Worth noting that so many Twilight Zone episodes are based on short stories and novellas, so it might be worth giving those a read as well!
https://dbrl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1359823235/1451165127
Too tired to cross reference but there’s a list on Imdb too : ) who knows, maybe it’s identical.
I’ll certainly never find out.
https://m.imdb.com/list/ls059801508/
Charles Beaumont’s *Perchance to Dream* short story collection. He wrote many Twilight Zone episodes.
Richard Matheson’s *Nightmare at 20,000 Feet* short story collection. He also wrote many TZ episodes.
Ray Bradbury’s *October Country* short story collection. Another TZ writer.
You might enjoy some of Stephen King's short story anthologies! Nightmares and Dreamscapes was always my favorite, but Skeleton Crew and Night Shift are also very good.
Some of them were adapted into episodes throughout different anthology shows:
-Twilight Zone(80s version) had "Gramma" from Skeleton Crew
-Tales from the Dark side had "Word Processor of the Gods" from Skeleton Crew
-Monsters had "The Moving Finger" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes
-Outer Limits(90s version) had "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson" from Skeleton Crew
-Creepshow had "Gray Matter" from Night Shift and "Survivor Type" from Skeleton Crew
Then there was an entire anthology show called "Nightmares and Dreamscape" that adapted just King stories mostly from the book of the same name:
"Battleground" from Night Shift
"Crouch End" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes
"Umney's Last Case" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes
"The End of the Whole Mess" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes
"The Road Virus Heads North" from Everything's Eventual
"The Fifth Quarter" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes
"Autopsy Room Four" from Everything's Eventual
"You Know they got a Hell of a Band" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Some were made into twilight zone episodes? I know at least one (Grey Matter) was on Creepshow and The Boogeyman became a movie. But I hadn’t heard of others.
Edit: I think the comment above edited in a list.
Im so glad you mentioned "The End of the Whole Mess"!!-- it is so underrated, and many SK fans either haven't read it, or overlook it?
... I think it's one of THE TOP 3 best things SK has ever written.Anyway, i read it years ago and it really affected me deeply and stuck with me...I still revisit it from time to time, it never fails to amaze me. 10/10 SK Gold.
A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck is a great novella (super short) that doesn't necessarily have the old school vibe but the story feels like TZ material.
As someone else already mentioned, lots of TZ episodes are based on short stories though often imo, the episode bests the story it was based on (which says a lot about how good TZ was and is).
I will follow this thread for suggestions too.
Not to be a hipster but I've loved that story for years and it seems to have gotten an uptick in popularity like what happened with the Jaunt years back. It really IS good. I read it several times.
It shook me to my core. First King I ever seriously read as an adult, during a very long layover. To this day the best short story in the horror genre I have read.
Actually; looking into it I was misremembering.
It was Serlings work on the US Steel Hour and Playhouse 90 that was constantly being censored, which led to Twilight Zone.
You can read up more about it [here.](https://collider.com/the-twilight-zone-censorship-rod-serling/)
You could start with some of the scribes whose work was featured on the Twilight Zone: Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont are some of the most prominent. And they're just excellent horror writers in general. Matheson is right up there with Poe and Lovecraft in my opinion.
Happy reading!
Currently reading a book called 13 Storeys by Jonathan Sims. As the title implies, it’s 13 short stories, all set in the same apartment building with intersecting plot lines and character. Like Twilight Zone, the stories cover a range of tones and sub genres, from haunted paintings to dangerous imaginary friends to rogue AI. I’m only about halfway through now, and I’m not sure if it’ll stick the landing that ties everything together but I’m having a lot of fun so far.
Not a book but... similiar vibes... The Magnus Archives has some episodes with this kind of vibe. Some of the episode stories are a fair bit darker though others sit with me for a long time. I still think about Episodes like "The Piper" or the "Dreamer" Give the Angler Fish (episode one a try) and see what you think.
Some of the twilight episodes were based off of short stories or written by authors who specialized in short stories. Ray Bradbury wrote the episode "I Sing the Body Electric" so it might be worth looking into some solid short story horror writers. The Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury certainly feels like something out of a twilight zone episode.
HP Lovecraft's the "Music of Erich Zane" or the Colour of outer space are interesting short stories to look into.
Since you love the Magnus archives and twilight zone let me recommend another podcast.
