless stream of random numbers from 1 to 9. The following code is an example of the classic "Hello World!" program. First the letters "olleH" are pushed onto the stack as ASCII numbers. These are then popped from the stack in LIFO order and output as text characters to give "Hello". A space is character number 32 in ASCII, which here is constructed by multiplying 4 and 8, before being output as text. The remaining code then outputs "World!" in a similar way, followed by ASCII character 10 (a line feed character, moving the output cursor to a new line). The following code is a slightly more complicated version. It adds the ASCII character 10 (a line feed character) to the stack, and then pushes "!dlrow ,olleH" to the stack. Again, LIFO ordering means that "H" is now the top of the stack and will be the first printed, "e" is second, and so on. To print the characters, the program enters a loop that first duplicates the top value on the stack (so now the stack would look like "\n!dlrow ,olleHH"). Then the "_" operation will pop the duplicated value, and go right if it's a zero, left otherwise. (This assumes a compliant interpreter that "returns" 0 when popping an empty stack.) When it goes left, it pops and prints the top value as an ASCII character. It then duplicates the next character and loops back to the "_" test, continuing to print the rest of the stack until it is empty and so the next value popped is 0, at which point "@" ends the program.

Befunge-93 instruction list
Most one-dimensional programming languages require some syntactic distinction between comment text and source code — although that distinction may be as trivial as Brainfuck's rule that any character not in the set  is a comment. Languages like Lisp and Python treat strings as comments in contexts where the values are not used. Similarly, in Befunge, there is no comment syntax: to embed documentation in the code, the programmer simply routes the control flow around the "comment" area, so that the text in that area is never executed.

title: Befunge


text:
The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering "the Twilight Zone". The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, supernatural drama, black comedy, and psychological thriller, frequently concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy tropes. The first series, shot entirely in black-and-white, ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964.

The Twilight Zone followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as Tales of Tomorrow (1951–53) and Science Fiction Theatre (1955–57); radio programs such as  The Weird Circle (1943–45), Dimension X (1950–51) and X Minus One (1955–58); and the radio work of one of Serling's inspirations, Norman Corwin. The success of the series led to a feature film (1983), a TV film (1994), a radio series (2002–12), various literature, theme park attractions and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades, including three revival television series. The second series (1985–89) ran on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, while the third series ran on UPN (2002–03). The fourth Twilight Zone series, helmed by Jordan Peele, was released on CBS All Access from 2019 to 2020.

TV Guide ranked the original TV series #5 in their 2013 list of the 60 greatest shows of all time and #4 in their list of the 60 greatest dramas.

Background
As a boy, Rod Serling was a fan of pulp fiction stories. As an adult, he sought books with themes such as racism, government, war, society, and human nature in general. Serling decided to combine these interests to broach these subjects on television at a time when they were considered taboo.

Throughout the 1950s, Serling established himself as one of the most popular names in television. He was as famous for writing televised drama as he was for criticizing the medium's limitations. His most vocal complaints concerned censorship, which was frequently practiced by sponsors and networks. "I was not permitted to have my senators discuss any current or pressing problem", he said of his 1957 Studio One production "The Arena", intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics. "To talk of tariff was to align oneself with the Republicans; to talk of labor was to suggest control by the Democrats. To say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited."

"The Time Element" (1958)
CBS purchased a teleplay in 1958 that writer Rod Serling hoped to produce as the pilot of a weekly anthology series. "The Time Element" marked Serling's first entry in the field of science fiction.

Plot
Thirteen years after the end of World War II, a man named Peter Jenson (William Bendix) visits a psychoanalyst, Dr. Gillespie (Martin Balsam). Jenson tells him about a recurring dream in which he tries to warn people about the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor before it happens, but the warnings are disregarded. Jenson believes the events of the dream are real, and each night he travels back to 1941. Dr. Gillespie insists that time travel is impossible given the nature of temporal paradoxes. While on the couch, Jenson falls asleep once again but this time dreams that the Japanese planes shoot and kill him. In Dr. Gillespie's office, the couch Jenson was lying on is now empty. Dr. Gillespie goes to a bar where he finds Jenson's picture on the wall. The bartender tells him that Jenson had tended bar there, but he was killed during the Pearl Harbor attack.

