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The Season To Be Wary
The Season To Be wary is unique in that it is one of the first examples of Rod Serling publishing stories he created first in narrative form. This collection of three novellas provides poignant insights into the human condition with all its’ moral and ethical dilemmas. Of the three, Escape Route and Eyes were included in the pilot for The Night Gallery, with the latter starring Joan Crawford and directed by new comer, Steven Spielberg. Darkly disturbing, these stories remain relevant today.
221 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 30, 2013
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317 people want to read
About the author
Rod Serling
202 books384 followersRodman Edward "Rod" Serling (December 25, 1924–June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 20, 2024
The Season to be Wary consists of three novellas-- "The Escape Route," "Color Scheme" and "Eyes." I loved Serling's Twilight Zone and each of these stories could have been a screenplay for it, but they perhaps would have pushed the boundaries of 60s TV. "The Escape Route" features and Nazi who ran a concentration camp now living in Argentina circa 1960. He has his pals, or at least other older Nazis to hang with there in the capitol and now performs menial labor and drinks beer. One day down at the bar he learns Eichmann had just been picked up by some Nazi hunters from Israel and also learns they have his info and picture...
"Color Scheme," dedicated to Sammy Davis Jr., takes us to a small, Mississippi town circa 1960 where some black men and women are about to go on a march to the white side of town (across the tracks). The town sheriff decides to let them, but the mayor gets pissed, so he calls a racist bastard named King Connacher to come give a talk in town. King makes his living preaching about how superior the white race is and how the negro just wants to sleep with their daughters, etc. Well, true to form he gets the local red-necks all riled up, but things do not really go as planned...
"Eyes" takes place in NYC and features three dubious characters. Indian Charlie Hatcher, a former boxer who now can barely string together a sentence, Petrozella, Indian Charlie's former manager and all around sleaze ball, and a rich, nasty old woman who, blind since birth, just wants to see the world once in her life...
I love Serling's intense prose and each story hit me in a different way. It was pretty hard to feel sympathy for the aging Nazi, however, although the story does pose some ethical questions to be sure. "Color Scheme" deals with racism and the black liberation movement quite sympathetically, although much of the story puts you in the brain of King, a nasty racist to be sure. All in all, nice collection and if you liked the Twilight Zone, definitely worth checking out. 4 outré stars!
"Color Scheme," dedicated to Sammy Davis Jr., takes us to a small, Mississippi town circa 1960 where some black men and women are about to go on a march to the white side of town (across the tracks). The town sheriff decides to let them, but the mayor gets pissed, so he calls a racist bastard named King Connacher to come give a talk in town. King makes his living preaching about how superior the white race is and how the negro just wants to sleep with their daughters, etc. Well, true to form he gets the local red-necks all riled up, but things do not really go as planned...
"Eyes" takes place in NYC and features three dubious characters. Indian Charlie Hatcher, a former boxer who now can barely string together a sentence, Petrozella, Indian Charlie's former manager and all around sleaze ball, and a rich, nasty old woman who, blind since birth, just wants to see the world once in her life...
I love Serling's intense prose and each story hit me in a different way. It was pretty hard to feel sympathy for the aging Nazi, however, although the story does pose some ethical questions to be sure. "Color Scheme" deals with racism and the black liberation movement quite sympathetically, although much of the story puts you in the brain of King, a nasty racist to be sure. All in all, nice collection and if you liked the Twilight Zone, definitely worth checking out. 4 outré stars!
May 31, 2025
THE SEASON TO BE WARY is something special in the published works of Rod Serling. Instead of the usual short stories, plays or screenplays, this book contains three novellas. That wouldn't be unusual in and of itself, but there is a suggestion that it may have been a bit of an experiment for Serling. He was not a writer of novels, and moving from the short story to the novella may have been an interim step. One thing that is certain in my mind ... I would have been very excited to read the works of Rod Serling, the novelist!
The book is noted as being part of the "Night Gallery" book series, and it does contain two stories that appeared in the television pilot for the series. The first is one of my all-time favorites from that show, "The Escape Route." Serling expands the background of the main character, introduces new supporting characters, and adds a significant motivating incident to trigger the path to the culminating event (that "freaked me out" when I first saw it and that has stayed with me through the subsequent years). For me, this was the most satisfying of the three novellas.
The other story from the pilot was "Eyes." It is famous not only because Joan Crawford starred in it, but also because it was the professional debut of Stephen Spielberg as a Director. Serling alters the story quite a bit for the novella, taking the Reader to an even darker place. "Eyes" has a significant flaw for me, both in the television episode and in the novella. I don't want to go too deeply into Spoiler territory, so I will simply mention one word ... "Headlights."
