December 25th, 2020: Happy 96th birthday to Rod Serling.

Unlock this door with
the key of your imagination.

Somewhere between light and shadow,
Between science and superstition,

We invited you to submit a story of
things and ideas, that could become…

As Timeless As Infinity!


THE CONTEST: Imagine a new Twilight Zone episode. Write Rod Serling’s opening and closing narrations. Give it a title and send us your entry …and you did!

Watch Winner Videos:     2024     2023     2021     2020     2019     2018     2017

Congratulations to the 2020 Winners

First Place: “Terminal” by Matthew Hawes
Second Place (tie): “Last Respects” by Ivy M. Miller
Second Place (tie): “Show Me the Way to Go Home” by Darren Winterford
Third Place: “What Goes Around” by Ivy M. Miller


We were delighted to get nearly fifty entries this year. Among them, you’ll find gems… Characters facing moral crossroads, and sometimes getting second chances. Baddies getting their due. Surreal angles on current events and technologies. Writers riffing on social and moral values, as Rod Serling did, Back In The Day. And others just having fun with strange ideas …also as Rod Serling did, Back In The Day.

Stephen Dexter is back as Rod Serling, pausing his busy schedule of acting, voicing, writing, and producing, to make these prizes such a treat. You won, yeah that’s cool, but wait—hearing Rod Serling perform your entry? That is seriously special. We thank him for donating his abundant skill and limited time. Stephen has wrapped post-production on his film American Morning, and it is now in the hands of the gatekeepers at some amazing film festivals. View the official trailer here, and view video clips from the film and about making the film, at the film’s Facebook page. American Morning takes on gun violence with the interior, personal approach that won Rod so many Emmys. Go Stephen!

A tie in judging gave us four winners—as it did last year. And Ivy Miller scored with both of her entries! That’s impressive. Finding writers who could become heirs to Rod Serling is a goal of this contest. Or more poetically put: giving writers an opportunity to find themselves. THANK YOU to everyone who submitted an entry. We’ve got some good stuff here, and not just the top four.

So here are all the entries, for you to enjoy in the theater of your mind. If you happen to meet Jordan Peele, overseer of the current Twilight Zone on TV, tell him to check out the ideas and visualizations on this page—because there ‘s plenty here that is worthy.


ATTRIBUTIONS

Stills and video were collected over the internet from Creative Commons, and from various sites that did not specify copyright. All art is used in brief under the Fair Use Doctrine. No profit was acrued nor any infringement intended, from use. Below: available specifics.

1. TERMINAL

2. (tie) LAST RESPECTS 

2. (tie) SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME

3. WHAT GOES AROUND 

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