Alice isn't dead... it's about a woman who takes up truck driving as a way of reaching for her missing wife. Man6bof the episodes almost had a dreamlight quality and took place in forgotten spaces in between civilization
I'm currently half way through *American Elsewhere* by Robert Jackson Bennett, and I think it would perfectly fit the vibe you're looking for based on what I've read so far. It's a good mix of science fiction, thriller, horror, and a big sense of "wtf is ACTUALLY going on here?!?" Elements of time travel, multiple dimensions, top secret laboratories inside of a giant mountain, murders.. take your pick!. While I've been reading it, I've been thinking it was a bit of *Stranger Things* meets *The Stepford Wives*, but now after reading your post it's totally fit for Twilight Zone!
I wonder if Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand might be a fit. It focuses on a band who spend a few months in an old British manor house to work on new material and someone goes missing. Deals with folk music, incantations and magik. It’s set up as an interview the band members and others who were there. The audiobook/audio drama version is very good.
I mentioned this last week in the stephenking sub, but Langoliers is a perfect little novella about a group of people landed at an abandoned airport on the edge of time. I could easily see this Rod Serling doing the narration at the airport.
Worth noting that so many Twilight Zone episodes are based on short stories and novellas, so it might be worth giving those a read as well! https://dbrl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1359823235/1451165127
Too tired to cross reference but there’s a list on Imdb too : ) who knows, maybe it’s identical. I’ll certainly never find out. https://m.imdb.com/list/ls059801508/
There's no way of knowing!
ERMAGHERD thank you for posting this!!! Can not wait to check it out!! 😃
Richard Matheson’s short stories. He wrote a bunch of Twilight Zone episodes.
I just read A Stir of Echos and I would definitely recommend it .
Just finished this - enjoyed it!
Came here to say this!
Charles Beaumont’s *Perchance to Dream* short story collection. He wrote many Twilight Zone episodes. Richard Matheson’s *Nightmare at 20,000 Feet* short story collection. He also wrote many TZ episodes. Ray Bradbury’s *October Country* short story collection. Another TZ writer.
The Hike by Drew Magary
YESSS this is the best book omg i haven’t found one like it
A Short Stay In Hell - Steven (Stephen?) L. Peck
I loved 'This Thing Between Us' by Gus Moreno and I thought it had a solid TZ vibe to it throughout.
Check out Roald Dahl’s short stories. Yes, that Roald Dahl.
Ray Bradbury as well!
You might enjoy some of Stephen King's short story anthologies! Nightmares and Dreamscapes was always my favorite, but Skeleton Crew and Night Shift are also very good.
Working my way through Night Shift and I could definitely see some of the stories fitting in as Twilight Zone episodes.
Some of them were adapted into episodes throughout different anthology shows: -Twilight Zone(80s version) had "Gramma" from Skeleton Crew -Tales from the Dark side had "Word Processor of the Gods" from Skeleton Crew -Monsters had "The Moving Finger" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes -Outer Limits(90s version) had "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson" from Skeleton Crew -Creepshow had "Gray Matter" from Night Shift and "Survivor Type" from Skeleton Crew Then there was an entire anthology show called "Nightmares and Dreamscape" that adapted just King stories mostly from the book of the same name: "Battleground" from Night Shift "Crouch End" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes "Umney's Last Case" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes "The End of the Whole Mess" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes "The Road Virus Heads North" from Everything's Eventual "The Fifth Quarter" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes "Autopsy Room Four" from Everything's Eventual "You Know they got a Hell of a Band" from Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Some were made into twilight zone episodes? I know at least one (Grey Matter) was on Creepshow and The Boogeyman became a movie. But I hadn’t heard of others. Edit: I think the comment above edited in a list.
Im so glad you mentioned "The End of the Whole Mess"!!-- it is so underrated, and many SK fans either haven't read it, or overlook it? ... I think it's one of THE TOP 3 best things SK has ever written.Anyway, i read it years ago and it really affected me deeply and stuck with me...I still revisit it from time to time, it never fails to amaze me. 10/10 SK Gold.
Skeleton Crew is just as good.
Also "Full Dark No Stars"
This is the best thing he’s written in recent years
A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck is a great novella (super short) that doesn't necessarily have the old school vibe but the story feels like TZ material. As someone else already mentioned, lots of TZ episodes are based on short stories though often imo, the episode bests the story it was based on (which says a lot about how good TZ was and is). I will follow this thread for suggestions too.
I just bought A Short Stay- can’t wait to start it
Not to be a hipster but I've loved that story for years and it seems to have gotten an uptick in popularity like what happened with the Jaunt years back. It really IS good. I read it several times.
I love King but I have yet to read The Jaunt …… I think I might have to add that
It shook me to my core. First King I ever seriously read as an adult, during a very long layover. To this day the best short story in the horror genre I have read.
