About this season
Horror legend Christopher Lee hosts this anthology in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, each half-hour episode adapting a story from a classic author, with tales by Edgar Allen Poe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ambrose Bierce, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Oscar Wilde.
Episodes (24)
1. First Love
5.0Aired 1 October 1971 • 25 min
Vladimir, the teenage son of a local rich man, falls madly in love with his new neighbor's daughter Zina competing for her affections along with a host of her other suitors.
2. The Man Who Demoralized Hadleyburg
7.0Aired 8 October 1971 • 25 min
A stranger comes to town with a bag full of gold and a test for everyone.
3. The Tortures of Hope
4.0Aired 15 October 1971 • 25 min
A man is about to be executed by the Inquisition. Is hope enough to save him?
4. Mateo Falcone
2.0Aired 22 October 1971 • 25 min
A young Corsican boy defies local customs and dishonors his family when he turns in a bandit to police.
5. The Vampire
6.0Aired 29 October 1971 • 25 min
Intertwines multiple stories, including a framing device about a young man named Runevsky, and explores themes of obsession, the supernatural, and the line between reality and imagination.
6. The Swashbuckler
3.0Aired 5 November 1971 • 25 min
A psychological character study revolving around Luchkov, an aggressive, manipulative former military officer who lives for duels and social domination.
7. The Actress
4.0Aired 12 November 1971 • 25 min
A failed actress wants to go back to her husband, who has fallen into alcoholism.
8. The System of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether
8.0Aired 19 November 1971 • 25 min
A narrator visits a French mental asylum where the 'soothing system' of patient-led care has been overthrown by a new, more severe method, only for the narrator to discover the 'doctors' are actually the patients, and the 'keepers' are those locked away, tarred and feathered.
9. The Rajah's Diamond
8.0Aired 26 November 1971 • 25 min
Follows the journey of a cursed, valuable diamond as it passes through the hands of various characters, revealing their greed, folly, and the dark allure of wealth. The narrative links these tales through the diamond's movement from London to Paris, exploring themes of crime, deception, and morality.
10. The Nose
3.0Aired 3 December 1971 • 25 min
A government official's nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own.
11. Tell-Tale Hearts
9.0Aired 10 December 1971 • 25 min
A nameless man insists on his sanity while confessing to murdering an old man because of his 'vulture-like' eye.
12. Markheim
7.0Aired 17 December 1971 • 25 min
A man murders an antique dealer on Christmas Day to steal from him, only to be tormented by his own conscience, personified by a mysterious visitor who may be the Devil, forcing him to confront his evil and ultimately choose confession over further sin.
13. The Barrel Organ
7.0Aired 24 December 1971 • 25 min
Reclusive, cultured lawyer Mr Tomasz's solitary life is transformed by a blind orphan girl who moves in next door and her barrel organ, which he initially despises but comes to cherish as a source of joy and connection, ultimately leading him to help her.
14. The Canterville Ghost
6.0Aired 31 December 1971 • 25 min
A young American couple inherits an English castle, only to find that it is haunted by the spirit of a disgraced ancestor, doomed to stay on the estate because of his cowardice. The only way he can escape is if one of his descendants performs an heroic act, something he intends to get the husband to do.
15. Decameron
1.0Aired 7 January 1972 • 25 min
From Giovanni Boccaccio's 'The Decameron No. 40.'
16. A Matter of Conscience
6.0Aired 14 January 1972 • 25 min
From Ambrose Bierce's 'A Matter of Conscience.'
17. The Husband Under the Bed
6.0Aired 21 January 1972 • 25 min
From Fyodor Dostoevsky's 'Another Man's Wife and a Husband Under the Bed.'
18. Pavoncello
4.0Aired 28 January 1972 • 25 min
From Stefan Zeromski's 'Pavoncello.'
19. The Song of Triumphant Love
2.0Aired 4 February 1972 • 25 min
From Ivan Turgenev's 'The Song of Triumphant Love.'
20. The Postmaster
4.0Aired 11 February 1972 • 25 min
From Alexander Pushkin's 'The Postmaster.'
21. A Terribly Strange Bed
6.0Aired 18 February 1972 • 25 min
From William Wilkie Collins' 'A Terribly Strange Bed.'
22. The Fatalist
3.0Aired 25 February 1972 • 25 min
From Mikhail Lermontov's 'The Fatalist.'
23. Resurrection of the Offland
5.0Aired 3 March 1972 • 25 min
From Alexandre Dumas 'The Resurrection of the Offland.'
24. Boarded Window
3.0Aired 10 March 1972 • 25 min
From Ambrose Bierce's 'The Boarded Window.'