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Rod Serling's Night Gallery
Night Gallery
The Night Gallery is one of three books written by Rod Serling based on stories he created for the 1970 television series by the same name. Similar to his Stories From The Twilight Zone books, he novelized six of the show’s scripts for this volume, including They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar, which was nominated for an Emmy award. Although he didn’t have the creative control he had with The Twilight Zone stories, these are every bit as poignant.
157 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
Rod Serling
202 books389 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 - 30 of 39 reviews
October 6, 2020
I don’t have the fond swirls of memory for the Night Gallery TV series as I do The Twilight Zone, but it does have its moments despite far greater interference from TV execs, and sadly lesser control from Serling himself.
For many years I’d put off reading Serling’s prose - despite being a huge admirer of his scripts - as I thought they were just rehashes of his screenplays quickly rattled off for a TV tie-in market. With one or two exceptions I was happy to discover this was not the case. In addition to his dialogue, the concise descriptive prose is exactly what you would expect from the clipped, straight talking host and scene-setter of Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. There are no wasted words.
Based on his Night Gallery scripts, the six stories range from the reasonable to the very good; there is nothing here that I disliked. For me though, you can split this book in half, with the final three stories being a notch up from the first three. The opening dialogue-laden story (‘The Sole Survivor’), is one of the very few prose stories from Serling which perhaps does feel like it could have been reeled off in a day by merely adding a few descriptive passages in between the dialogue of his original script. Nevertheless, I liked the story of an occupied lifeboat from the Titanic being discovered three years after its sinking. It’s just that given the nature of the idea and the setting, I can’t help thinking Serling missed an opportunity for a far more eerily descriptive story.
Bizarrely, the second story for me suffers from the opposite issue. ‘Make Me Laugh’ is that clichéd, rather poor story of someone being given a wish, but doesn’t think through the consequences. Here though, Serling takes much more time in creating his character (an unfunny, sad comedian), and setting the seedy scene. It’s a case of the writing being better than the story.
Third is ‘Pamela’s Voice.’ A man believes he has murdered his wife, and yet she speaks! It’s OK, but undoubtedly the weakest in this collection. It feels slight and fails to grab the attention. It’s a very R.Chetwynd-Hayes idea for a story, but Chetwynd-Hayes would have brought the extreme characters more to life in prose, and extracted more humour.
Things improve from now on.
‘Does The Name Grimsby Do Anything To You?’ is the only one of these written for Night Gallery, but not ultimately produced. The first man to walk on the moon starts behaving oddly on his return; especially on hearing the name Grimsby. This very Twilight Zone story is a good psychological tale of a man who likes to be first in things, but suffers as he convinces himself in his mind that he wasn’t in fact the first person to walk the moon.
The fifth story is my favourite here – ‘Clean Kills And Other Trophies.’ A bullying man, who likes to hunt, puts an obstacle in the way of his son’s trust fund. Again, it’s very Twilight Zone, with flashes of the bullying Mr Misrell from ‘A Stop At Willoughby appearing as the father figure here. Certainly not a quickly dashed off rehash of the script. This is very well written and an entertaining read.
Lastly we have what is probably the most highly regarded of Night Gallery’s episodes – ‘They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar.’ Again, it’s very Twilight Zonish, and fits in thematically with two of that series’ best episodes – ‘Walking Distance’ and ‘A Stop At Willoughby.’ A man, seemingly washed-up in business, feels that he has been thrown onto the scrap heap; mirroring this is the fact that his favourite bar is being demolished. Powerful, and all very Rod Serling; except that is the very unusual sentimental ending, which doesn’t feel remotely Serling. Nevertheless, it’s another fine character study of the lost middle-aged man looking fondly back at his past; desperate at its loss, and desperate for its return. With the way things are, it’s a longing perhaps readily identified with in 2020!
Just listened to a long BBC radio profile of Serling which has reminded me that he was only fifty when he died, in 1975. So prolific, and yet so much probably still waiting to be said. Someone should have thrown a bucket of cold water over his head every time he lit up! (Though sixty buckets of cold water a day I guess would have just altered cause of death to pneumonia!). I read in a biography that Serling’s surgeon had never seen such arteries when trying to perform a bypass, simply falling apart when he was removing them from his leg to place into his chest. Also read something recently about Burt Lancaster. A fitness fanatic who was often in the gym, but undid all the good work when he'd finished by taking long puffs on a cigarette to wind down and relax...
For many years I’d put off reading Serling’s prose - despite being a huge admirer of his scripts - as I thought they were just rehashes of his screenplays quickly rattled off for a TV tie-in market. With one or two exceptions I was happy to discover this was not the case. In addition to his dialogue, the concise descriptive prose is exactly what you would expect from the clipped, straight talking host and scene-setter of Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. There are no wasted words.
