Sometime in the late-1990s—when I was about 12 years old—my Dad ordered The Twilight Zone VHS tapes from Columbia House Video. He didn’t bite on the Columbia House subscription model/scam (hahaha!), but the three free tapes we got unlocked the door, so to speak, to my imagination.
The first episode we watched: Eye of the Beholder. I was utterly entranced. Completely sucked in as the bandages came off one layer at a time, I was of course wholly unprepared for the shocking and horrifying twist (“no change—no change at all!”). In quick succession were The Invaders, The Hitchhiker, The Dummy, & Living Doll. I watched until the tape started wearing out.
But this being the 90s, there was no streaming services (for better or worse) to find other episodes and they weren’t available to rent at the local mom & pop rental store. But soon, thanks to cable TV and the need to fill its “airwaves”, I’d strike the Twilight Zone motherlode.
The exact year escapes me, but in the early 2000s I stumbled upon the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) Channel’s New Years Twilight Zone marathon. Endless half hours upon half hours of “new” TZ content for me to discover? Incredible! Year after year, watching large portions of the TZ New Years marathon developed into a treasured tradition. While most folks were popping champagne or watching Dick Clark count down the Times Square ball’s descent, I was roaming Homewood, living on Maple Street, or pumping pennies into the Mystic Seer.
During the intervening years, I have marveled at how ahead of his time Rod Serling was with The Twilight Zone. So many of the episodes are just as fresh and relevant today—sometimes, in all honesty, even more so—than when they aired in the 50s/60s. My two favorite episodes—Walking Distance & The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street—have cemented home powerful life lessons that I try and incorporate into my own reality. When I see political strife/dissension, I think of Rod’s closing monologue to Maple Street: “The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices—to be found only in the minds of men”. When I lose myself in nostalgia, I endeavor to heed the advice of Martin Sloane’s father: “Maybe when you go back, you’ll find that there are merry-go-rounds and band concerts where you are. Maybe you haven’t been looking in the right place. You’ve been looking behind you, Martin. Try looking ahead”.
To this day, when asked the ubiquitous “favorite holiday” question, New Years is my easy answer. Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone has a hefty role in that and I hope the marathon is never deemed obsolete. It is on my bucket list—and will be a true honor when completed—to visit Binghamton for a SerlingFest and see the statue memorial on the same grounds that inspired Walking Distance.
— Zach Koenig
