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!
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.
Artificial Paradise
The Autocratic Party
The Beast on Alabaster Road
Beauty and the Beast
The Body Collector
Bum Deal
The Dare
Dorian Gray
Ebenezer
Five Minute Rule
Front Row Seat
Game Show
Happy Man Emoji
Hindsight
Hindsight
Hope, Faith and Love, But…
An Irritating Power of Invisibility
Last Respects
Law and Order
Never Forget
A New York State of Mind
The Parasite and the Pacifist
The Planet of the Blind
The Reckoning
Reminisce With Me
The Resonant
Ruth T
The Scenic Route
Show Me The Way To Go Home
Sibling Rivalry
Silence Lay Steadily
Spirit Available for Work…
A Stitch in Time
Streets of Gold
Submitted For Your Approval
Tag
Temperatures Rising
Terminal
Time of Death
To Know the Truth
Twenty-20
Welcome Home
What Goes Around
Writer’s Paradise
Yesterday
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
- “SFO San Francisco International Airport” by Prayitno / Thank you for (12 millions +) view is licensed under CC BY 2.0
- “Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok” by OliverN5 is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
- “Changi Airport Viewing Mall” by edwin.11 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
- “North Korea – Sunan Airport” by Roman Harak is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
- Video clips from SFO takeoff recorded by Steve Schlich. No copyright.
2. (tie) LAST RESPECTS
- Terracotta Army still: “Maros M r a z (Maros), CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons” href=“https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Terracotta_Army_26.jpg“
- Terracotta Army stills from a City of Xi’an tourism website.
- Video clips and stills from “Secrets Of The Terracotta Warriors – Full History Documentary” on YouTube.
2. (tie) SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME
- Bad Directions by Michael Mandell 25 seconds of a 50-second video of a man giving bad directions. A classic!
- “65/356” by krystian_o is licensed under CC BY 2.0
- “Bad Route Road freeway exit in Montana, 1993” by theslowlane is licensed under CC BY 2.0
- “Sign not in use” by Joe Dunckley is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
- “Woman on Subway Platform Giving Directions to Tourist” by wnyc is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
3. WHAT GOES AROUND
- Clips from a Trailer for the movie “Straight Jacket”
- Clips from “Straight Jacket” and other Crawford films found on YouTube
- Clip from the Rat scene from “Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?”