Based on his Night Gallery scripts, the six stories range from the reasonable to the very good; there is nothing here that I disliked. For me though, you can split this book in half, with the final three stories being a notch up from the first three. The opening dialogue-laden story (‘The Sole Survivor’), is one of the very few prose stories from Serling which perhaps does feel like it could have been reeled off in a day by merely adding a few descriptive passages in between the dialogue of his original script. Nevertheless, I liked the story of an occupied lifeboat from the Titanic being discovered three years after its sinking. It’s just that given the nature of the idea and the setting, I can’t help thinking Serling missed an opportunity for a far more eerily descriptive story.
Bizarrely, the second story for me suffers from the opposite issue. ‘Make Me Laugh’ is that clichéd, rather poor story of someone being given a wish, but doesn’t think through the consequences. Here though, Serling takes much more time in creating his character (an unfunny, sad comedian), and setting the seedy scene. It’s a case of the writing being better than the story.
Third is ‘Pamela’s Voice.’ A man believes he has murdered his wife, and yet she speaks! It’s OK, but undoubtedly the weakest in this collection. It feels slight and fails to grab the attention. It’s a very R.Chetwynd-Hayes idea for a story, but Chetwynd-Hayes would have brought the extreme characters more to life in prose, and extracted more humour.
Things improve from now on.
‘Does The Name Grimsby Do Anything To You?’ is the only one of these written for Night Gallery, but not ultimately produced. The first man to walk on the moon starts behaving oddly on his return; especially on hearing the name Grimsby. This very Twilight Zone story is a good psychological tale of a man who likes to be first in things, but suffers as he convinces himself in his mind that he wasn’t in fact the first person to walk the moon.
The fifth story is my favourite here – ‘Clean Kills And Other Trophies.’ A bullying man, who likes to hunt, puts an obstacle in the way of his son’s trust fund. Again, it’s very Twilight Zone, with flashes of the bullying Mr Misrell from ‘A Stop At Willoughby appearing as the father figure here. Certainly not a quickly dashed off rehash of the script. This is very well written and an entertaining read.
Lastly we have what is probably the most highly regarded of Night Gallery’s episodes – ‘They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar.’ Again, it’s very Twilight Zonish, and fits in thematically with two of that series’ best episodes – ‘Walking Distance’ and ‘A Stop At Willoughby.’ A man, seemingly washed-up in business, feels that he has been thrown onto the scrap heap; mirroring this is the fact that his favourite bar is being demolished. Powerful, and all very Rod Serling; except that is the very unusual sentimental ending, which doesn’t feel remotely Serling. Nevertheless, it’s another fine character study of the lost middle-aged man looking fondly back at his past; desperate at its loss, and desperate for its return. With the way things are, it’s a longing perhaps readily identified with in 2020!
Just listened to a long BBC radio profile of Serling which has reminded me that he was only fifty when he died, in 1975. So prolific, and yet so much probably still waiting to be said. Someone should have thrown a bucket of cold water over his head every time he lit up! (Though sixty buckets of cold water a day I guess would have just altered cause of death to pneumonia!). I read in a biography that Serling’s surgeon had never seen such arteries when trying to perform a bypass, simply falling apart when he was removing them from his leg to place into his chest. Also read something recently about Burt Lancaster. A fitness fanatic who was often in the gym, but undid all the good work when he'd finished by taking long puffs on a cigarette to wind down and relax...
April 7, 2025
In NIGHT GALLERY, Rod Serling converts six of his scripts used for the television series of the same name into short stories. This gave him a chance to "flesh out" characters and their motivations much more than the scripts did ... which, frankly, were designed for a twisty "stinger" at the end. So, this collection of short stories presents new versions of the episodes.
Of the six, only one left me cold. That was "Make Me Laugh," which I also thought was a rather disappointing entry when televised. Two others, "Pamela's Voice" and "Sole Survivor," were good stories that provided nice enhancements. And two others, "Clean Kills and Other Trophies" and "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," were pure Rod Serling ... and that made them terrific for me!
One other that would otherwise fall in the "good stories" category is "Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?" It is a very special offering, though, likely because it was deemed to be too expensive to produce as the television segment. It was a psychological study of an Apollo astronaut who returns from being the first person to set foot on the moon, but he brings along with him nightmares that he can't explain. Serling rewrote it as a "tamer" version called, "The Nature of the Enemy." It is fun to compare the two (I have the series on disc at home), but I especially like "Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?" because it also has something of a Jules Verne vibe to it.
For the Rod Serling fan who is obsessed with "The Twilight Zone" (as I am), NIGHT GALLERY is an enjoyable excursion into a companion series. He is a most enjoyable storyteller.
Of the six, only one left me cold. That was "Make Me Laugh," which I also thought was a rather disappointing entry when televised. Two others, "Pamela's Voice" and "Sole Survivor," were good stories that provided nice enhancements. And two others, "Clean Kills and Other Trophies" and "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," were pure Rod Serling ... and that made them terrific for me!