The other novella was not filmed for "Night Gallery." According to Serling, "Color Scheme" grew out of a story idea given to him by Sammy Davis, Jr. The television network wouldn't touch it, and Serling did not want to "weaken" it by adopting the "Twilight Zone" approach of changing the setting so it would become a metaphor for a significant social issue instead of specifically addressing it.
Now, I'll grant you that this is only my opinion, but I do think that "Color Scheme" was adopted as the first story in "Twilight Zone: The Movie." That segment is not only famous for being the one in which multiple deaths occurred during a stunt accident while filming, but also for being the only segment that didn't come directly from an episode of the "Twilight Zone" television series. Although "Color Scheme" is not acknowledged in that movie, the theme of a destructive racist receiving unearthly Justice can be found in both.
THE SEASON TO BE WARY has a bitterness about it that certainly springs from Rod Serling's noted sense of Social Justice. At the same time, though, I found it to be a very worthwhile read that fascinated me multiple times. And it certainly inspires my curiosity about what a novel penned by Rod Serling would have been like.
The book is noted as being part of the "Night Gallery" book series, and it does contain two stories that appeared in the television pilot for the series. The first is one of my all-time favorites from that show, "The Escape Route." Serling expands the background of the main character, introduces new supporting characters, and adds a significant motivating incident to trigger the path to the culminating event (that "freaked me out" when I first saw it and that has stayed with me through the subsequent years). For me, this was the most satisfying of the three novellas.
The other story from the pilot was "Eyes." It is famous not only because Joan Crawford starred in it, but also because it was the professional debut of Stephen Spielberg as a Director. Serling alters the story quite a bit for the novella, taking the Reader to an even darker place. "Eyes" has a significant flaw for me, both in the television episode and in the novella. I don't want to go too deeply into Spoiler territory, so I will simply mention one word ... "Headlights."
The other novella was not filmed for "Night Gallery." According to Serling, "Color Scheme" grew out of a story idea given to him by Sammy Davis, Jr. The television network wouldn't touch it, and Serling did not want to "weaken" it by adopting the "Twilight Zone" approach of changing the setting so it would become a metaphor for a significant social issue instead of specifically addressing it.
Now, I'll grant you that this is only my opinion, but I do think that "Color Scheme" was adopted as the first story in "Twilight Zone: The Movie." That segment is not only famous for being the one in which multiple deaths occurred during a stunt accident while filming, but also for being the only segment that didn't come directly from an episode of the "Twilight Zone" television series. Although "Color Scheme" is not acknowledged in that movie, the theme of a destructive racist receiving unearthly Justice can be found in both.
THE SEASON TO BE WARY has a bitterness about it that certainly springs from Rod Serling's noted sense of Social Justice. At the same time, though, I found it to be a very worthwhile read that fascinated me multiple times. And it certainly inspires my curiosity about what a novel penned by Rod Serling would have been like.
January 7, 2021
After five seasons of show running "The Twilight Zone" on network television, Rod Serling was burnt out by the workload and the constant meddling of the network and its censors. As a result, he held back three stories that he knew would make great episodes, but would likely get "chopped up" for the 1960s TV format. Instead, he decided to publish these stories in novella format, which is how "The Season to Be Wary" came to be.
Two of the three stories here are 4/5 star quality. "The Escape Route" focuses on an escaped Nazi in Buenos Aires, on the run from the Nuremberg Trials. "Eyes" is a tale of a punchy boxer who is taken advantage of by everyone in his life until those slimy figures ultimately get their comeuppance.
Then, there is "Color Scheme", which is one of the best stories I've ever read in my entire life. It deals with a Civil Rights march in the 1960s Deep South and how the color of one's skin truly makes all the difference in terms of perception. In typical Serling fashion, "Color Scheme" is so far ahead of its time that it is perhaps even more relevant today than ever before. Change a few names, places, and dates, and this could be published to great acclaim right now.
Overall, it was fascinating to experience Serling on the printed page. His distinctive twist endings, social conscience, and even the jolting, stilted narrative style (like a TZ episode opening/closing) are all present here. While "Color Scheme" clearly stands out as the prize-winner of this lot, I'd recommend all three stories to fans of Serling, TZ, or just quality short-form fiction in general.
Two of the three stories here are 4/5 star quality. "The Escape Route" focuses on an escaped Nazi in Buenos Aires, on the run from the Nuremberg Trials. "Eyes" is a tale of a punchy boxer who is taken advantage of by everyone in his life until those slimy figures ultimately get their comeuppance.
