The Twilight Zone’s Most Haunting Episodes: A Psychological Deep Dive

Good horror doesn’t always happen on TV for one simple reason. A good horror takes a “reasonable” time to build up the suspense before it finally leads to a climax. Films do horror better because they’re forced to use the duration as efficiently as possible without making the viewers feel like they’re being rushed. All that most TV series seem to care about is the build-up itself. You can watch a season of proper build-up, and the cliff-hanger ending of the season finale promises to deliver a much expected climax. But then, half a dozen seasons later, the promise is still there (remember The Walking Dead, people?) You might find it hard to believe, but The Twilight Zone never had such an issue. Every episode is its own story; this is “Monster of the Week” played to its full potential. The format is not unique to Twilight Zone, but how many of them deliver the same psychological horror as it did? Admittedly, not every episode was created equal. Some were much better than the other, but none of them was even remotely close to being terrible. And in case you’re looking to have a taste of what TV horror should feel like, here are some of The Twilight Zone’s most haunting episodes.

Season 5, Episode 6 – Living Doll

Long before Chucky and Annabelle even existed, there was Talky Tina. While it didn’t seem like she could kill you, she had everything to be a real nuisance around the house. A young girl named Christie lived with her mother and stepfather, Erich. When properly wound, Talky Tina would typically say, “My name is Talky Tina, and I love you very much” similar to just about every talking doll out there. Erich, who was always not-so-secretly antagonistic to Christie, also disliked Talky Tina. And he had every reason to hate the doll; only to him that the doll said brazen things like “I’m beginning to hate you,” or “I am going to kill you” at other times.

Season 1, Episode 16 – The Hitch-Hiker

Think of the episode as a psychological horror and an actual ghost story mixed; the result was about 20 minutes of some serious haunting and a seriously puzzling conclusion. Nan Adams narrowly escaped death after losing control of her car on a highway in Pennsylvania. Nan had the damaged tire replaced, and so she continued her journey. Moments later, she noticed a strange hitchhiker everywhere she went. It was a good thing that she bumped into a nice sailor, who made her feel just a little safer from the mysterious hitchhiker. You could probably make a guess or two about where the story was going by now. Well, you might be wrong either way.

Season 1, Episode 34 – The After Hours

Marsha White was in a department store to buy a gift, a gold thimble, for her mother. She was told that she could find the thimble on the ninth floor. It turned out that the thimble was the only thing available there. She made the purchase from the saleswoman and went back to the elevator, only to notice that the thimble had some dents on it. She made a complaint to the sales manager and supervisor, but they said the ninth floor didn’t actually exist. So Marsha took the elevator and went up the ninth floor again, only to realize that the saleswoman was a mannequin. She rested for a while in an office and suddenly found herself locked inside the department store. Now, if that wasn’t horror enough for you, we don’t know what is.

Season 2, Episode 17 – Twenty Two

Professional dancer Liz Powell was hospitalized for exhaustion. While waiting for her recovery and eventual discharge, she suffered from a recurring nightmare. Every night in her dream, she followed a nurse walking to the hospital’s morgue, called Room 22. Once they arrived, the nurse said she needed a room for one more. Liz was convinced the dream felt real, but of course – being The Twilight Zone – no one believed her. However, the doctor realized how strange it was that Liz knew about Room 22 being the morgue, despite no one ever telling her about that. The meaning of Liz’ dream was revealed at the end of the episode; if you think Final Destination is spooky, you are in for a treat with the episode.

Season 3, Episode 8 – It’s a Good Life

The 6-year-old Anthony was born with godlike powers. He could read other people’s minds, control the electricity, manipulate the TV program, and kill somebody just by thinking about it. Everybody in town was terrified of Anthony, including his parents, and would do everything to please him. No one could go out of town, as it had been isolated from the rest of the world, anyway. Also, thinking about or saying unhappy things was an offense that wouldn’t go unpunished. This was one episode where you felt desperate to give the villain a lesson, but you knew you were as helpless as Anthony’s victims.

We think that while most episodes of The Twilight Zone introduced a healthy dose of creepiness and suspense; the series was regarded as science fiction and fantasy instead of outright horror. The monsters in the episodes (at least most of them) lived only inside the character’s mind. It was more of an atmospheric scare rather than fright and jump scare, but the haunt was real.

Is it fair to compare The Twilight Zone with American Horror Story? Do you prefer horror stories about ghosts, monsters, zombies, vampires, or aliens? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

What are The Twilight Zone’s best episodes?

According to the TIME magazine, the 10 best episodes of the series are:

Living Doll (1963)
Walking Distance (1959)
It’s a Good Life (1961)
The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960)
The Hitch-Hiker (1960)
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1963)
The Invaders (1961)
To Serve Man (1962)
The Eye of the Beholder (1960)
Time Enough at Last (1959)

Does the remake of “It’s a Good Life” have the same plot?

It still has Anthony as the main antagonist, but the remake ends up with a positive note where he finds a companion or a mentor to teach him that his power has potentially better uses. Before the ending, however, a lot of things are more terrifying than the original.