One other that would otherwise fall in the "good stories" category is "Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?" It is a very special offering, though, likely because it was deemed to be too expensive to produce as the television segment. It was a psychological study of an Apollo astronaut who returns from being the first person to set foot on the moon, but he brings along with him nightmares that he can't explain. Serling rewrote it as a "tamer" version called, "The Nature of the Enemy." It is fun to compare the two (I have the series on disc at home), but I especially like "Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?" because it also has something of a Jules Verne vibe to it.
For the Rod Serling fan who is obsessed with "The Twilight Zone" (as I am), NIGHT GALLERY is an enjoyable excursion into a companion series. He is a most enjoyable storyteller.
February 16, 2016
Everyone knows Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone, of course. But he also did a show in the early 70s called Night Gallery, which was more focused on horror and the supernatural than science-fiction. This book features six short-story versions of Night Gallery scripts – one of which, “Does The Name Grimsby Mean Anything To You?”, was never filmed. I’ve been a fan of Serling’s for years, as much for his prose as his TV work, and this collection clearly demonstrates both his passion and understanding of the dark side of the human condition, and his keen storytelling ability. The latter is key, because the six stories here follow some very familiar tropes, and sometimes the “twist” is predictable – but Serling’s strength was always in how he tells it, putting real feelings into his characters, even the ones that in lesser hands would come across as more cardboard clichés. I confess I prefer Serling’s SF work to his horror stories, but there’s some good stuff here. This book confirms that Serling is probably one of the most underrated American short-story writers of the 20th Century.
December 18, 2021
So, having plugged through Rod Serling's Night Gallery 2 I figured I'd finish off this preceding collection, both featuring text versions of stories by Serling later adapted on the NIGHT GALLERY (although possibly this worked the other way around - hard to say). This book also contains one ringer, a piece NOT adapted on NG, for possibly obvious reasons, when you get to it.
In "Sole Survivor," the captain of a ship is flabbergasted to come across a castaway in a lifeboat - a man dressed in women's clothing, in a boat marked as originating on THE TITANIC. Well, this one is pretty much a straight-ahead TWILIGHT ZONE type story - it must be noted that Serling has succeeded here in giving us a fairly original take on the old sea folklore figure of the "Jonah," and while the execution is fine and the story just moves along as expected, there's only a momentary scene - in which the Captain and ship's doctor wonder just what their role in all of this is - to make it noteworthy. Not bad.
Unfunny stand-up comic Jackie Slater suffers through the flop sweats of his dire set before being fired, on his first night, from a gig at a sleazy bar/burlesque joint in "Make Me Laugh". Later, drunk and wracked with self-pity, he comes across the equally unhappy Mr. Chatterje, a down-on-his-luck guru who admits he's not very good at performing miracles, but perhaps he can give Mr. Slater his heart's desire and grant his wish, to make people laugh... Sometimes, a story can be old hat (as in this case, one of those classic, ironic "be careful what you wish for or you just may get it" types) and still be an enjoyable read. "Make Me Laugh" is a good example - we may know exactly where the story's gonna go once we reach the set up, and even be unimpressed by how it ends, but it offers some other angles to relish, even with a musty idea at its center. First - Serling does an exquisite job of painting the milieu of seedy, run-down bars, desperate, awful stand-up comedians and long-suffering agents. Secondly, since he's always had an interest in comedians and their world (see "The Comedian", Playhouse 90, 1957) he bases the set5-up and pay-off around two somewhat-true cliches about stand-ups: that they have emotionally damaged personalities from their upbringings - leading to a desperate need for acceptance; and that they all relish the idea of taking on dramatic acting (as delivering a joke well is more of an acting job that people realize) - and hell is a man who wants to be taken seriously, but gets only laughs. Add to that a minor reflection on the fact that writing and delivering a good joke is both an Art and a Craft (and so having everyone laugh at anything you say, regardless, is incredibly unfulfilling) and, while the story may play out in an obvious way and even end with a bit of a thud, I still enjoyed reading it.
"Pamela's Voice" - Jonathan celebrates the successful, discreet murder of his nagging, harridan shrew of a wife, victim of an "accidental death." But Pamela herself will have the last word in the matter... Not every piece of writing need be deep and resonant - here Serling turns in a solid little conte cruel with supernatural elements and a barbed twist at the end. I credit him with realizing that such things work best at short length.