Then, there is "Color Scheme", which is one of the best stories I've ever read in my entire life. It deals with a Civil Rights march in the 1960s Deep South and how the color of one's skin truly makes all the difference in terms of perception. In typical Serling fashion, "Color Scheme" is so far ahead of its time that it is perhaps even more relevant today than ever before. Change a few names, places, and dates, and this could be published to great acclaim right now.
Overall, it was fascinating to experience Serling on the printed page. His distinctive twist endings, social conscience, and even the jolting, stilted narrative style (like a TZ episode opening/closing) are all present here. While "Color Scheme" clearly stands out as the prize-winner of this lot, I'd recommend all three stories to fans of Serling, TZ, or just quality short-form fiction in general.
February 16, 2016
My admiration for Rod Serling knows no bounds, though it has to be said that television was his ideal medium. His feature film scripts were hot-and-cold running, and his fiction was intriguing, if not always entirely successful. The volumes of "Twilight Zones" episodes he turned into short stories are for the most part fine, but with "The Season To Be Wary," Serling ventured into unknown territory. Rather than short stories, the three tales in this volume are novella-length, which is a slightly more exacting form. Serling's voice remains intact throughout the three tales -- "Escape Route," "Color Scheme," and "Eyes" -- but Serling hasn't quite mastered the literary form. The narrative in these stories more often than not read like stage directions for a teleplay. and Serling seems to have a hard time pacing his stories without the benefit of commercials. But he frequently delivers the devastating line and perfect metaphor, even if the dialogue is sometimes preachy. "Escape Route" and "Eyes" were filmed for the pilot of "Night Gallery" in 1969, though "Color Scheme" has never been adapted, which makes it the most interesting piece in the book, as well as the most powerful. Since even bad Serling is more worthwhile than the best of a lot of writers, there is a lot in this volume to savor. But it's a shame that the potential of "The Season To Be Wary" could not have been fulfilled to its fullest.
May 10, 2013
Like many of Rod Serling's works, I found these stories to be extremely profound in a deeply disturbing way. The most shocking part of the book, however, is the fact that it was published in 1967. With its strong messages against white supremacists, I'm surprised this book came out during such a tumultuous time. That fact just makes the message stronger, though. I greatly recommend the book -- it truly causes the reader to stop and think. Like the Twilight Zone episode "Death's Head Revisited," the stories will leave you with chills, quiet and pensive.
May 19, 2020
The Season to Be Wary demonstrates Rod Serling's mastery of storytelling beyond television. This incredible collection features three harrowing tales, at the bottom of each are the subject of hatred and ignorance as well as some kind of recompense.
Serling meticulously and carefully canvasses the artifacts that constitute an altogether insidious sickness, a blackness not easily generalized that, in order to be understood, must be portrayed by example. Here, Serling provides three examples, where his prose tactfully cuts deep into the hearts and souls of his characters – characters we know, have seen, have heard, or have been. This collection should be read not merely to anticipate the "twist" endings but rather for the journey, the wretched, writhing, uncomfortable journey where, even when the ending arrives, solace is absent.
Perhaps the broader theme here is that no ending, even if brought upon by the grace of God, could possibly justify the means about which it was brought. Rod Serling portrays mankind's sickly deficits with such cunning, believable characterizations that resonate to the core: we are selfish, woeful, and ignorant, but still we long for redemption and hope, searching perpetually in darkness.
Serling meticulously and carefully canvasses the artifacts that constitute an altogether insidious sickness, a blackness not easily generalized that, in order to be understood, must be portrayed by example. Here, Serling provides three examples, where his prose tactfully cuts deep into the hearts and souls of his characters – characters we know, have seen, have heard, or have been. This collection should be read not merely to anticipate the "twist" endings but rather for the journey, the wretched, writhing, uncomfortable journey where, even when the ending arrives, solace is absent.
Perhaps the broader theme here is that no ending, even if brought upon by the grace of God, could possibly justify the means about which it was brought. Rod Serling portrays mankind's sickly deficits with such cunning, believable characterizations that resonate to the core: we are selfish, woeful, and ignorant, but still we long for redemption and hope, searching perpetually in darkness.
December 24, 2021
If you think the TV shows were brilliant...you'll love his work in print!
June 12, 2020
A stunning trio of novellas. “Color Scheme” is my favorite of the bunch, but the other two are both quite good, with polemical, passionate prose and haunting characters. “The Escape Route” is a good story but not as good as Serling’s own “Death’s Head Revisited” Twilight Zone episode, which deals with many of the same themes.
