Original Airdate: March 03, 1974

Episode 0049 "Prognosis Negative"

Original Story by Sidney Sloan Directed by Himan Brown Host: E.G. Marshall

My story explores the dark uncharted area of the human brain. Despite medical research, scientists admit that there is much that is still unknown about the flesh and blood computer which guides our conscious and unconscious lives. Let us listen as Colonel Edmund Plant of the CMI warns Dr. Gentry what dangers exist when we attempt to control this complicated human mechanism. .

Colonel Edmund Plant was on an unpleasant errand. As he walked into the big dirty gray building, the military hospital for the insane known to the brass as the pit, he could think of many places he'd rather be. But this was a duty he had to perform, part of his job and he wanted to get it over with as fast as possible.

Starring: William Redfield, Bryna Raeburn, Mason Adams, Earl Hammond, Martha Greenhouse

Original Airdate: March 02, 1974

Episode 0048 "Out of Sight"

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

A space mission with the first woman in space is tormented by aliens they cannot see.

This time a contemporary tale concerning the ill-fated flight of the first American woman astronaut. The flight of the Diana One. A tale of three astronauts who reached Skylab only to be literally snatched into the void. But before Diana One ever left the ground, the aura of doom hovered around her as she stood poised on the launching pad.

It might have been far better if the scrub on the Diana One had been a total. This was only another in the long series of delays that had plagued the spaceship and haunted not only the astronauts themselves, but the ground crew as well. Returning to the compound from the launching, the most concerned of all was the first of our lady astronauts.

Starring: Julia Meade, Sydney Walker, Ira Lewis, Jack Grimes

Original Airdate: February 28, 1974

Episode 0047 "A Choice of Witnesses"

Original Story by Henry Slesar Directed by Himan Brown Host: E.G. Marshall

A "professional" blackmailer is targeted by his victims who hatch an elaborate plan to get him.

In this story, you're going to meet what some people call a shutter bug. You know what a shutter bug is. The kind of person who never goes anywhere without a camera swinging from a strap around his neck. Who is never content unless they're aiming a lens in your direction, whether you want to be photographed or not. But unfortunately, this particular bug is the kind that many people want to crush under their feet.

It begins on a warm day in early spring. The kind of day which tempts office workers to leave their desks and stroll through the nearest park on the noon hour. Among the strollers is an amiable young man named Gordon Bailey who is enjoying the sunshine so much that he's taken a sandwich lunch to a park bench.

Starring: Paul Hecht, Evie Juster, Ralph Bell, Robert Dryden

Original Airdate: February 26, 1974

Episode 0046 "The Edge of Death"

Original Story by Sol Panitz Directed by Himan Brown Host: E.G. Marshall

A farmer can't do anything but watch helplessly as his wife is slowly consumes by an undefined illness. One day he finds a strange case and an even stranger person without a mouth seeking it desperately. He becomes convinced that the case contains a miracle remedy that can save his wife.

Welcome to the world of nightmarish probability, where the icy fear of the unknown can lead one down strange and terrifying paths. In our story, Alex Harper confronts the impossible and the encounter produces a devastating effect.

Meet Alex Harper, Farmer. Right now his left arm is in a sling, heavily bandaged to protect the more than 20 stitches. Just a small accident on his tractor. First time in his 28 years as a farmer that he'd ever suffered more than a slight sprain or a minor bruise. It is a late August morning, an unreal sky, so blue it almost hurts the eyes to look at it. Even now, there is a promise that the cool dampness of the morning will soon yield to the stifling heat of the prairie sun.

Starring: Patrick O'Neal, Marian Seldes, Leon Janny, Ian Martin

Original Airdate: February 24, 1974

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Episode 0045 "The Horse That Wasn't For Sale"

Original Story by Henry Slesar Directed by Himan Brown Host: E.G. Marshall

A woman is forced to sell most of her father's horses after he dies. She holds on to the best horse -- much to the consternation of her father's competitors.

The story you're about to hear concerns one of the most unusual killers in the annals of crime. A brutal murderer who carries not one but four deadly weapons wherever he goes. A huge monster of a creature weighing hundreds of pounds. But this isn't a horror story. In a way, it's a love story. It's called The Horse That Wasn't For Sale. Now that you've heard the title, you've already guessed the identity of our killer. But that doesn't mean you know what Stargazer is really like.

Our tale begins in an idyllic setting. Picture the gently rolling hills of a horse farm in the early days of autumn. The colors of the trees all red and rust and differing shades of amber. See the ranch house nestled comfortably in the valley. The long row of white stables. But now you may notice something unusual about this farm. The stables are empty. No horses, nay, and winnie in the paddocks. The only sound is the tapping of a typewriter. At a desk in the front room sits a very handsome and very sad-looking young lady whose name is Chrissy Runyon.

Starring: Mercedes McCambridge, Arnold Moss, William Redfield, Earl Hammond

Original Airdate: February 22, 1974

Episode 0044 "The Horla"

Original Story by Guy de Maupassant, Adapted by Sam Dann

Directed by Himan Brown, Host: E.G. Marshall

A man becomes obsessed with a ship in the harbor he is convinced harbors a terrible evil that is the doom of mankind.