Production
With the "Time Element" script, Serling drafted the fundamental elements that defined the subsequent series: a science-fiction/fantasy theme, opening and closing narration, and an ending with a twist. "The Time Element" was purchased immediately but shelved indefinitely.

This is where things stood when Bert Granet, the new producer for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, discovered "The Time Element" in CBS' vaults while searching for an original Serling script to add prestige to his show. "The Time Element" (introduced by Desi Arnaz) debuted on November 24, 1958, to an overwhelmingly delighted audience of television viewers and critics alike. "The humor and sincerity of Mr. Serling's dialogue made 'The Time Element' consistently entertaining," offered Jack Gould of The New York Times. More than 6,000 letters of praise flooded Granet's offices. Convinced that a series based on such stories could succeed, CBS again began talks with Serling about the possibilities of producing The Twilight Zone. "Where Is Everybody?" was accepted as the pilot episode and the project was officially announced to the public in early 1959. Other than reruns at the time, "The Time Element" was not aired on television again until it was shown as part of a 1996 all-night sneak preview of the new cable channel TVLand. It is available in an Italian DVD boxed set titled Ai confini della realtà – I tesori perduti. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Blu-ray boxed set released on September 14, 2010, offers a remastered high-definition version of the original Desilu Playhouse production as a special feature. The program's supporting cast features Darryl Hickman, Jesse White, Bartlett Robinson and future Three Stooges member Joe DeRita.

First series (1959–1964)
The series was produced by Cayuga Productions, Inc., a production company owned and named by Serling. It reflects his background in Central New York State and is named after Cayuga Lake, on which he owned a home, and where Cornell University and Ithaca College are located.

Aside from Serling, who wrote or adapted nearly two-thirds of the series' total episodes, writers for The Twilight Zone included leading authors such as Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, Earl Hamner, Jr., George Clayton Johnson, Richard Matheson, Reginald Rose, and Jerry Sohl. Many episodes also featured new adaptations of classic stories by such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Jerome Bixby, Damon Knight, John Collier, and Lewis Padgett.

Twilight Zone writers frequently used science fiction as a vehicle for social comment, as networks and sponsors who censored controversial material from live dramas were less concerned with seemingly innocuous fantasy and sci-fi stories. Frequent themes on The Twilight Zone included nuclear war, McCarthyism, and mass hysteria, subjects that were avoided on less serious primetime television. Episodes such as "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and "I Am the Night—Color Me Black" offered specific commentary on current events and social issues. Other stories, such as "The Masks", "I Dream of Genie", or "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" were allegories, parables, or fables that reflected the moral and philosophical choices of the characters. Despite his esteem in the writing community, Serling found the series difficult to sell. Few critics felt that science fiction could transcend empty escapism and enter the realm of adult drama. In a September 22, 1959, interview with Serling, Mike Wallace asked a question illustrative of the times: "...[Y]ou're going to be, obviously, working so hard on The Twilight Zone that, in essence, for the time being and for the foreseeable future, you've given up on writing anything important for television, right?" While Serling's appearances on the show became one of its most distinctive features, with his clipped delivery still widely imitated today, he was reportedly nervous about it and had to be persuaded to appear on camera. Serling often steps in in medias res, while the characters remain oblivious to him, with on notable exception: In "A World of His Own", a writer (Keenan Wynn) with the make characters appear and disappear objects to Serling's narration and promptly erases Serling from the show.

In season two, due to budgetary constraints, the network decided – against Serling's wishes – to cut costs by shooting some episodes on videotape rather than film. The requisite multicamera setup of the videotape format precluded location shooting, severely limiting the potential scope of the storylines, and the experiment was abandoned after just six episodes ("Twenty Two", "Static", "The Whole Truth", "The Lateness of the Hour", "The Night of the Meek", and "Long Distance Call").

The first series contains 156 episodes. The episodes in seasons one through three are 30 minutes long with commercials (24 or 25 minutes without commercials). Season four (1962–63) consists of one-hour episodes with commercials (51 minutes without commercials). Season five returned to the half-hour format.

