More Stories from the Twilight Zone

by Carol Serling (Editor & Introduction), John Farris, David Black

When it first aired in 1959, The Twilight Zone was nothing less than groundbreaking television. Freed from the censors' strict oversight due to the show's classification as science fiction, the 156 episodes explored classic, powerful, and moving human themes—love, hate, pride, jealousy, terror—in a unique style. The program sparked the imaginations of countless writers and filmmakers around the world.

With More Stories from the Twilight Zone, some of today's finest writers have written all-new stories celebrating the unique vision and power of Rod Serling's landmark series. The previous anthology boasted a stellar group including New York Times bestselling authors Whitley Strieber, R. L. Stine, and Laura Lippman, and writers who wrote scripts for the original Twilight Zone and its later incarnations, such as Earl Hamner and Alan Brennert.

So as Rod Serling said, "…prepare to enter that fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call…The Twilight Zone.

"At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied."

Contents
• Introduction (More Stories from the Twilight Zone) • essay by Carol Serling
• Curve • (2010) • short fiction by Loren D. Estleman
• Reversal of Fortune • (2010) • short fiction by Robert J. Serling
• By the Book • (2010) • short fiction by Nancy Holder
• Earthfall • (2010) • short fiction by John Farris
• Dead Post Bumper • (2010) • short story by Dean Wesley Smith
• Thoughtful Breaths • (2005) • novelette by Peter Crowther
• Obsession • (2010) • short fiction by David Black
• Sales of a Deathman • (2010) • short fiction by David Gerrold
• The Writing on the Washroom Wall • (2010) • short fiction by Jane Lindskold
• Stanley's Statistics • (2010) • short fiction by Jean Rabe
• The Mystery of History • (2010) • short fiction by Lee Lawless
• I Believe I'll Have Another • (2010) • short fiction by Loren L. Coleman
• The Ides of Texas • (2010) • short fiction by Douglas Brode
• The Bloodthirstiness of Great Beauty • (2010) • short fiction by M. Tara Crowl
• Eye for an Eye • (2010) • short fiction by Susan Slater
• The Couch • (2010) • short fiction by Peter Farris
• Where No Man Pursueth • (2010) • short fiction by Norman Spinrad
• The Last Christmas Letter • (2010) • short fiction by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• An Odyssey, or Whatever You Call It, Concerning Baseball • (2010) • short fiction by Rod Serling

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Anthologies, Paranormal

480 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 29, 2010

About the author

Born in 1929 as Carolyn Kramer. She is an actress. Died in 2020.

Reviews

[StarMan]

ONE WORD REVIEW: Amateurish.

VERDICT: DNF (Did Not Finish) at 40% complete. I will not click an actual GR star rating, but ~2 solar units might be fair.

A FEW DETAILS (NO Spoilers):
..~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~..

Someone dug hard to find these stories... as in perhaps they scraped the bottom of the very last trash can in the abandoned Twilight Zone editorial office, and came up with these... attempts.

I gave up at 40% point (8 stories out of 19), having read no story quite worth 2 stars to me. You may enjoy these tales more than I did.
..~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~..

NOTE: GR ratings indicate the previous collection from 2009 (Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary) may be a bit better than this "MORE Stories from..." collection.

[I. Anamaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series was inspired by the Twilight Zone, and wasn't the original writer/creator. His wife was the editor, but I didn't find that this series had the Twilight Zone flair, or the weirdness that the originals do. I feel like they tried to modernize it too much. But in general, it was a decent read.

[Zack · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/4 of these stories would never make the cut for an episode. Rough homage.

