Horror anthologies have been a fairly regular staple of television dating back to the 1950s. The results have often varied, with some becoming extremely popular and lasting for multiple seasons while others have faded out within the first year or two. The popular ones are familiar to us all, having a long-lasting impact on our society. The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Tales from the Crypt, and so on are favorites to many of us. But some others that have slipped through the cracks a bit are worth a second look.
Ghost Story, later known as Circle of Fear, is one personal favorite of mine that is a little underappreciated. It’s not unknown by any means but doesn’t quite get the love that it should. And it’s a real shame because not only does it feature some heavy hitters (William Castle, Richard Matheson, Jimmy Sangster, Robert Bloch, Richard Donner), it was quite good.
The idea started with the Peter Pan Records release of William Castle’s Ghost Story, a horror vinyl aimed towards children. The series was adapted for television by Richard Matheson with William Castle serving as the executive producer. It only ran for one season on NBC, starting in September of 1972 and concluding in March of ’73. All told, 22 episodes and one pilot aired. For the first 13 episodes, the series was titled Ghost Story and starred Sebastian Cabot as the series host, Winston Essex. Essex would introduce and end each episode with a monologue from Mansfield House, a strange hotel owned by Essex. For these first 13 episodes, guests of the hotel usually served as the participants in the story and Essex, in classic horror host fashion, would usually send us out on some sort of witty jab.
Poor ratings caused NBC to revamp the show starting with the 14th episode. The title was changed to Circle of Fear and Cabot was out as host. Allegedly part of the shift was to see the series move away from ghost stories and the supernatural, though that’s not evident. The later episodes aren’t necessarily worse, but they don’t hit as frequently as the first half. Furthermore, the lack of Cabot is noticeable, and not in a good way. Why they decided to remove him and go host-free in this format is dumbfounding. Personally, I would’ve gone with the title change but kept Cabot. He was the series highlight. But I’m no NBC executive, so what do I know?
Audiences in the ’70s weren’t too keen on the changes either. The series failed to see a boost and only lasted nine more episodes.
Over the years the series has lived on in a variety of ways. A few episodes popped up on a William Castle DVD collection and in 2012 Sony released the entire series on DVD. Earlier this year Australia’s Via Vision Entertainment released the entire series on a remastered Blu-ray (with the audio from the vinyl included as a bonus). After rewatching all 23 episodes I did the only thing that was left to do – I ranked my top ten favorite episodes.
10. “House of Evil”
Director: Daryl Duke
Writer: Robert Bloch
Aired: 11/10/72
A young Jodie Foster stars as Judy, a deaf-mute that lives with her brother, father, and step-mother. Her grandpa (Melvyn Douglas) on her deceased mother’s side comes to visit and brings her a dollhouse that is a replica of the house they live in. He also teaches Judy how to communicate with him telepathically. Using this skill, Grandpa can force Judy to cause harm to others inadvertently. This spooky tale from Robert Bloch is effective and in addition to the telepathic mayhem features voodoo dolls made out of soul cakes.
9. “The Concrete Captain”
Director: Richard Donner
Writer: Jimmy Sangster
Aired: 9/22/72
Ed (Stuart Whitman) and Kate (Gena Rowlands) are on a road trip celebrating their anniversary. While at a roadside stop, Ed purchases his wife a souvenir of something the locals refer to as “The Concrete Captain.” It’s an odd little knick-knack of what appears to be a small piece of concrete or rock with a harpoon sticking out. Upon receiving the gift Kate feels drawn to a specific seaside inn. Despite never having been there before, Kate is able to guide Ed to its location. They arrive to find it closed for the season but Kate is able to convince the caretaker – Walter Burke in a standout performance – to let them check-in. Kate realizes she was drawn to this inn because of “The Concrete Captain.” It’s a solid little ghost story of suspense that doesn’t take the exact steps that you would expect.
8. “The New House (Pilot)”
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writer: Richard Matheson
Aired: 3/17/72
John (David Birney) and Eileen Travis (Barbara Perkins) are a recently married couple expecting their first child. With their family unit growing, they purchase and move into a new house. This would-be happy occasion is spoiled as Eileen begins to hear noises shortly after moving in. Soon she begins to have visions of a young lady, and before long it becomes clear that this lady has a significant interest in Eileen’s unborn child. As the only one having the visions, Eileen begins to drive herself mad. Is it the pregnancy or something else? The series’ pilot takes a fairly typical haunted house tale and adds a nice little twist.
7. “The Phantom of Herald Square”
Director: James H. Brown
Writer: Seeleg Lester & Jimmy Sangster
Aired: 3/30/73
Young art student Holly (Sheila Larken) meets a man named James (David “Hutch” Soul) in the park one day and they instantly hit it off. As the two begin a relationship, Holly finds herself stalked and harassed by an older man. Is this an odd coincidence or does this old man have a connection with James? As Holly digs for the truth she makes a shocking discovery. “The Phantom of Herald Square” proved to be the series finale, and although it’s a bit of a sad love story, it works as a nice send off for this anthology that didn’t really get a fair shake.