Second series (1985–1989)
It was Serling's decision to sell his share of the series back to the network that eventually allowed for a Twilight Zone revival. As an in-house production, CBS stood to earn more money producing The Twilight Zone than it could by purchasing a new series produced by an outside company. Even so, the network was slow to consider a revival, turning down offers from the original production team of Rod Serling and Buck Houghton and later from American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

CBS gave the new Twilight Zone a greenlight in 1984 under the supervision of Carla Singer, then Vice President of Drama Development. While the show did not come close to matching the enduring popularity of the original, some episodes – particularly Alan Brennert's love story "Her Pilgrim Soul" and J. Neil Schulman's "Profile in Silver" – were critically acclaimed. In a tribute to the first series, the opening credits include a brief image of Rod Serling. Four episodes are remakes of those from the first series: "Night of the Meek", "Shadow Play", "The After Hours" and "A Game of Pool", while "Dead Woman's Shoes" is an adaptation of "Dead Man's Shoes". Unlike the first, third and fourth series, this version does not include the opening monologue during the title sequence. As well, the narration is all strictly voice-over and the narrator never appears on-screen.

Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994)
In the early 1990s, Richard Matheson and Carol Serling produced an outline for a two-hour made-for-TV movie which would feature Matheson adaptations of three yet-unfilmed Rod Serling short stories. Outlines for such a production were rejected by CBS until early 1994, when Serling's widow discovered a complete shooting script ("Where the Dead Are") authored by her late husband, while rummaging through their garage. She showed the forgotten script to producers Michael O'Hara and Laurence Horowitz, who were significantly impressed by it. "I had a pile of scripts, which I usually procrastinate about reading. But I read this one right away and, after 30 pages, called my partner and said, "I love it," recalled O'Hara. "This is pure imagination, a period piece, literate – some might say wordy. If Rod Serling's name weren't on it, it wouldn't have a chance at getting made."

Eager to capitalize on Serling's celebrity status as a writer, CBS packaged "Where the Dead Are" with Matheson's adaptation of "The Theatre", debuting as a two-hour feature on the night of May 19, 1994, under the name Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics. The title represents a misnomer, as both stories were conceived long after Twilight Zone's cancellation. Written just months before Serling's death, "Where the Dead Are" starred Patrick Bergin as a 19th-century doctor who stumbles upon a mad scientist's medical experiments with immortality. "The Theatre" starred Amy Irving and Gary Cole as a couple who visits a cineplex where they discover the feature presentation depicts their own lives. James Earl Jones provided opening and closing narrations.

Critical response was mixed. Gannett News Service described it as "taut and stylish, a reminder of what can happen when fine actors are given great words." USA Today was less impressed, even suggesting that Carol Serling "should have left these two unproduced mediocrities in the garage where she found them." Ultimately, ratings proved insufficient to justify a proposed sequel featuring three scripts adapted by Matheson.

Third series (2002–2003)
A third series was developed by UPN in 2002; it was hosted by Forest Whitaker. It was broadcast in a one-hour format composed of two half-hour stories, it was canceled after one season. "It's Still a Good Life" is a sequel to "It's a Good Life", "The Monsters Are on Maple Street" is an adaptation of "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and "Eye of the Beholder" is a remake of an episode from the first series, with Serling still credited as writer.

Fourth series (2019–2020)
In December 2012, it was reported that Bryan Singer was developing and executive producing a fourth television series for CBS Television Studios. A writer for the series was not chosen and the program was not pitched to any networks. CBS, which broadcast the first series and second series, was reportedly interested. In February 2013, Singer told TG Daily that the project was still in development and that he hoped to direct the pilot and have A-list actors appear on the revival. The following month, he told IGN that a writer with whom he had previously worked was in negotiations to join the revival and that he felt "passionate" towards the first series and the planned revival.