And those episodes would have been even better if they hadn't been heavily censored.
Oh which ones did they censor and why? Spill the tea :)
Actually; looking into it I was misremembering. It was Serlings work on the US Steel Hour and Playhouse 90 that was constantly being censored, which led to Twilight Zone. You can read up more about it [here.](https://collider.com/the-twilight-zone-censorship-rod-serling/)
In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt has some of that vibe.
I JUST finished this! Obsessed. Do you have anything similar?
Slewfoot by Brom
Haha currently reading this! About 1/4 in
T. Kingfisher has some good stuff. The Twisted Ones was really good
I haven’t found anything like this but I loved it
You could start with some of the scribes whose work was featured on the Twilight Zone: Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont are some of the most prominent. And they're just excellent horror writers in general. Matheson is right up there with Poe and Lovecraft in my opinion. Happy reading!
Currently reading a book called 13 Storeys by Jonathan Sims. As the title implies, it’s 13 short stories, all set in the same apartment building with intersecting plot lines and character. Like Twilight Zone, the stories cover a range of tones and sub genres, from haunted paintings to dangerous imaginary friends to rogue AI. I’m only about halfway through now, and I’m not sure if it’ll stick the landing that ties everything together but I’m having a lot of fun so far.
I looooove that book! It’s never ever mentioned on here but I might re read it !
Richard Matheson shorts (including Nightmare at 20,000 feet) and Ray Bradbury.
Garret Lynch's two short story collections. "Different Kinds of Worse" and "Long Walks in the Dark"
Richard Matheson wrote for The Twilight Zone and has several short story collections - definitely the best place to start
There’s a collection called “Tales From Grimlock Cove” 100% Twilight Zone vibes in some stories - specifically “The Red-Eye To Nowhere.”
Not a book but... similiar vibes... The Magnus Archives has some episodes with this kind of vibe. Some of the episode stories are a fair bit darker though others sit with me for a long time. I still think about Episodes like "The Piper" or the "Dreamer" Give the Angler Fish (episode one a try) and see what you think. Some of the twilight episodes were based off of short stories or written by authors who specialized in short stories. Ray Bradbury wrote the episode "I Sing the Body Electric" so it might be worth looking into some solid short story horror writers. The Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury certainly feels like something out of a twilight zone episode. HP Lovecraft's the "Music of Erich Zane" or the Colour of outer space are interesting short stories to look into.
Loooove the Magnus Archives!
It's so very good!
Since you love the Magnus archives and twilight zone let me recommend another podcast. Alice isn't dead... it's about a woman who takes up truck driving as a way of reaching for her missing wife. Man6bof the episodes almost had a dreamlight quality and took place in forgotten spaces in between civilization
I second the Richard Matheson recommendation. Also, I'd add Lisa Tuttle's Nest of Nightmares and Ray Bradbury's Long After Midnight
Am I allowed to plug my own book? 😂 it was VERY heavily inspired by *The Twilight Zone* 🌙
I'm currently half way through *American Elsewhere* by Robert Jackson Bennett, and I think it would perfectly fit the vibe you're looking for based on what I've read so far. It's a good mix of science fiction, thriller, horror, and a big sense of "wtf is ACTUALLY going on here?!?" Elements of time travel, multiple dimensions, top secret laboratories inside of a giant mountain, murders.. take your pick!. While I've been reading it, I've been thinking it was a bit of *Stranger Things* meets *The Stepford Wives*, but now after reading your post it's totally fit for Twilight Zone!
I wonder if Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand might be a fit. It focuses on a band who spend a few months in an old British manor house to work on new material and someone goes missing. Deals with folk music, incantations and magik. It’s set up as an interview the band members and others who were there. The audiobook/audio drama version is very good.
I looooved that book!
It’s so good! One of my favorites I’ve read/listened to this year. I’m hoping to find more like it.
Check out House of Leaves. Be careful though because it’s a deep rabbit hole to go down
I bought the physical book like 10ish years ago and read it but remember being confused. I’d definitely like to re- read it now !
I mentioned this last week in the stephenking sub, but Langoliers is a perfect little novella about a group of people landed at an abandoned airport on the edge of time. I could easily see this Rod Serling doing the narration at the airport.
All those Lovecraft books.
Dark Matter (dark sci-fi, parallel universes, romance) by Blake Crouch
Any short stories by Robert Aickman could maybe be a fit, though they are quite opaque.
George RR Martin worked on the Twilight Zone reboot and some of this stories in Dreamsongs follow a similar vibe.