Get Lost with Me in the Twilight Zone

Hello, folks! Can you believe we’ve reached the end of the year? It came so quickly!

(And yet, so much has happened that January feels like three years ago. Quite the conundrum…)

To close out this very long year—which feels like a continuation of 2020—I’m going to try something a little ambitious in an effort to continue to push myself to return to that prolific writer I once was in 2015–2017.

And hopefully I won’t talk myself out of it…or burn myself out…

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you know I absolutely LOVE The Twilight Zone. And no, I’m not talking about Jordan Peele’s short-lived reboot, but the original series from the 1960s. And I don’t want to hear that I’m too young to know anything about The Twilight Zone. Sure, my mom may have been a little tot when the series first aired, but I promise you I have seen every single Twilight Zone episode there is at least twice.

Some of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes include:

• Time Enough at Last
• Perchance to Dream
• When the Sky Was Opened
• The Hitchhiker
• The Last Flight
• Mirror Image
• The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
• Long Live Walter Jameson
• A Stop at Willoughby
• The Howling Man
• Nick of Time
• Back There
• The Odyssey of Flight 33
• Shadow Play
• Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up
• The Arrival
• The Mirror
• The Grave
• It’s a Good Life
• The Midnight Sun
• Still Valley
• In His Image
• The Thirty-Fathom Grave
• Death Ship
• Passage on the Lady Anne
• Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
• Living Doll
• Night Call
• Spur of the Moment
• Queen of the Nile
• I Am the Night, Color Me Black
• Stopover in a Quiet Town
• Garrity and the Graves
• Come Wonder with Me
• The Fear

The Syfy channel has definitely spoiled me because every New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, I am glued in front of the TV watching the annual Twilight Zone marathon! This year will be no different, but I’m going to take it a step further…

While I am watching The Twilight Zone episodes, I will be writing them as well. Yep, to ring in the new year, I’m going to have a Twilight Zone marathon of my own right here on the blog.

I’ve been challenging myself to write at least 100 words a day (check out the 100-Word Stories tab)—or if not 100, at least something (see Morning Inspiration). This will be similar, except instead of a drabble (100-word story) a day, you’ll get a drabble every hour for one day only!

Whew! Can I do it? It sounds easy enough, but creating a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end in 100 words is actually quite challenging! Maybe I’ll give myself some wiggle room—100 words, more or less, depending on where the story takes me. Thankfully, I’ll have an endless stream of inspiration coming from my television set. Add to that the fact that we’ve been living in the twilight zone for the last 2 years, I think I’m covered as far as ideas go!

So, starting at midnight EST on December 31, I’ll be giving you a marathon of Twilight Zone-inspired 100-word (more or less) stories every hour, on the hour, taking you all the way up to midnight January 1, 2022! Twenty-five stories in all! Some based on my favorite Twilight Zone episodes; others, creations of my own.

A massive conquering, but with your support, I think I can do it! See you New Year’s Eve!

Are you a fan of The Twilight Zone? Let me know in the comments below. Maybe I’ll feature one of your favorite episodes in a story.