"Does The Name Grimsby Do Anything To You?" - John Evans, triumphant first man to walk on the moon, finds his dreams haunted by his memory of this event (which contains a lacuna), and always end with him coming awake and desperately spouting the name "Grimsby!". His wife is worried, his Government psychologist is worried, and he is worried - as the name haunts him despite his inability to find the reason why it should, and he becomes more paranoid and worried over his legacy. And then, at a celebratory function, a scientist utters the name in full, sending Evans into catatonia. Well, this story is an oddity - never adapted for NIGHT GALLERY (which makes sense as it is short, not particularly well-done, and is notionally sci-fi and not horror/spooky), it seems to be the last, un-adapted work Serling would write. It's more of an idea than a story, really, and that can be indicated by the fact that it resorts to the omniscient narrator to show us two pieces of information that no human being is privy to, so that the mystery will remain. This poor construction strikes me as unnecessary, as just having us presented with Evans' memory in full may have more effectively left us wondering whether is was true or a hallucination brought on by "stress to be the best." But that's an editorial comment offered 50 years too late....
In "Clean Kills And Other Trophies" Pierce, a lawyer on retainer specializing in trusts, endures an unpleasant weekend with rich, controlling jerk Colonel Dittman and his brow-beaten son who will soon turn 21. Dittman is the kind of rich guy who has inherited his wealth, fancies himself a manly big game hunter, has very strong feelings about the current college counterculture and the "black problem" (and is not afraid to voice them), and doesn't miss a chance to insult, belittle and emasculate his pacifist son before informing Pierce that he would like a codicil added to the trust ensuring his son will not get his promised millions unless he kills an animal by his birthday. And the next morning, they all go hunting... "Clean Kills" is solid, late-period Serling, a reflection on the generation gap and the divide between rigidly conservative parents and their more liberal children, played out as a psychodrama. It's a bit heavy-handed, but heartfelt. Oddly, the adaptation that appeared on NIGHT GALLERY is another matter entirely, one of the most thoroughly botched things I have seen in my occasional re-watching to compare the filmed version to the text. Sometimes, as in "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" (see later in this review), NIGHT GALLERY did well. Sometimes (as in Rod Serling's Night Gallery 2 "Collector's Items," filmed as "Rare Objects") they strip out most of the better internal/subjective material and tell an accelerated version of the story - which, given how unlikable the main character of that story is, makes some sense for television, but still feels a little like a cheat (as the show could have afforded the extra time, having a fungible hour long slot to fill with stories as long as they needed to be). But, as I said, "Clean Kills" is a real botch job. Now, I'm not expecting they would have put voice to the racial epithet or homosexual slur that Ditmman employs, and I don't imagine they could have pulled off the final, horrific, bloody image (not directly at least - perhaps as a silhouette or tight shot), but amazingly they chose to add a character (an African native butler) and replace the human violence with "supernatural revenge"! So - story good, adaptation - very bad.
Randy Lane, middle-aged widower and plastics advertising executive, celebrates his 25th anniversary at his thankless, high-pressure job by realizing that a young up-and-comer is angling for his position but that he barely cares anyway, as he find "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" - a favored watering hole of his youth and life. And then, under enormous pressures, he begins to find himself being beckoned by the ghosts of his past... Not TWO days ago, attending a closing party for a local bar (done-in by the pandemic and bad timing) I had opined to a friend that the closing of a regular bar/tavern in your life is a melancholy affair and not, to my knowledge, captured extensively in fiction. And 2 days later, here we are! And the closing of such places - businesses, yes, but also reliable temporary abodes in one's life (if you're lucky) filled with friendly, welcoming people, intoxicants, and good food (think of the theme from CHEERS) - IS something of a melancholy affair. In the case of this story even more so because (as it occurs before the institution of quick-profit/quick turnover/scavenger capitalism of the Reagan years) Lane's watering hole has been there his whole life (one imagines that even earlier generations had the experience of losing places that had lasted generations, hosting their parents, grandparents, etc.) - as he says, he came back from WWII to a surprise party there, met and dated his wife there, celebrated his new job there, kept company with friends there, and on and on. Even beyond that, Tim Riley's bar exists as a symbol of those prewar years of Serling's youth, with old records on the jukebox and 1930s prices still intact, so, yes, a bit of nostalgia in there. But as nostalgia is considered passe, let's point out that it is, for the character, nostalgia for his own life as he finds himself in a mid-life crisis. Bythe way, the office drama that the story uses as counterpoint and underlining is Serling returning to some of his earliest themes (recurrent throughout his career, and TWILIGHT ZONE) - the PATTERNS-like examination of the casual backstabbing and savagery of the world of big business (which he's especially good at capturing), as well as the joys and pains of memory and nostalgia. So while this story/episode may have disappointed a child like myself - as it is in no way scary or even attempting to be - it touches the heart of an adult me, now chronologically past the point in his life that Randy Lane finds himself here.
And that's it for Serling's NIGHT GALLERY output, save for one stray story that appeared elsewhere (if ISFDB isn't lying to me).
In "Sole Survivor," the captain of a ship is flabbergasted to come across a castaway in a lifeboat - a man dressed in women's clothing, in a boat marked as originating on THE TITANIC. Well, this one is pretty much a straight-ahead TWILIGHT ZONE type story - it must be noted that Serling has succeeded here in giving us a fairly original take on the old sea folklore figure of the "Jonah," and while the execution is fine and the story just moves along as expected, there's only a momentary scene - in which the Captain and ship's doctor wonder just what their role in all of this is - to make it noteworthy. Not bad.