At one time, the great cold-blooded reptiles ruled supreme on the face of this earth,but they sickened and died. And dominion was seized by savage, ferocious, hot-blooded killers with hideous fangs and terrible claws. Today, the undisputed Lord and Master of the planet is man. Yet, in the fullness of time, every victor is finally vanquished. Will we, in our turn, also be conquered? Who waits to make of us what we have made?

His name was Guy de Maupassant. He was probably the greatest writer of short stories who ever lived. He died in the year 1893. He died young. He died insane. And if you read the stories he wrote toward the end of his life, the critics tell us, you can see how his madness slowly destroyed him. That's how they look at it. He himself insisted he was being possessed. His mind and all of his vital were being forces were being drained from him by a mysterious, supernatural, and superior being. He called it the Horla. And the Horla is one of the last stories he ever wrote. Is the Horla merely the raving of a man going mad, or is it an inspired prophecy of a fate that awaits us all? You decide.

Starring: Paul Hecht, Dan Ocko, Bryna Raeburn, Robert Dryden

Original Airdate: February 21, 1974

Episode 0043 "The Walls of Jericho"

Original Story by Elspeth Eric Directed by Himan Brown Host: E.G. Marshall

An elderly private club attendant finds that he is able to conjure ghostly figures from his imagination. We are about to bring you a tale of magic.

What a word, magic. What do we mean by magic? What are we thinking when we say something is magical? By only that we do not understand how it came to be or even what it is that came to be or for that matter if it ever really did come to be.

Anything can have magic. A name, a poem, A face, a touch, a phrase of music, a sudden, silent thought that brushes across the mind. But it won't be captured. No, not magic. For magic merely happens. Watch out. Ready or not, here it comes.

Starring: Robert Dryden, Mary Jane Higby, Ian Martin, Ralph Bell, Sydney Walker, Guy Sorel

Original Airdate: February 19, 1974

Episode 0042 "Sea Fever"

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

A fearsome captain of the seas inflicts the ultimate punishment for people who even dare to look at his wife. But some people can't contain their passions for her.

Even before Phoenicians first sailed out of the Mediterranean and opened up the seven seas to mankind, the rolling waters of the world have boiled from their depths some of the greateststories of adventure, romance, and mystery. Of all the stories dredged up from old Davy Jones locker, I think my favorite is the strange and seemingly insoluble puzzle of what happened to the Annabella.

How best to start the story. Oh, yes, of course, why not? Let's read from the log of the ship that found the Annabella, becalmed in the doldrums. August 7th, 1865. Log of the Penguin, Captain Brisket commanding. No wind again this day as we drive through the doldrums moving by paddle and steam to find becalmed a merchant man named Annabella. No answer to repeated hails. Sent Mr. Bascom to board her. His report as follows. Not a living soul aboard.

The boats still snug in the davits. The captain's table freshly set for six. The crew's meal warm in the galley. All ship -shaped. The log records an uneventful voyage with no clue as to why she should have been deserted. Not a living soul aboard. Not even a rat. What can be the answer to the mystery of this ill -fated ship? I cannot even guess. I fear no one will ever know.

The Annabella set sail from Charlestown Harbor on the 13th day of July, 1865. Her captain was Josiah Adams, a huge and forbidding giant of a man. The rest on board were as choice a crew of cutthroats, thieves, and murderers as you could set between bulkheads. There was one woman aboard, and 19 men, including the cook and two passengers. And the mood of all of them was ugly.

Starring: George Mathews, Brett Morrison, Marian Seldes, Leon Janny, William Redfield

Original Airdate: February 18, 1974

Episode 0041 "Blizzard of Terror"

Original Story by George Lowther Directed by Himan Brown Host: E.G. Marshall

A couple with marital difficulties are forced to seek refuge from a blizzard in a remote cabin. They find it inhabited by a man who might be a serial killer.

Have you ever known terror? Have you ever come up against something that so threatened you, so horrified you, that it stopped your heart for a moment? If you never have, count yourself lucky. But don't count on your luck too much. After all, who's to say that terror may never touch you? Consider Helen and Jim Crane. They never thought it would ever touch them. I'll be back shortly.

Dare you join me now in a blizzard of terror? Not so fast! Not so quick to answer yes. Are your nerves in shape for what lies ahead? Have you promised yourself a good night's sleep? A promise you want to keep? In simple brief, are you who now listen to my voice, ready to cope with terror? Very well. You made the choice, not I. Come along then. Well, come on.

Starring: Lois Smith, Larry Haines, Leon Janny

Original Airdate: February 16, 1974

Episode 0039 "A Lady Never Loses Her Head"

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

After a whirlwind romance, and American woman marries an aristocratic Brit. When she moves into her husband's Manor House, she is haunted by a headless specter on horseback who bears a striking resemblance to her.

Our suspense -filled tale is about two ladies. One heedless, one, alas, headless. To meet them both... we shall have to span an ocean and several centuries. The story of both ladies comes from Rudley Castle in the Cotswold Hills of England. But the tale of the First Lady belongs in this century, while the legend of the Second comes riding to us out of the medieval past.

The title of our tale is, A Lady Never Loses Her Head. This has been an accepted dictum since the beginning of recorded history. But in the literal sense, in feudal times, a lady unfortunately could, and frequently did, lose her head. Thank heavens, of course, that is no longer possible. Or is it? Let's travel to London and start our narrative in the gloomy gray atmosphere of Scotland Yard.

Starring: Kim Hunter, Nick Pryor, Court Benson, Ian Martin, Bryna Raeburn