[Kel Sta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Self-contained stories by 19 different authors, making the book rewarding to dip into briefly, but also reading well as a full volume. Purported to be 'inspired by the classic series, each story is intro-ed and outro-ed with a little paragraph referencing the Twilight Zone, written, I presume, by Carol Serling, wife of the late Rod Serling, creator of the Twilight Zone tv series (one of his short stories closes this collection). I don't think I've read the first volume, but that didn't detract from my appreciation of this one, and as well as the varied (but predominantly and noticeably contemporary American) voices of the writers, I enjoyed an insight into Rod Serling's motivations and philosophies.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection starts out with a bang -- I think "Curve" by Loren D. Estleman is the best of the bunch. There are also several more good stories that seemed very much in keeping with the Twilight Zone brand, including a couple written in a much lighter vein. Overall, though, there were too many weak stories, and several that took a great premise and let it fizzle out at the end, to give this more than 3 stars. I thought "The Couch" by Peter Farris really didn't belong here at all, as it was a pale imitation of the early Stephen King horror stories.

[Reagan Formea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this at a local thrift store and I was over the moon!! I may be a bit partial because I have always been obsessed with twilight zone. Some stories didn’t seem very twilight zone-ish but others were 10/10. Overall such a fun reading experience and now I have to try to find the first edition!!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love an anthology series and this gave a space for authors to explore ideas that pass strange and unusual. There are a lot of Americana references that can go over your head, I personally had to look up many terms. But I felt the passion in these short stories but less in relation to The Twilight Zone feeling of dread and the unnatural.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as expected....

After completing the other books, all stories of which are by Rod Serling, as well as being episodes, this book was not, really to my liking. There were too many different authors... and I just did not care for the book, as a whole. A recommended book------ but do not expect Rod Serling, exect for the very last story which was very good.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in this anniversary series. I enjoyed this book very much. There are a bunch of stories that to me just seem "meh." But there are a few gems that really stick out. Overall, worth the read. Especially if you are fan of the Twilight Zone!

[whit · Rating 1 out of 5]

It makes me sad to say this because I love the Twilight Zone but this is TZ in name only. The first collection was a lukewarm affair but this one is the least enjoyable book of short stories I have read. Bland and predictable.

[AorticReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trudging through muddy water with full rainboots just waiting for better story to come along, but it's making reading feel too much like a chore, quitting having only read the first 4 and the last story

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

All entertaining stories, some which will stay with me longer than others, but all worth a detour through the Twilight Zone.

[Des · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly good stuff here, though a few pieces (those by Lawless and Crowl in particular) seem oddly out of place.

[woodrecommend reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t watched many of the episodes, so reading this was super cool. They’d look so cool if they were made now. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book for the first time years after getting it

[M Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it

What’s not to love the twilight zone stories are awesome to watch but much better if your reading them.will find more

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

📖3.5⭐️

[mark propp]

read the first story. thought it was fine, a little lame, but in keeping with the tone of the show.

curve - loren estleman 3/5 (apr 13)

but i'm a little scared that one of the top reviews here says that this is the best story in the book. if this is the high watermark, that's a bad sign.

reversal of fortune (robert j serling) 3.5/5 apr 13. not too bad. again, very much in the spirit of the show. in fact, very much like at least one episode. one could call it a tribute, or if you're less charitable, a rip-off. but it was short & reasonably well written.

by the book (nancy holder) 2/5 annoying, boring, not especially well written i reckon.

earthfall (john farris) 0/5 incomprehensible. atrocious. i couldn't make heads or tails out of it. one of the worst things i can remember ever reading.

dead post bumper (dean wesley smith) 3.5/5 good little story. not really a tz story imo, but it's short & nicely written.

obsession (david black) 2.5/5 i complained that the last story (thoughtful breaths, reviewed on its own page) was too long, and it was. but this one was too short. or too thin. something. it's a classic tz style story, definitely. it has a hook. but it feels like a note-form version of a full story.

sales of a deathman (david gerrold) 4/5 that was really quite a good little story. i was shocked when it ended, not because the ending was daring or anything, but because it didn't come to some dark revelation or twist. better for that, i think.

the writing on the washroom wall 1/5 interesting classic tz setup, fizzle of a story. dull. meandering. unsatisfying. pretty bad i reckon.