Unfunny stand-up comic Jackie Slater suffers through the flop sweats of his dire set before being fired, on his first night, from a gig at a sleazy bar/burlesque joint in "Make Me Laugh". Later, drunk and wracked with self-pity, he comes across the equally unhappy Mr. Chatterje, a down-on-his-luck guru who admits he's not very good at performing miracles, but perhaps he can give Mr. Slater his heart's desire and grant his wish, to make people laugh... Sometimes, a story can be old hat (as in this case, one of those classic, ironic "be careful what you wish for or you just may get it" types) and still be an enjoyable read. "Make Me Laugh" is a good example - we may know exactly where the story's gonna go once we reach the set up, and even be unimpressed by how it ends, but it offers some other angles to relish, even with a musty idea at its center. First - Serling does an exquisite job of painting the milieu of seedy, run-down bars, desperate, awful stand-up comedians and long-suffering agents. Secondly, since he's always had an interest in comedians and their world (see "The Comedian", Playhouse 90, 1957) he bases the set5-up and pay-off around two somewhat-true cliches about stand-ups: that they have emotionally damaged personalities from their upbringings - leading to a desperate need for acceptance; and that they all relish the idea of taking on dramatic acting (as delivering a joke well is more of an acting job that people realize) - and hell is a man who wants to be taken seriously, but gets only laughs. Add to that a minor reflection on the fact that writing and delivering a good joke is both an Art and a Craft (and so having everyone laugh at anything you say, regardless, is incredibly unfulfilling) and, while the story may play out in an obvious way and even end with a bit of a thud, I still enjoyed reading it.
"Pamela's Voice" - Jonathan celebrates the successful, discreet murder of his nagging, harridan shrew of a wife, victim of an "accidental death." But Pamela herself will have the last word in the matter... Not every piece of writing need be deep and resonant - here Serling turns in a solid little conte cruel with supernatural elements and a barbed twist at the end. I credit him with realizing that such things work best at short length.
"Does The Name Grimsby Do Anything To You?" - John Evans, triumphant first man to walk on the moon, finds his dreams haunted by his memory of this event (which contains a lacuna), and always end with him coming awake and desperately spouting the name "Grimsby!". His wife is worried, his Government psychologist is worried, and he is worried - as the name haunts him despite his inability to find the reason why it should, and he becomes more paranoid and worried over his legacy. And then, at a celebratory function, a scientist utters the name in full, sending Evans into catatonia. Well, this story is an oddity - never adapted for NIGHT GALLERY (which makes sense as it is short, not particularly well-done, and is notionally sci-fi and not horror/spooky), it seems to be the last, un-adapted work Serling would write. It's more of an idea than a story, really, and that can be indicated by the fact that it resorts to the omniscient narrator to show us two pieces of information that no human being is privy to, so that the mystery will remain. This poor construction strikes me as unnecessary, as just having us presented with Evans' memory in full may have more effectively left us wondering whether is was true or a hallucination brought on by "stress to be the best." But that's an editorial comment offered 50 years too late....
In "Clean Kills And Other Trophies" Pierce, a lawyer on retainer specializing in trusts, endures an unpleasant weekend with rich, controlling jerk Colonel Dittman and his brow-beaten son who will soon turn 21. Dittman is the kind of rich guy who has inherited his wealth, fancies himself a manly big game hunter, has very strong feelings about the current college counterculture and the "black problem" (and is not afraid to voice them), and doesn't miss a chance to insult, belittle and emasculate his pacifist son before informing Pierce that he would like a codicil added to the trust ensuring his son will not get his promised millions unless he kills an animal by his birthday. And the next morning, they all go hunting... "Clean Kills" is solid, late-period Serling, a reflection on the generation gap and the divide between rigidly conservative parents and their more liberal children, played out as a psychodrama. It's a bit heavy-handed, but heartfelt. Oddly, the adaptation that appeared on NIGHT GALLERY is another matter entirely, one of the most thoroughly botched things I have seen in my occasional re-watching to compare the filmed version to the text. Sometimes, as in "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" (see later in this review), NIGHT GALLERY did well. Sometimes (as in Rod Serling's Night Gallery 2 "Collector's Items," filmed as "Rare Objects") they strip out most of the better internal/subjective material and tell an accelerated version of the story - which, given how unlikable the main character of that story is, makes some sense for television, but still feels a little like a cheat (as the show could have afforded the extra time, having a fungible hour long slot to fill with stories as long as they needed to be). But, as I said, "Clean Kills" is a real botch job. Now, I'm not expecting they would have put voice to the racial epithet or homosexual slur that Ditmman employs, and I don't imagine they could have pulled off the final, horrific, bloody image (not directly at least - perhaps as a silhouette or tight shot), but amazingly they chose to add a character (an African native butler) and replace the human violence with "supernatural revenge"! So - story good, adaptation - very bad.