In February 2016, it was reported that Ken Levine would write and direct the pilot episode of the revival series. It was also reported that the series would be interactive. In November 2017, it was reported that Jordan Peele was developing a reboot of the series for streaming service CBS All Access with Marco Ramirez serving as potential showrunner. In December 2017, CBS All Access ordered the fourth The Twilight Zone series to series. It was announced that the series would be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Monkeypaw Productions and Genre Films. Jordan Peele, Marco Ramirez, and Simon Kinberg will serve as executive producers for the series and collaborate on the premiere episode. Win Rosenfeld and Audrey Chon will also serve as executive producers. Peele was revealed to be the new host and narrator in September 2018, and the new opening sequence was released. The series premiered on April 1, 2019.

The season 1 episode "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" is based on the first series' season 5 episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". The season 2 episode "You Might Also Like" features the Kanamits, who first appeared in the first series' season 3 episode "To Serve Man". On February 24, 2021, CBS All Access canceled the series after two seasons.

Film
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 feature film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis. It starred Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Vic Morrow and Scatman Crothers. The film remade three classic episodes of the first series and included one original story. Landis directed the prologue and the first segment "(Time Out"), Spielberg directed the second (Kick the Can), Joe Dante the third (It's a Good Life", and George Miller directed the fourth (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet). Landis's segment became notorious for a helicopter accident during filming that caused the deaths of Morrow and two child actors.

Potential film
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is planning to make a new film with Warner Bros., citing The Twilight Zone as his favorite TV series. Unlike the first film, which was an anthology feature, it will be a big-budget, SFX-laden continuous story possibly based on classic episodes of the series such as "Eye of the Beholder", "To Serve Man", or any of the 92 scripts written by Rod Serling, to which Warner Bros. owns the rights. One plot leaked from the script tells about a pilot who time-travels 96 years into the future. Cloverfield director Matt Reeves was signed in 2011 to direct the movie, but left in 2012 to direct Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. On August 16, 2013, Joseph Kosinski was announced to direct. The studio hired Aron Eli Coleite to pen the screenplay for the film and will not be an anthology but use various elements from the Twilight Zone universe. In June 2017, Christine Lavaf was hired to write the script.

Games
In 1964, Ideal released a board game, The Twilight Zone Game, at the height of the show's popularity. The game consisted of a cardboard playing surface, four colored playing pieces, a colored spinning wheel, and 12 "door" playing cards. In 1988, Gigabit Systems, Inc. published a text adventure video game for Amiga and the PC. In March 1992, Midway Games released a wide-body pinball game, Twilight Zone, based on the original TV series, as a Bally title. Conceived by Pat Lawlor, it uses Golden Earring's hit song "Twilight Zone" (1982) as its theme song. The game sold 15,235 units. It is often regarded as one of the greatest pinball machines of all time. On September 17, 2014, Legacy Interactive and Spark Plug Games released a casual adventure game based on The Twilight Zone. On July 14, 2022, Fun Train and Pocket Money Games released a Virtual Reality game based on The Twilight Zone for Meta Quest 2 titled Twilight Zone VR.

Literature
Serling novelized several of his original scripts, which were published in the anthologies Stories from the Twilight Zone (1960), More Stories from the Twilight Zone (1961) and New Stories from the Twilight Zone (1962); these have all been reprinted several times, including in an omnibus, The Twilight Zone: Complete Stories (1980). In 1995, DAW Books published the anthology books Journeys to the Twilight Zone (16 stories edited by Carol Serling including Rod Serling's "Suggestion"), Return to the Twilight Zone (18 stories edited by Carol Serling including Rod Serling's "The Sole Survivor"), and Adventures in the Twilight Zone (24 stories edited by Carol Serling including Rod Serling's "Lindemann's Catch"). In September 2009, Tor Books published Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary, to mark the 50th anniversary of the series. It contains stories by 20 authors such as R. L. Stine and Timothy Zahn, and an introduction by Carol Serling.

