While I never felt
The (New) Twilight Zone (1985-1989) ever reached the heights of the original, I watched it faithfully each week, and some episodes stayed with me into adulthood.
"The Shadow Man", for example. Directed by
Joe Dante (Gremlins, Matinee), its a short and shivery little spook yarn in the tradition of those classic tales told 'round the campfire (like the ones I previously posted
here.)
Despite being thirteen-years old, Danny Hayes (Jonathan Ward) is still afraid of the dark and can't go to sleep without the lights on.
When his Mom finally insists on turning off his bedroom lights after scolding him for clinging to childhood fears he should have long outgrown, we find those fears aren't entirely unfounded.
SPOILERS BELOW!
Something rises up from under his bed: the tall, thin silhouette of a mysterious figure. Danny is terrified by the ominous spectre towering at the edge of his bed, who introduces himself in a raspy voice:
"I am the Shadow Man, and I will never harm the person under whose bed I live."
With that, he turns and hovers quietly out the bedroom window.
Danny is so frightened he abandons his room for the living room couch. We'll learn later, when he relays the story to his best friend Peter (Michael Rich), that he heard the ominous Shadow Man return to his room just before dawn.
Peter isn't convinced Danny's "Shadow Man" is anything more than the product of an overactive imagination. But at school that morning, there is talk of a dark, thin stranger that attacked two kids in the park overnight.
The following evening, the thing appears again, rising up from beneath his bed, and reciting:
"I am the Shadow Man, and I will never harm the person under whose bed I live."..before slipping eerily out the window. This time Danny is armed with a camera to capture the evidence, but the flash fails and his photos are useless.
A week passes and the dark stranger who has continued to terrorize children that dare to be caught outside after dark has become the talk of the school.
At this point, Danny is starting to get accustomed to his unusual roommate, even daring to ask him one evening, as he makes his way out the window, "You'll never hurt
me, right? Promise?"
To which the Shadow Man repeats:
"I am the Shadow Man, and I will never harm the person under whose bed I live."When the bully Eric (Jason Presson), picks a fight with him at the local burger joint, Danny, hoping to impress a girl and perhaps put an end to Eric once and for all, challenges Eric to fight him later that night, at the park where the murdering maniac has been seen the most.
Eric, not wanting to look cowardly in front of the other kids, agrees.
That night Danny waits until the Shadow Man makes his nightly exit, then heads to the park for his rendezvous.
Eric arrives ready to fight, but Danny stalls until the Shadow Man arrives, appearing out of the darkness behind him.
Eric runs for his life and yells for Danny to do the same.
Danny, confident that
he won't be harmed, dawdles in the park at the foot of the Shadow Man, even encouraging him to pursue Eric, who shouldn't be too hard to catch.
But instead, the looming Shadow Man seizes him by the neck and lifts him into the air. Gasping in fear, Danny protests: "You said you'd never hurt me! You promised!"
The Shadow Man hisses a chilling response:
"I am the Shadow Man, and I will never harm the person under whose bed I live......but I am a Shadow Man from under someone else's bed!"
The Shadow Man can be found on
The (New) Twilight Zone Season 1 DVD.
We're back with another Norman Bridwell pseudo-serious guide for the monster enthusiast (I previously posted on The Witch's Catalog and How To Care For Your Monster). This time he's focusing on how your pet monster can be enjoyed on holidays throughout the year.
Of course we all know monsters fit right in at Halloween, but I bet it never occured to you that your pet mummy can be useful in a game of snap-apple.
Or that a vampire's fangs and gift of flight give him a unique advantage in bobbing for apples?
They also make a useful chaperon for trick-or-treating.
A mummy might use an Egyptian curse to punish cranky homeowners that "ran out" of candy.
But what about holidays other than Halloween? Bridwell has some interesting advise. For example, he suggest vampires might enjoy the "Hanukah" (sic) menorah, as it will remind him of his castle candelabrum.
With his fear of fire, Frankenstein, on the other hand, might prefer spinning the dreidel.
When New Year's Eve rolls around, you might want to keep an eye on your mummy, lest someone mistake his loose bandages for streamers.
Here's a poem you can send to your vampire on Valentine's Day.
He'll show you his vamp-Irish side (don't blame me--I stole the pun from Bridwell!) on St. Patrick's Day by dressing up as a leprechaun.
A werewolf, on the other hand, may end up catching a real leprechaun and cooking him in his own pot!
April Fool's Day provides an opportunity to play pranks on your monster, but they just might prank you back. As payback for greasing his perch, the vampire has rigged the door to dump a bucket of bats on your head!
Pour some jumping beans into your mummy's hollow body to give him a little get-up-and-go. But his retaliation will trip you up.
A vampire wouldn't make a good Easter bunny, because he'd drop his egg basket while hanging from a tree branch.
Some of your monster's mothers, just in time for Mother's Day.
This last one has to be my favorite. Bridwell suggests a mummy would enjoy the chaos that ensues as ladies fight over Labor Day sales items!
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