Randy Lane, middle-aged widower and plastics advertising executive, celebrates his 25th anniversary at his thankless, high-pressure job by realizing that a young up-and-comer is angling for his position but that he barely cares anyway, as he find "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" - a favored watering hole of his youth and life. And then, under enormous pressures, he begins to find himself being beckoned by the ghosts of his past... Not TWO days ago, attending a closing party for a local bar (done-in by the pandemic and bad timing) I had opined to a friend that the closing of a regular bar/tavern in your life is a melancholy affair and not, to my knowledge, captured extensively in fiction. And 2 days later, here we are! And the closing of such places - businesses, yes, but also reliable temporary abodes in one's life (if you're lucky) filled with friendly, welcoming people, intoxicants, and good food (think of the theme from CHEERS) - IS something of a melancholy affair. In the case of this story even more so because (as it occurs before the institution of quick-profit/quick turnover/scavenger capitalism of the Reagan years) Lane's watering hole has been there his whole life (one imagines that even earlier generations had the experience of losing places that had lasted generations, hosting their parents, grandparents, etc.) - as he says, he came back from WWII to a surprise party there, met and dated his wife there, celebrated his new job there, kept company with friends there, and on and on. Even beyond that, Tim Riley's bar exists as a symbol of those prewar years of Serling's youth, with old records on the jukebox and 1930s prices still intact, so, yes, a bit of nostalgia in there. But as nostalgia is considered passe, let's point out that it is, for the character, nostalgia for his own life as he finds himself in a mid-life crisis. Bythe way, the office drama that the story uses as counterpoint and underlining is Serling returning to some of his earliest themes (recurrent throughout his career, and TWILIGHT ZONE) - the PATTERNS-like examination of the casual backstabbing and savagery of the world of big business (which he's especially good at capturing), as well as the joys and pains of memory and nostalgia. So while this story/episode may have disappointed a child like myself - as it is in no way scary or even attempting to be - it touches the heart of an adult me, now chronologically past the point in his life that Randy Lane finds himself here.
And that's it for Serling's NIGHT GALLERY output, save for one stray story that appeared elsewhere (if ISFDB isn't lying to me).
July 9, 2023
The incomparable Rod Serling delivers a beautiful group of stories in this collection. I've not seen the Night Gallery television series yet but these stories work excellently by themselves as Serling approaches them in a different way than he would with television. Serling's prose reminds one of other writers of the time like Richard Matheson or Charles Beaumont, his Twilight Zone companions. The stories themselves generally maintain the misanthropic and even sometimes sentimental vibe of The Twilight Zone.
January 13, 2021
great stories
February 5, 2025
Beautifully written. Really enjoyed this!
July 14, 2014
Rod Serling was one of the most prolific spec. fiction writers of his time. He wrote continuously. When he couldn't sit at a typewriter, he recorded stories while commuting, waiting for appointments, and at any other free moment. His head was full of stories. His screenplay credits reach far beyond The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.
In three short books, Serling novelized his Night Gallery contributions. This book is one of those three volumes. It features some of the best Night Gallery episodes in narrative form.
Serling not only told compelling stories that usually featured surprise endings, he wrote with experience and skill. If you are a short fiction fan, add this book to your reading list.
In three short books, Serling novelized his Night Gallery contributions. This book is one of those three volumes. It features some of the best Night Gallery episodes in narrative form.
Serling not only told compelling stories that usually featured surprise endings, he wrote with experience and skill. If you are a short fiction fan, add this book to your reading list.
February 26, 2016
This book contains: 1. Make Me Laugh 2. Pamela's Voice 3. The Sole Survivor 4. Clean Kills And Other Trophies 5. Does The Name Grimsby Do Anythign For You 6. They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar. Overall, I must say this book is excellent. If you watch Night Gallery and then read the stories you'll certainly agree that Rod's original versions were much better than the televised ones (tampered with by timid, audience pleasers). Rod is certainly a story teller. His strength lies in merely communicating his astounding imagination in a simple, straightforward fashion. We're certainly all the more richer for his work. I recommend this book to anyone who loves the weird, and enjoys reading a "well told story"
April 6, 2015
A nice collection of some stories that evoke the best of Serling's storytelling reminiscence of the Twilight Zone, with only one or two stories that don't really do much. "The Sol Survivor," "Make Me Laugh," "Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?" are the better stories, with "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" completely living up to everything I've heard about it. Definitely worthy of the Serling legacy.
March 28, 2016
A quick, easy, and very entertaining read. Serling has a great voice.
Want to read
February 9, 2020Synopsis: short stories / scripts from the TV show, including Sole Survivor about a person who survived the Titanic disaster found years later.