“Color Scheme” is a powerful story about a racist speaker who becomes black and is destroyed by the racism he himself drummed up. What puts this one particularly over the top for me is that, even though the speaker is punished, Serling makes it clear that his punishment doesn’t rectify things - the racism and hate and violence against the black community can never be undone or forgotten in this story. The protagonist is ultimately destroyed by the beast he helped to create, but the beast is still out there. It’s a powerful and timely narrative, and the story I recommend above all from this collection.
The third story, “Eyes,” is the weakest of the three, but has its merits, its dramatic irony bringing a satisfying comeuppance for a wicked character.
“Color Scheme” is a powerful story about a racist speaker who becomes black and is destroyed by the racism he himself drummed up. What puts this one particularly over the top for me is that, even though the speaker is punished, Serling makes it clear that his punishment doesn’t rectify things - the racism and hate and violence against the black community can never be undone or forgotten in this story. The protagonist is ultimately destroyed by the beast he helped to create, but the beast is still out there. It’s a powerful and timely narrative, and the story I recommend above all from this collection.
The third story, “Eyes,” is the weakest of the three, but has its merits, its dramatic irony bringing a satisfying comeuppance for a wicked character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2019
Three brilliant novellas. I wish he had written more!
March 1, 2023
OR Another Twilight w
Rod Serling was clearly obsessed with morality tales that featured a kind of inverted O Henry ending. not bad, really.
Rod Serling was clearly obsessed with morality tales that featured a kind of inverted O Henry ending. not bad, really.
October 22, 2023
I am a fan of the Twilight Zone and have been watching and rewatching since I was very young. Rod Serling was probably one of the first few names permanently branded on my brain. So, of course, when I found this book, I had to have it. Now, I have been trying to read solely horror novels and stories since 'tis the season but this one, like the original Twilight Zone TV series, the three stories within fit firmly in the Supernatural Thriller and Grim Thriller/Drama categories rather than straight horror. The stories mostly take their time with character work and at times, they build tension and suspense well but could still be pared down a bit. However, this is par for the course with Serling in my experience. A character-heavy story with a spare plot takes place in a fundamentally moral universe with a supernatural twist or twist of perspicacity at or near the end.
The stories spend a lot of time on characters, mostly to paint the bad guys with as many strokes of black as possible and, more interestingly, streaking their victims in shades of gray humanizing them to a greater extent and magnifying the antagonist’s crimes. The antagonists are given strokes of torture revealing their weaknesses more than anything else. They are truly monsters but still, only human evil that the unyielding cosmos will eventually punish severely.
The plot of each story is very, very simple: an escaped nazi war criminal in his attempt to escape imminent justice falls into a cosmic reckoning worse than death, a race-baiting preacher con-man responsible for inciting race riots and lynchings does his thing and crashes hard into supernatural justice, and a rich blind woman manipulates criminals and a destroyed ex-boxer to get what she wants for a mere 12-hours sowing nothing but devastation and death only to jump headlong into a torment rife with perspicacity which serves her just desserts. Again, this is par for the course.
I liked this book and all three stories as they were exactly what I expected. However, I found no surprises here either. I basically got what I was looking for, some Twilight Zone tales, and nothing more. I would recommend this book to fans of the Twilight Zone and of Serling’s other works but don’t expect anything beyond that.
November 15, 2024
Post-Twilight Zone and pre-Night Gallery, Serling wrote this collection of three stories that average about 60 pages each. The characters are brilliant in every possible way. However, two of the stories felt flat for me, feeling as though they were rejected TZ stories.
"The Escape Route" tells the tale of a former Nazi hiding in South America panicking because Eichmann has been discovered and transported back to Israel. He is terrified it will happen to him and the next 48 hours has him nervous and trying to avoid others. The ending came across as very forced.
"Color Scheme" is credited to Sammy Davis, Jr. (who has the book dedicated to him) and it follows a Southern town in turmoil because the African Americans are going to march into the white part of town. A hellfire speaker is hired to rile up the locals after the fact, and he does, and something horrible occurs. What follows is a solid leap into horror for one character, but the ending is never in question. Not a satisfying read.
"Eyes" involves a scheme by one person to use a mentally handicapped former boxer (familiar territory for Sterling) for something he's not capable of understanding. This has some solid twists, with the ending being undeniably clever. This story was a hit.
Worth checking out if you're a fan of Serling, but don't expect too much.
"The Escape Route" tells the tale of a former Nazi hiding in South America panicking because Eichmann has been discovered and transported back to Israel. He is terrified it will happen to him and the next 48 hours has him nervous and trying to avoid others. The ending came across as very forced.
