You’re About to Enter ‘The Twilight Zone’: Celebrate National ‘Twilight Zone’ Day

Lauren Novak May 11, 7:00 am

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“You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

Each year on May 11th, National Twilight Zone Day pays tribute to the iconic series that showcases the weird and unexplainable. The first series of its kind was created, written by, and narrated by Rod Serling, and premiered on October 1, 1959. While the setting of each episode changed, they were all set in the fifth dimension, The Twilight Zone.

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The show has something for everyone. A bit of fantasy, mixed with science fiction and horror, it had thrills and suspense, mystery, and even comedy. Each episode ended with a twist and usually had a moral storyline. The show was so popular and so engrained in pop culture that it spawned many reboots (the first series ran from 1959–1964, the second from 1985–1989, the third from 2002–2003, and the fourth from 2019-2020), and even a thrill ride at several Disney parks. TV Guide ranked the original series #5 on the list of the 60 greatest shows of all time.

Serling grew up with a love of pulp fiction stories and as he got older, he wanted to learn about and discuss topics that others shied away from including racism and war. He first wrote a teleplay called The Time Element that CBS picked up in 1958, about time travel and World War II, and was such a big hit that it led to the creation of The Twilight Zone. The rest is history. It is worth noting how many big celebrities made an appearance in the show over the years including William Shatner (check out his episode in the video above!), Happy Days star Ron Howard, Carol Burnett, Robert Redford, and Cloris Leachman, to name a few.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE, Cliff Robertson, 'The Dummy,' 1962, 1959-1964, Season 3

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How To Celebrate National Twilight Zone Day

To celebrate the day, you could watch old episodes of The Twilight Zone on the streaming service Paramount+, listen to the radio dramas on Spotify and host a party where everyone dresses as their favorite character. There are so many iconic choices including The Invaders, the Shadow Man, the Kanamits, or Talky Tina. Or if you have the Syfy channel they are hosting a mini-marathon of the groundbreaking anthology series.