August 3, 2020
The Twilight Zone was one of my favorite series growing, and various stations put on reruns and marathons and I became hooked. I always thought Rod Serling was a brilliant, creative mind in creating content both as a producer and writer that delved into the human psyche so well. This collection of Night Gallery is an series of short stories that were the basis for his television series which aired in the 1970s. Night Gallery has a much darker, cynical, and at times, macabre approach more in line with horror than The Twilight Zone, but these stories offer some brilliance into the mind of Serling.
My favorites included:
“The Sole Survivor” involves a man who is afloat, who has been spotted and picked up by a vessel about a see. Apparently, this man is the sole survivor of the Titanic. The problem being, though, that it has been three years since the Titanic disaster. This was a compelling story with a nice twist at the end. Very Twilight-Zoneish in its themes and presentation.
“Does the Name Grimbsy Do Anything to You?” explores the determination and competitiveness of being the first man to walk on the moon. As with Serling’s classic style, he takes us into one particular man’s head, and there are certain bits and pieces of information revealed little by little, including some ironies, as we head towards the conclusion of this tale.
I think my favorite of the bunch was the final selection “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar.” On its surface, we might see this story as an “out with the old, in with the new” kind of tale, but it think it digs deeper. A man, Lane, is out of step with his current job, and slowly losing his grip on everything in the present state as he continues to mourn the loss of his wife many years prior. He also laments the fact that his favorite bar—one which held fond memories of family and friends from the past—is being demolished. This is the longest story of the bunch, and the most profound in my opinion, as it examines humans’ need to “go back to a happier time” as well as their desires and longings. A great way to end the collection.
The other stories I would rank lower than the previous three mentioned:
“Make Me Laugh” and “Clear Kills and Other Trophies” were way darker in mood and story than the others, and fairly cynical in tone. Still, they offer some common truths about human beings and their nature.
The only one of the bunch that I didn’t care for ways “Pamela’s Voice.” (I heard this was one of Serling’s favorites…..Sorry Rod.) This one is a darkly comic tale of a man’s desire to murder his wife and the repercussions of it. This is the most insufferable couple you will ever meet, and the story is fairly mean-spirited and left me kind of cold.
In general, this collection definitely was fairly good and I think the ones I enjoyed made up for the other ones. I still will take The Twilight Zone over Night Gallery any day, but it was great to see the brilliance of Serling on full display in this collection.
My favorites included:
“The Sole Survivor” involves a man who is afloat, who has been spotted and picked up by a vessel about a see. Apparently, this man is the sole survivor of the Titanic. The problem being, though, that it has been three years since the Titanic disaster. This was a compelling story with a nice twist at the end. Very Twilight-Zoneish in its themes and presentation.
“Does the Name Grimbsy Do Anything to You?” explores the determination and competitiveness of being the first man to walk on the moon. As with Serling’s classic style, he takes us into one particular man’s head, and there are certain bits and pieces of information revealed little by little, including some ironies, as we head towards the conclusion of this tale.
I think my favorite of the bunch was the final selection “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar.” On its surface, we might see this story as an “out with the old, in with the new” kind of tale, but it think it digs deeper. A man, Lane, is out of step with his current job, and slowly losing his grip on everything in the present state as he continues to mourn the loss of his wife many years prior. He also laments the fact that his favorite bar—one which held fond memories of family and friends from the past—is being demolished. This is the longest story of the bunch, and the most profound in my opinion, as it examines humans’ need to “go back to a happier time” as well as their desires and longings. A great way to end the collection.
The other stories I would rank lower than the previous three mentioned:
“Make Me Laugh” and “Clear Kills and Other Trophies” were way darker in mood and story than the others, and fairly cynical in tone. Still, they offer some common truths about human beings and their nature.
The only one of the bunch that I didn’t care for ways “Pamela’s Voice.” (I heard this was one of Serling’s favorites…..Sorry Rod.) This one is a darkly comic tale of a man’s desire to murder his wife and the repercussions of it. This is the most insufferable couple you will ever meet, and the story is fairly mean-spirited and left me kind of cold.
In general, this collection definitely was fairly good and I think the ones I enjoyed made up for the other ones. I still will take The Twilight Zone over Night Gallery any day, but it was great to see the brilliance of Serling on full display in this collection.
May 3, 2018
An excellent collection of 6 short stories from the television series, Night Gallery, including the Emmy Award nominee, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar." All but one of the stories is of a supernatural bent, with no real horror element, while one does have a touch of the macabre at the end.
Serling shows his versatility in dealing with a range of situations from humorous to poignant. In the former, "Make Me Laugh," we see an unsuccessful comedian granted a wish by a "miracle guru," who warns the performer that there is a reason his fellow gurus have nicknamed him "dum-dum." In the latter, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," a marketing executive, widowed 25 years, is unable to let go of the past.