Comic books
Western Publishing published a Twilight Zone comic book, first providing content under contract to publisher Dell Comics for four issues, one in 1961 and three further issues in 1962, with the first two published as part of their long-running Four Color anthology series as issue numbers 1173 and 1288, and then two further one-shots numbered separately in Dell's unique fashion as 01-860-207 and 12-860-210 (numbered as 01-860-210 on the inside) respectively. Western then restarted the series under its own Gold Key imprint with a formal issue No. 1, which ran 92 issues from 1962 to 1979, with the final issue being published in 1982. Several of the stories were reprinted in their Mystery Comics Digest, which mentioned the title on the covers. A wide range of artists worked on the title, including Jack Sparling, Reed Crandall, Lee Elias, George Evans, Russ Jones, Joe Orlando, Jerry Robinson, Mike Sekowsky, Dan Spiegle, Frank Thorne, and Alex Toth. The first published comic book work of artist Frank Miller appeared in issue 84 (June 1978). In 1990, NOW Comics published a single issue of a new series using the title logo from the 1985 revival, featuring an adaptation of Harlan Ellison's story "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich". The issue was reprinted as Twilight Zones Premiere in 1991, followed by an eleven-issue second volume (1991–1992) and a four-issue third volume (1993), as well as an annual and a 3-D special in 1993.

In 2008, students at the Savannah College of Art and Design partnered with Walker & Co. to create graphic novels based on eight episodes of the series through 2009. The first four, "Walking Distance", "The After Hours", "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", and "The Odyssey of Flight 33", were released in December 2011. The other four were "The Midnight Sun", "Deaths-Head Revisited", "The Big Tall Wish" and "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" Comics publisher Dynamite Entertainment ran a multiple-issue series, written by J. Michael Straczynski and with art by Guiu Vilanova, beginning in December 2013.

Television series

 * Marius Constant composed the theme used for the series from the second season onward. This replaced Bernard Herrmann's theme for the first season, though Constant's theme is more associated with the recognizable sound of The Twilight Zone and most of its incarnations. The guitar part was performed by jazz guitarist and session musician Howard Roberts on a 1952 Fender Telecaster. Other music contributors for the original television show are Jerry Goldsmith, Leonard Rosenman, Nathan Scott, Fred Steiner, Nathan Van Cleave, René Garriguenc and Franz Waxman.
 * The Grateful Dead performed the theme for the 1985 revival series.
 * Jonathan Davis of Korn composed the theme music for the 2002 revival series.
 * Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts composed the music for the 2019 revival.

Film

 * Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).

Influence in popular music
Michael Jackson used samples from The Twilight Zone in his songs "The Lost Children" and "Threatened" from the 2001 album Invincible.

The Marketts' biggest hit, "Out of Limits", originally entitled "Outer Limits", was named after the 1963 TV series The Outer Limits. Rod Serling sued the Marketts for quoting the four-note motif from The Twilight Zone, without his approval, which resulted in the change of the title to "Out of Limits". It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

Many other musicians have written and performed music based on The Twilight Zone, including: 2 Unlimited ("Twilight Zone"), Anthrax ("Intro to Reality"), Average White Band, John Cale, Dr. John, David Dubowski ("To Serve Man"), Golden Earring ("Twilight Zone"), Michael Hurley, Tech N9ne, Iron Maiden ("Twilight Zone"), Mekong Delta ("Twilight Zone"), Van Morrison ("Twilight Zone"), Rush ("The Twilight Zone"), Raymond Scott, Sly & Robbie, Magneto Dayo, The Manhattan Transfer ("Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone"), The Residents, The Ventures ("Twilight Zone"), Panic! at the Disco and John Williams.

Radio
Beginning in 2002, episodes of the original The Twilight Zone were adapted for radio, with Stacy Keach taking Serling's role as narrator and produced by Carl Amari of Falcon Picture Group. Each episode features a current Hollywood celebrity, including Jason Alexander, Blair Underwood, Lou Gossett, Jr., Michael York, Jim Caviezel, Jane Seymour, Don Johnson, Sean Astin, Luke Perry and others in the title roles. The series is broadcast on hundreds of radio stations from coast to coast and over Sirius/XM. The station list and episodes for download, including 3 Free episodes are available at the official website at www.twilightzoneradio.com

Scripts
Beginning in 2001, Gauntlet Press began publishing collections of original scripts from The Twilight Zone by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and Rod Serling. A ten-volume signed, limited edition series of all 92 of Rod Serling's scripts, authorized by his wife, Carol Serling, began yearly publication in 2004. Many of the scripts contain handwritten edits by Serling himself and differ in significant ways from the aired versions; most volumes contain an alternate version of a selected script. The script for "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" has been published into 7th grade reading books in the form of a play.