"Color Scheme" is credited to Sammy Davis, Jr. (who has the book dedicated to him) and it follows a Southern town in turmoil because the African Americans are going to march into the white part of town. A hellfire speaker is hired to rile up the locals after the fact, and he does, and something horrible occurs. What follows is a solid leap into horror for one character, but the ending is never in question. Not a satisfying read.
"Eyes" involves a scheme by one person to use a mentally handicapped former boxer (familiar territory for Sterling) for something he's not capable of understanding. This has some solid twists, with the ending being undeniably clever. This story was a hit.
Worth checking out if you're a fan of Serling, but don't expect too much.
December 16, 2025
I recently started watching "The Twilight Zone" and Serling's poetic literary prose and storytelling mesmerized me in such a way that I had to read a written work of his. The Season To Be Wary was, for a time, his only work that wasn't a TV screenplay (though I later found out two of the three stories were adapted into The Night Gallery segments). Serling writes three stories wrapped in dark, karmic tales of the most vile, irredeemable people whose decisions lead them to tragic fates with Twilight Zone twists. He uses the boundaries of books to write stories much too dark for broadcasting standards for today, so a lot of discretion and trigger warnings. His prose is masterful, each story is well paced and confined to an even 60-pages per tale, with all three sharing the thematic message of how short-sighted, ignorant evil will often punish itself eventually.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2024
Growing up on The Twilight Zone, I was so excited to read some of Rod Serling's work. These stories definitely have the same gasp-worthy twists that were in every episode of The Twilight Zone, but these stories were much more...intense. It's no wonder TV wouldn't touch them. Serling's writing is so detailed and character driven, which is what I enjoy. The main characters were interesting in that they were all unlikable. We weren't supposed to be rooting them, yet they were compelling enough to want to read through and see what fate had in store for them. I will absolutely be looking for more Rod Serling collections.
January 30, 2023
This collection of three novellas was published between Twilight Zone and Night Gallery and showed Serling could translate his ideas into prose effectively. He later adapted two of these, "The Escape Route" and "Eyes," for the terrific Night Gallery pilot. The other, "Color Scheme," is about a racist in the South who gets his comeuppance and was, Serling said, considered too hot for TV. It still packs a punch.
November 11, 2023
Two of these are Night Gallery scripts, but you get you a director's cut version that’s pretty great. But Color Scheme, a story Serling tried to adapt for years, is the main draw. The righteous anger burns off the page.
October 26, 2024
What a tweeest!
May 8, 2025
Rod Serling understood people in such a profound way.
July 23, 2025
My favorite story was definitely escape route I know now that I need to watch night gallery. I wish rod had more time with us. It’s sweet that he wrote this for Sammy Davis Jr.
February 21, 2014
First of all, it's a shame Serling never managed to transition to writing novels regularly. I'm sure they would've been fine works, and very possibly one or two of them classics of modern literature.
As for this collection - boasting his fine hand at prose and exposition that doesn't feel weighty or drawn out - imagine a pissed-of Serling with people he loathes at the mercy of his writing whims. I heard someone once call the Twilight Zone "that show in which every son of a bitch gets what he deserves" and that certainly proves true in this collection. This isn't "Walking Distance" "Kick the Can" or "Stop at Willoboughy" Serling, this is "Judgement Night" "I Am the Night, Color Me Black" "Deathhead Revisited Serling." Most of the main characters are awful people, and they get what they deserve, in true Twilight Zone/Serling fashion...
As for this collection - boasting his fine hand at prose and exposition that doesn't feel weighty or drawn out - imagine a pissed-of Serling with people he loathes at the mercy of his writing whims. I heard someone once call the Twilight Zone "that show in which every son of a bitch gets what he deserves" and that certainly proves true in this collection. This isn't "Walking Distance" "Kick the Can" or "Stop at Willoboughy" Serling, this is "Judgement Night" "I Am the Night, Color Me Black" "Deathhead Revisited Serling." Most of the main characters are awful people, and they get what they deserve, in true Twilight Zone/Serling fashion...
December 10, 2015
Three novellas, two of which were turned into scripts (or maybe it's the other way around) for The Night Gallery TV show. Powerful writing, harder and sharper than TV can absorb. I am left with a stronger impression of Serling's skill as a writer.
October 28, 2019
Enjoyed this very nuch.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
February 20, 2014
I LOVED IT - especially the Sammy Davis Jr. story.
December 20, 2020
In the same style of the “Twilight Zone”, Rod Serling, the creator and narrator of the show, weaves engaging stories that are not always what they seem.
September 1, 2012
Worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews