Fabulous.

The stories are revised scripts from original Twilight Zone episodes. Each CD contains on story and Stacy Keach is a great choice for the role of Narrator and Twilight Zone host for the series.

Each story is read by a "star" with a supporting cast and on a few stories Stacy Keach himself. At first the sound effects were distracting but as I began to listen they added to the atmosphere for me rather than distracting me as I have felt on other radio dramas.

the stories include:
-The Lonely-great story about a man enduring isolation and loss, the ending was depressing.
-Night of the Meek
-Mr Dingle the Strong. A pushover of a man who gets help from an unexpected source. my least favorite as the twists weren't as dramatic as I expected and no real strong emotions were played upon here.
-A Kind of Stopwatch. A man who craves attention for his ideas may finally have found a way to be heard. the first of the stories-Lou Diamond Phillips does a fantastic job with an incredibly obnoxious character.
-30 fathom grave. A Navy destroyer realizes they are not alone. Blair Underwood provides the voice, the sound effects on this one heighten the creep factor.
-Lateness of the Hour. A daughter confronts her parents about their pampered lifestyle, Jane Seymour and her husband James Keach read on this one.
-A Stop at Willoughby. One of my favorite television episodes about a man escaping his hectic and stressful life.
-Of Late I think of Cliffordville. A story of greed and revenge, just loved it.
-The After Hours, read by Kim Fields, this was one of my favorite television episodes and my favorite in this series. This story is about a woman who is harassed by the sales staff of a department story while shopping. The sound effects added to this creepy and disorienting story.
-The Man in the Bottle.

I loved these so much I am looking for the additional series at my library. If you are a Twilight Zone fan, I definitely recommend this volume. ( )

I've been a lifelong fan of The Twilight Zone, the old B&W anthology TV series produced by Rod Serling in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of the stories from that series are among the most iconic tales of "What If" in fiction. In the early 2000s, Dennis Etchison adapted many of Rod Serling's original scripts for the radio, as a regular syndicated radio broadcast. Those radio plays have been gathered into 13 CD collections (of which the library has only the first). Each episode features a well-known actor as the lead voice, with a cast of recurring voices as the supporting cast. Collection #1 features 10 episodes, the highlights of which include Lou Diamond Phillips in "A Kind of Stopwatch", Ed Begley Jr. in "The Man in the Bottle", Tim Kazurinsky as "Mr Dingle the Strong" and Chris MacDonald in "The Night of the Meek". Production values are all top-notch, with the voice casts, special and sound effects all very good. I would highly recommend this set for TZ fans and for fans who remember the days of live radio dramas. My only complaint would be that with a few small exceptions, the stories were not updated from their early 1960s-era settings for a more modern audience. But that's a minor quibble.

Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec09-11.htm ( )