King & Lovecraft Crossover Made This The Twilight Zone Episode an Iconic Horror Gem

In 1959, the first episode of the most important science fiction series of all time, The Twilight Zone, created by Rod Serling, debuted on television. The impact The Twilight Zone has had on sci-fi over the last fifty years is difficult to overestimate.

The Twilight Zone Had a Difficult Fate

The Twilight Zone was not always a smash hit. Its pilot episode didn’t get impressive ratings. And it wasn't until the middle of the season, when viewers began telling each other about the new show, that the ratings began to rise.

But by the sixth season, CBS executives were fed up with The Twilight Zone. They found a new favorite, The Outer Limits.

It was not until the early 1980s that network executives gave the show a second chance. But the rebooted The Twilight Zone did not live up to expectations and was not as popular as the original.

The revived show lasted three seasons and was canceled, but managed to give us some truly iconic episodes.

Gramma Is an Impressive King And Lovecraft Crossover

Among those was Gramma, based on the Stephen King short story of the same name.

The script for the episode was written by Harlan Ellison, and one of the lead roles was played by Piper Laurie, the star of another movie based on King's novel, Carrie.

The story centers on an eleven-year-old boy, Georgie, whose mother goes to the hospital to visit his older brother, who has seriously injured his leg. The boy is left alone with his grandmother, who is somehow connected to mysterious dark forces.

But if the fact that this is an adaptation of the King of Horror’s story isn't enough for you, the episode also throws in references to the works of the most important horror writer of the last century – Howard P. Lovecraft.

When Georgie tries to sort through his creepy grandmother's things, he discovers a book called, yes, the Necronomicon. And here we see the names of all those creatures that will thrill any fan of Lovecraftian horror – Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth and the Great Old Ones.

Gramma Is One of The Twilight Zone Episodes That Should Be Revisited

Without spoiling anything, we can say that Gramma follows the brilliant Twilight Zone formula to the end – with the inevitable twist at the finale.

In fact, Stephen King himself didn't really like The Twilight Zone. He thought it was too straightforwardly moralistic, and absurd compared to The Outer Limits. But even those who don’t like this series give it its due and find among the many episodes of the show those that can be revisited many times.