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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
I always love watching Twilight Zone episodes this time of year and first time reading through a collection. Such great stories. Hope to find more anthologies!
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Short Version
A surprisingly boring collection of stories. There are a total of six stories, and only two of them really hold up all that well.
I would say this is only for hardcore fans of the show, but since these stories were all episodes I'd only recommend this to people who want to relive episodes without watching them.
The Long Version
I recently read [b:More Stories from the Twilight Zone|630367|More Stories from the Twilight Zone|Rod Serling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327593411l/630367._SY75_.jpg|616687] and had a lot of fun. So I was very excited to pick up the first book in the series. Unfortunately this one just wasn't as strong. All the short stories are basically transcripts of the episodes, something they had clearly gotten better at doing by the second book, but they also simply aren't very interesting.
The Mighty Casey - ⭐ -A story about a robot baseball pitcher. Kind of interesting in concept but it is slow and boring. I actually found this painful to read. It doesn't help that the moral lesson of the story feels very forced, and by today's standards, both implausible and dated.
Escape Clause - ⭐ - A story about someone who makes a pact with the devil. Another truly painful read. The protagonist is so one dimensional and unlikeable that it's hard to get into this. He's not even fun to hate because he's so over the top insane. I've seen this concept done so much better.
Walking Distance - ⭐⭐1/2 - A man goes back to his hometown for his first visit in a long time. This one was actually kind of sweet. A bit bland and predictable, but not bad overall.
The Fever - ⭐ - A couple win a trip to Vegas and the husband gets addicted to gambling. Much like Escape Clause the main character is so one dimensional and unlikeable that it's hard to get into the story. The moral is also very confusing. It's clearly a tale about how gambling is bad, but since the main character hates any kind of risk or fun it's hard to see how it grabbed him. It more just sounds like he's being punished for being mean to his wife. Altogether unfocused and uninteresting.
Where is Everybody? - ⭐⭐⭐1/2 - A man with amnesia shows up to a new town that is completely deserted. This is the standout story by far. I actually really enjoyed this story. It's still a bit slow and dated, but also the only story to have any real atmosphere or tension. This story is really the only reason to ever pick up this book.
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street - ⭐- The power goes out in a neighborhood and everyone starts to turn on each other. Another painful story. I've read lots of stories both long and short about what would happen if the power went out, or society collapsed, etc. It's a great way to explore the good and evil parts of humanity. Unfortunately, this story is full of overly impressionable characters that all jump to weird conclusions. I could see the dark take on this scenario having been novel in 1960, but by this point it's been done so much better that the shallowness of this story really shines today. The ending is actually kind of clever, but not worth the price of admission.
The best thing I can say for this book is that it's a neat look at what early popular sci fi looked like before we'd even managed to land on the moon. In fact, a couple of the stories joke about moon landings being difficult or impossible.
Unfortunately, that does not make this an interesting or fun read. I would generally recommend avoiding this book at all costs. If you're really curious, go back and watch the actual episodes. At least then you can get sucked in by acting and cinematography. Heck, the episodes even have music!
A surprisingly boring collection of stories. There are a total of six stories, and only two of them really hold up all that well.
I would say this is only for hardcore fans of the show, but since these stories were all episodes I'd only recommend this to people who want to relive episodes without watching them.
The Long Version
I recently read [b:More Stories from the Twilight Zone|630367|More Stories from the Twilight Zone|Rod Serling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327593411l/630367._SY75_.jpg|616687] and had a lot of fun. So I was very excited to pick up the first book in the series. Unfortunately this one just wasn't as strong. All the short stories are basically transcripts of the episodes, something they had clearly gotten better at doing by the second book, but they also simply aren't very interesting.
The Mighty Casey - ⭐ -A story about a robot baseball pitcher. Kind of interesting in concept but it is slow and boring. I actually found this painful to read. It doesn't help that the moral lesson of the story feels very forced, and by today's standards, both implausible and dated.
Escape Clause - ⭐ - A story about someone who makes a pact with the devil. Another truly painful read. The protagonist is so one dimensional and unlikeable that it's hard to get into this. He's not even fun to hate because he's so over the top insane. I've seen this concept done so much better.
Walking Distance - ⭐⭐1/2 - A man goes back to his hometown for his first visit in a long time. This one was actually kind of sweet. A bit bland and predictable, but not bad overall.
The Fever - ⭐ - A couple win a trip to Vegas and the husband gets addicted to gambling. Much like Escape Clause the main character is so one dimensional and unlikeable that it's hard to get into the story. The moral is also very confusing. It's clearly a tale about how gambling is bad, but since the main character hates any kind of risk or fun it's hard to see how it grabbed him. It more just sounds like he's being punished for being mean to his wife. Altogether unfocused and uninteresting.
Where is Everybody? - ⭐⭐⭐1/2 - A man with amnesia shows up to a new town that is completely deserted. This is the standout story by far. I actually really enjoyed this story. It's still a bit slow and dated, but also the only story to have any real atmosphere or tension. This story is really the only reason to ever pick up this book.
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street - ⭐- The power goes out in a neighborhood and everyone starts to turn on each other. Another painful story. I've read lots of stories both long and short about what would happen if the power went out, or society collapsed, etc. It's a great way to explore the good and evil parts of humanity. Unfortunately, this story is full of overly impressionable characters that all jump to weird conclusions. I could see the dark take on this scenario having been novel in 1960, but by this point it's been done so much better that the shallowness of this story really shines today. The ending is actually kind of clever, but not worth the price of admission.
The best thing I can say for this book is that it's a neat look at what early popular sci fi looked like before we'd even managed to land on the moon. In fact, a couple of the stories joke about moon landings being difficult or impossible.
Unfortunately, that does not make this an interesting or fun read. I would generally recommend avoiding this book at all costs. If you're really curious, go back and watch the actual episodes. At least then you can get sucked in by acting and cinematography. Heck, the episodes even have music!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Twilight Zone: Complete Stories is a hardcover collector’s edition containing three smaller paperback volumes totaling 19 short stories written by Rod Serling. These 19 short stories are actual episodes of the iconic television series. This review takes a look at the first installment, 1960’s Stories From The Twilight Zone. All six of these short stories appeared as episodes in the inaugural season. I’ve included the episode numbers, original air date, and a synopsis along with review notes of the individual story...
To read the rest of this review go to https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/the-twilight-zone-complete-stories-1990-part-1-stories-from-the-twilight-zone-1960-review/
To read the rest of this review go to https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/the-twilight-zone-complete-stories-1990-part-1-stories-from-the-twilight-zone-1960-review/
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Trying to read so many thing rn that it's overwhelming!!
Very excellent. Walking Distance is one of the best stories I've read in a long time.
Not all the stories are great, but the ones that are were pretty fantastic. I think Midnight Sun was my favorite and most memorable.