Original Airdate: May 06, 1974

Episode 0086 "Murder With Malice"

Original Story by Ian Martin Directed by Himan Brown Host: E.G. Marshall

An son who hates his father attempts to hypnotize his sister to carry out the murder.

In 1843, a Dr. James Braid of Manchester developed the art of being able to produce trance sleep. Of course, he was not the first. That honor belonged to Friedrich Anton Mesmer. But Dr. Braid did coin the name of this both beneficial yet potentially disastrous pariscience, hypnotism. In the skilled hands of a doctor or a psychiatrist, it can be profoundly beneficial. But in the hands of an amateur or someone unscrupulous, it can be murderously dangerous.

In principles of mental physiology, Carpenter wrote, the method of producing this state consists in the maintenance of a fixed gaze on a bright object placed somewhat above the line of sight. A light behind the subject shining on the bright object, a coin, a jewel, a small mirror, is very helpful, and a darkened room. Once the subject is in the trance, he or she is open to post-hypnotic suggestion. Luckily for our peace of mind and their father's health, Marge is a subject and not the bloodthirsty Mark.

Starring: Staats Cotsworth, Marsha Rod, Nick Pryor, Ira Lewis