stanley's statistics - 3/5 tolerable crime story. somewhat predictable & very implausible, but short & reasonably enjoyable.

the mystery of history - 2/5 incredibly annoying, because it starts out fun & then devolves into incoherence. & it's far too long. cluttered. a total mess. seems like it was heading for something really enjoyable (if obvious - time travel) but it turned into a miserable mess that i hated. still have to give it 2 stars for the opening, which was enjoyable.

i believe i'll have another 3.5/5 incredibly silly. so daft. dopey beyond words. but it was short & fun.

the ides of texas 2/5 - too long, or too short. too many plot points & details stuffed into a short story. unsatisfying ending.

the bloodthirstiness of great beauty - 3.5/5 it's no obsession. but it's a fun if generic monkey's paw story. fine. pretty good. very readable, entertaining.

eye for an eye 3/5 reads like a pre-teen spooky tales story. not unreadable.

the couch 4/5 this is the silliest story yet. holy cow. it's kinda terrible & baffling, but it's so dopy & dumb & low-rent stephen king-ish that i have to love it.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big TZ fan. I don't buy a lot of anthology books, but saw this 2010 collection and had to try it out. I am told that Carol (Rod's widow) is very protective of the legacy and so she has very high standards. I didn't recognize many names (Rod's brother contributes as does sci-fi author Norman Spinrad, and there is an unpublished Rod Serling short) but all appear to have impressive resumes in movies and television, or have written several novels.

I was very happy with this collection. I don't think there was any one story that I hated. A few were very moving ("Thoughtful Breaths" by Peter Crowther about put me in tears.) Many had imagery that really stuck out, and were as visual as anything you can do in a printed medium.

Some had predictability, but even those were so well-written that you wanted to stick with them. A couple seemed repetitious, though that was by no fault of their own. There were 19 stories here and it is a thick book, but it seemed like it read incredibly fast. As far as anthologies go, I really thought it was top notch, and if you are a TZ fan but thought you wouldn't like something like this, it might be worth investigating.

[Gossymotto · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was nothing close to what the old series used to be, but there were maybe half a dozens stories that I found somewhat interesting, the highest would have been given a 3-star rating.

When I read the Author's credentials at the end of the book, I was quite surprised. Some had written and published over 50, 60, even 90 novels. It didn't show in this work. Some of those Authors were the ones I found to have written somewhat amateurish stories, but what do I know. In the end, I'm just a reader looking for more material to read, but I won't be searching out anything more from most of these writers.

[Readersaurus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad. A few have the thrilling spirit of the show, but most feel under-written.

Well, a disappointment. I read about half, and was so uninspired that I only skimmed the story by Rod Serling. There just was something missing. No real 'zing', or 'aha!' like I remember from the old Twilight Zone stories. Many of these stories seemed mean, and especially hateful towards or suspicious of women (what's up with that?)

Maybe it's because I watched Twilight Zone when I was a child and more easily impressed. I think this is a book that will get borrowed a lot and returned quickly.

[Cathe Fein Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I spotted this book at the library, I thought it was a book of short stories from the original Twilight Zone episodes but it is actually a book of new short stories written in the style of the Twilight Zone show. The collection was put together by Rod Sterling's wife and includes one of Rod Sterling's stories. Just like the show, some stories were better than others, but overall, I enjoyed it.

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was surprised to have been bored by it. I don't know...like one of the reviewers here, I too felt something was missing. No 'zing' and no 'wow' feeling in any of the stories.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw in Amazon Countdown Deals - fan of original series

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rod Serling was a fine short story writer, and he'd be famous as an author even if he hadn't created The Twilight Zone.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories were good. But most were just too full of dialogue or not written well, probably would have been better as TV episodes.

[nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite story was The Mystery of History.

[Constance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories were better than others, I overall enjoyed the previous collection a whole lot more. Favorites...The last Christmas Letter and Curve.