Do not judge these written stories by their TV analogs, as Serling had no creative control over the television production. If you are a fan of Rod Serling's writing, you should enjoy these stories.
Serling shows his versatility in dealing with a range of situations from humorous to poignant. In the former, "Make Me Laugh," we see an unsuccessful comedian granted a wish by a "miracle guru," who warns the performer that there is a reason his fellow gurus have nicknamed him "dum-dum." In the latter, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," a marketing executive, widowed 25 years, is unable to let go of the past.
Do not judge these written stories by their TV analogs, as Serling had no creative control over the television production. If you are a fan of Rod Serling's writing, you should enjoy these stories.
February 22, 2023
Very good and entertaining
For the most part I am unfamiliar with Night Gallery stories. This collection is very recommended to any Rod Serling fan. Many of these stories are Very reminiscent of Twilight Zone themed stories. This set of short stories is RECOMMENDED for the serious reader of science fiction. Some of the stories are a little longer than others, but as a whole, the book Night Gallery, is HIGHLY-RATED TO BE
READ by ANYBODY ! ! !
For the most part I am unfamiliar with Night Gallery stories. This collection is very recommended to any Rod Serling fan. Many of these stories are Very reminiscent of Twilight Zone themed stories. This set of short stories is RECOMMENDED for the serious reader of science fiction. Some of the stories are a little longer than others, but as a whole, the book Night Gallery, is HIGHLY-RATED TO BE
READ by ANYBODY ! ! !
October 16, 2024
Bias alert - I love everything Rod Serling does or is involved with, so potential reader beware! A truly wonderful collection of strange stories that not only leave you wondering, but also leave you emotional about your life and what you are doing with it. This is the power of Rod Serling, who has a magical way of gathering the best of the best authors and presenting them to the world in a seemingly illusionary manner, but that end up being a straight forward gut punch to your being.
March 5, 2023
Nicely done adaptations by Serling of five of his "Night Gallery" scripts, including the elegiac "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," one of his masterpieces, about a middle-aged widower whose past is preventing him from moving on. Also includes "Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?" from an unproduced NG script, a sort of bonus for devotees. Its twist is implausible but fun.
July 25, 2024
Stories range from decent to good but Serling could really write! Even the weaker stories here are elevated by his lean prose and good dialogue. My favourites were "Pamela's Voice" and "Clean Kills and Other Trophies" (the villain in "Clean Kills" is excellent). "Grimsby" was so stupid it made me laugh but even that is charming in its own dumb way.
November 5, 2019
A stunning little anthology. Reading this leaves little wonder as to why Serling was (and to many of us, still is) regarded as a master storyteller and observer of the Human condition. Worth it for 'They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar', alone. Beautifully written.
June 24, 2021
Almost As Good As Was The Twilight Zone
These stories are good but even the master storyteller, Rod Serling can’t recreate the magic of The Twilight Zone. As the saying goes, “You Can’t Return Home”.
These stories are good but even the master storyteller, Rod Serling can’t recreate the magic of The Twilight Zone. As the saying goes, “You Can’t Return Home”.
May 6, 2023
3.5/5
"They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" is far and away the best story in here and a perfect companion piece to The Twilight Zone's "Walking Distance." Maybe it could have been a couple pages shorter, but it doesn't matter — it's still wonderful and very moving.
"They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" is far and away the best story in here and a perfect companion piece to The Twilight Zone's "Walking Distance." Maybe it could have been a couple pages shorter, but it doesn't matter — it's still wonderful and very moving.
November 5, 2024
An anthology that’s hard to categorize, and a little dated, but has undeniable charm to it. “Clean Kills and Other Trophies” was easily the most memorable of the collection, but all of the six stories were entertaining enough (though occasionally predictable).
March 17, 2018
Timeless
A classic. Always interesting. I place it in my top one thousand. Always searching for Mr. Sterling's style so please wish me good luck!
A classic. Always interesting. I place it in my top one thousand. Always searching for Mr. Sterling's style so please wish me good luck!
March 7, 2021
Hauntingly beautiful.
Bless you, Mr. Serling.
Bless you, Mr. Serling.
December 30, 2021
I loved all these stories! What a master of a phrase and of opening the imagination!
June 27, 2022
Absolutely fantastic book! Each of the stories really played out well and you could see them as clear as watching an episode of Night Gallery.
January 2, 2023
Love Rod Serling's works, both those he wrote for Twilight Zone and the ones he did for Night Gallery.
May 26, 2024
Beautiful, surprising and poignant prose — not unexpected from the Twilight Zone mastermind.
March 5, 2025
On par with and at times excels beyond Ray Bradbury, especially in the rich prose style. Serling wasn't just a brilliant thinker -- he also knows how to construct a vibrant turn of phrase.
August 2, 2025
serling's slight tales
are charming ghosts, reminders
better times and shows
are charming ghosts, reminders
better times and shows
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