Welcome to the Night Gallery
Article by Bindi Lavelle

Following the seminal Twilight Zone, Rod Serling decided to turn things up a notch, and this is where Night Gallery comes in. One of the pioneers of horror television, Night Gallery took the stylings of the Twilight Zone to macabre new level.

Night Gallery had a format reminiscent of the Twilight Zone formula: the episode is introduced by the host, Rod Serling, then there was around 3 self contained vignettes followed by the host's conclusion. The breaking apart of the narrative by short skit like segments just served to create an sensation of unease. Rod Serling, used the anthology form to its fullest to build an eerie atmosphere.

The content of the stories covered a broad spectrum from black humor to gothic, borrowing from an impressive of array of influences; Serling wrote over a third of the episodes in the shows four year run. An established screen writer and producer Serling approached Night Gallery with a rich knowledge of the horror genre and the medium of television, this is how the show was able to push further from the shadow of the Twilight Zone into its own unique style.

Rod Serling's Night Gallery broke new ground in television, showing about can be done with an anthology series, and a horror one at that. If not for Serling's flexible and evocative writing horror on TV would not be the same.