Stage productions
Live theatre productions of the original episodes can be seen in Los Angeles and Seattle, where Theater Schmeater has continuously produced a late-night series, "The Twilight Zone – Live" with permission of the Serling estate, since 1996. In 2009, Masquerade, A Chennai based theater group produced 'Dystopia', loosely based on the episodes "The Obsolete Man" and "Five Characters in Search of an Exit". In 2011, the Penn State University theatre group, No Refund Theatre, produced a stage adaptation of The Twilight Zone. It included the episodes "The Eye of the Beholder", "The Midnight Sun", and "Nothing in the Dark". It was directed by Anthony Arbaiza.

In 2017, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School produced a live adaptation directed by Adam Graham with permission from CBS, with two shows containing four episodes each. These episodes included "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?" and "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street." as well as more technically challenging episodes such as "Penny For Your Thoughts" and "The Eye of the Beholder."

In December 2017 the Almeida Theatre in London are staging the World Premiere production of 'The Twilight Zone'. Adapted by Anne Washburn and directed by Laurence Olivier Award winner Richard Jones, and will be based on stories from the first series by Rod Serling, Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson.

Theme park attraction
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a theme park attraction based on the original Twilight Zone series. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the attraction is present at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris and Tokyo DisneySea in Japan. A fourth attraction at Disney California Adventure operated from 2004 to 2017 before being re-themed to Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!. The attraction in Japan is the only one not themed to The Twilight Zone, due to cultural differences and constraints in licensing for the Oriental Land Company, owner and operator of the Tokyo parks. The ride also served as the inspiration for the 1997 TV film Tower of Terror, which bears no connection to the attraction or The Twilight Zone.

Syndication
The Twilight Zone first series is currently in syndication on MeTV Network and Syfy, and the 2002 revival is syndicated on the El Rey Network.

In popular culture
In Matt Groening's Futurama, there is a dystopian TV show called The Scary Door, the title sequence, dystopian themes and comedic premise of which are heavily influenced by The Twilight Zone. One episode of The Scary Door, "The Last Man On Earth," parodies The Twilight Zone's original season 1 episode "Time Enough At Last."

Many Treehouse Of Horror episodes of The Simpsons also reference the show. These include "Treehouse of Horror" (where the family are abducted by aliens, "Hungry Are The Damned"), "Treehouse of Horror III" (which features an evil Krusty The Clown doll, "Clown Without Pity") and "Treehouse of Horror IV" (where Bart sees a gremlin on the side of the school bus, "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet"). Homer also references the show in the "Homer3" segment of "Treehouse of Horror VI," when, upon entering the 3rd dimension, he says "It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone".

The X-Files character Robert Matheson is named after one of the original series' writers.

In Mad Men, Paul Kinsey quotes Rod Serling's "submitted for your approval" opening and foreshadows the original show's cancellation (Season 1, Episode 2), saying "Mitch in Media says CBS might pull the plug -- I'll kill myself."

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert aired a skit The Twilight Zone: Just The Twists on February 1, 2016 and on January 22, 2024, where the host claims to get access to unreleased alternative versions of episodes.

The video game Alan Wake contains an in-universe series called Night Springs, episodes of which the player can find on televisions scattered through the game. The episodes mirror The Twilight Zone's intro, theme song, and storytelling style, complete with an announcer impersonating Rod Serling's voice and narration.

Many bands and artists have released songs dedicated to the show, with some titled "The Twilight Zone"/"Twilight Zone", as listed above. John Grant briefly mentions the show's title in the song "Sigourney Weaver", from his 2010 album, Queen of Denmark. British post-punk band The Fall released a song called "Time Enough At Last" appearing on their Code: Selfish album. The song recounts the events of the original Twilight Zone episode of the same name and also appears on the band's 2003 compilation album of the same name. Mathcore duo Serling is named after the shows creator, Rod Serling. All songs, lyrics, and albums of theirs discuss particular Twilight Zone episodes and themes.

title: The Twilight Zone