6. “Time of Terror”
Director: Robert Day
Writer: Jimmy Sangster
Aired: 12/22/72
Ellen Alexander (Patricia Neal) wakes up in her hotel room at the casino resort she’s vacationing at and her husband is missing. She calls the front desk to have him paged only to learn that he checked out without her. Believing this to be a mistake she confronts hotel management that assures her it is not. As Ellen slowly begins to piece the story together she realizes that this may not be the vacation she thought it was. Neal gives an Emmy-worthy performance that relies almost entirely on a wide array of facial expressions. While highly entertaining and well-executed, “Time of Terror” is a rather sad tale.
5. “Bad Connection”
Director: Walter Doniger
Writer: John McGreevey
Aired: 10/6/72
Karen Black stars as Barbara, a young widow on the verge of a second marriage that starts being stalked by an unknown but sinister force. Barbara’s stalker starts making strange phone calls both to her office and home. Eventually, she even spots him standing on top of her roof and peering through the skylight. Barbara goes to her fiancé (Michael Tolan) and the police but they don’t believe her, assuming she may be having some sort of mental breakdown. With little help from others, Barbara is able to identify the stalker as her late husband, returning from the grave. This episode would make for a great pairing with Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man.
4. “Alter-Ego”
Director: David Lowell Rich
Writer: D.C. Fontana
Aired: 10/27/72
Kids are creepy and this is a story about one of the creepiest. Robert (Michael-James Wixted) is a good kid, does well in school, and is generally nice to everyone. After a leg injury confines him to a wheelchair he develops an imaginary friend to play chess with. This friend is another version of Robert, but with a dark side. Robert’s alter-ego plans to kill off the real Robert and replace him. But before he can do that he must get practice killing others. “Alter-Ego” is the most disturbing episode of the series. Evil Robert is a cold, heartless killer that will send chills down your spine with one menacing look.
3. “Death’s Head”
Director: James Neilson
Writer: Rick Blum
Aired: 1/5/73
Carol (Janet Leigh) is in a loveless marriage with her husband, Steve (Gene Nelson). Their biggest hangup? Carol absolutely loathes insects while Steve collects and preserves them. Oh, well that and the fact that Carol is in love with Steve’s business partner and best friend, Larry (Rory Calhoun). While out on a drive to the coast with Larry, Carol meets a gypsy that gives her a potion that can be used to exterminate her husband. The potion works but comes with unexpected and negative consequences. Carol gets her wish, but at what cost?
This episode marked the series shift to Circle of Fear. Undoubtedly it loses points for not having Cabot and fans of the series seem to find it silly, but it’s so much fun and the cast is loaded. Sure, Leigh spends a good portion of the time swatting at bugs, most of which we either can’t see or if we can they look comically fake, but she’s fully committed to the performance, making it impossible not to love.
2. “The Dead We Leave Behind”
Director: Paul Stanley
Writer: Robert Specht
Aired: 9/15/72
Jason Robards stars as forest ranger Elliot Brent living in a house in the middle of nowhere with his wife, Joanna (Stella Stevens). The secluded home isn’t quite the paradise that Joanna envisioned and she finds herself bored and restless. To keep her entertained, Elliot buys her a TV. The TV starts to consume her, upsetting Elliot in the process. The two get into a scuffle that ends with Joanna dead. Soon after the TV begins to show Elliot images of both the recent past and the impending future. He learns that his wife was having an affair and the man she was doing it with stumbles upon his home. This twisty tale of infidelity, technology, and guilt is genuinely creepy. You’re going to want to watch this one with the lights on. And then once you turn the TV off you’ll want to double-check to make sure it’s actually off.
1. “Doorway to Death”
Director: Daryl Duke
Writer: Jimmy Sangster
Aired: 1/26/73
A father moves his three children into a new apartment in San Francisco. They soon discover that they were able to land such a great deal on the place because there’s something very strange about the unit above them, which has remained unoccupied for quite some time. Robert (Leif Garrett) decides to investigate the empty apartment and what he finds beyond the door is a cabin in the woods. Impressed by his findings, he takes his younger sister, Jane (Dawn Lyn), to meet “the man upstairs.” While the man is nice to both Robert and Jane, it turns out he’s actually the spirit of a crazed ax murder and he has a strong desire for the siblings’ older sister, Peggy (Susan Dey).
Perhaps choosing “Doorway to Death” as the top episode of Ghost Story/Circle of Fear is a little too obvious, but sometimes the best is the best. This episode most accurately nails the tone the series was going for. It perfectly blends supernatural spooks and slasher elements to create a terrifying hour of network television. Of course, it would have been just a tad better with a Cabot wraparound.
