BIBLIOGRAPHY

This annotated bibliography does not include everything ever written by and about Serling, for such a list would run pages.  Serling was not only a prolific writer, he was (and remains) a heavily marketed one.  The majority of Serling publications are Twilight Zone or Night Gallery stories, only some of which are included below.

In-print titles have links to Amazon.com.  If your library does not own any of these books, see about borrowing them using Interlibrary Loan.  To purchase out-of-print books, try Advanced Book Exchange.

BOOKS

Biography  |  Published Scripts  |  Program Guides  |  Fiction  |  Background

BIOGRAPHY

• Engel, Joel.  Rod Serling: The Dreams and Nightmares of Life in the Twilight Zone.  Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1989; 353 pgs.  A dark look at Serling's life based largely on interviews and Serling's personal papers.  Hampered by a lack of index and bibliography.

• Sander, Gordon F.  Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man.  New York: Plume, 1994 (also published by Dutton in 1992); 284 pgs.  Brief but well researched.  Excellent appendices for the Serling scholar -- videography, filmography, awards, and extensive bibliography.

• Zicree, Marc S.  The Twilight Zone Companion.  2nd ed.  Beverly Hills: Silman-James Press, 1992; 466 pgs.  Primarily a program guide, but several chapters discuss Serling's life pre- and post-Zone.  If you want a concise yet cogent look at Serling, this is a great source.

ALSO...

• Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (DVD) -- Not a book, but a PBS TV documentary that originally aired in 1995.  Includes rare photos and clips, and interviews with Serling's friends, family, and colleagues.  It also came packaged with the out-of-print Twilight Zone 40th Anniversary Gift Pack. 

• Rod Serling: The E! True Hollywood Story (originally aired February 2000) -- Tabloid-style look at Serling's life which includes interviews with friends and colleagues but not family.  Not available on video, but airs periodically on the E! cable channel.

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PUBLISHED SCRIPTS

Gauntlet Press has recently published collector's-edition Twilight Zone scripts from Serling (in three volumes, see below) and TZ writers Richard Matheson (two volumes) and Charles Beaumont.  Dozens of Twilight Zone scripts were published during the 1980's in the defunct Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine.  TZ shooting scripts are also be available from Script City.  Drew's Script-o-Rama has some transcripts.

• Albarella, Tony, editor.  As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Volumes 1-3.  Handsome limited-edited series of Serling's 92 TZ scripts reproduced directly from Serling's masters. 

• Best Televison Plays.  New York: Ballantine Books, 1965, 1956; 250 pgs.  A good sampling of work from the best writers of television's Golden Age (Paddy Chayefsky, Reginald Rose, Horton Foote, etc.).  Includes Serling's 1954 teleplay "The Strike."

• Great Television Plays, Vol. 2.  New York: Dell, 1975; 302 pgs.  Includes Serling's acclaimed 1970 Hallmark Hall of Fame teleplay "A Storm in Summer."

• Requiem for a Heavyweight and Other Plays.  New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1971; 125 pgs.  "Requiem" is the only Serling script in the collection.

• Serling, Rod.  Patterns: Four Television Plays with the Author's Personal Commentaries.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957; 246 pgs.  Serling's best early work: the breakthrough "Patterns," the universally acclaimed "Requiem for a Heavyweight," as well as "The Rack" and "Old MacDonald Had a Curve."  Bonus: "About Writing for Television," a revealing 40 page essay by Serling.

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PROGRAM GUIDES

• Presnell, Don, and Marty McGee.  A Critical History of Television's The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964.  Jefferson, NC: Mc Farland & Company, Inc., 1998; 288 pgs.  Contains the most complete listing of TZ casts and credits ever published.

• Schumer, Arlen.  Visions from The Twilight Zone.  Upland: DIANE Publishing Company, 1998; 176 pgs.  A beautifully crafted program guide designed to imitate the experience of watching black and white TV.  Includes essays by Serling, his wife, TZ producer Buck Houghton and Village Voice critic J. Hoberman.

• Skelton, Scott, and Jim Benson.  Rod Serling's Night Gallery: an After-Hours Tour.  Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1998; 397 pgs.  Excellent companion to the cult series.  Visit the tie-in website.

• Wolfe, Peter.  In the Zone: The Twilight World of Rod Serling.  Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1997; 217 pgs.  A scholarly analysis of TZ.

• Zicree, Marc S.  The Twilight Zone Companion.  2nd ed.  Beverly Hills: Silman-James Press, 1992; 466 pgs.  Outstanding.  Includes episode guide, interviews with cast and crew, and insightful mini-bio of Serling.  Well illustrated.

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FICTION

All of Serling's forays into fiction were short story adaptations of his Twilight Zone and Night Gallery scripts -- except for The Season to be Wary, where he worked the other way around.  New editions/versions of these workhorses go in and out of print frequently.

• Serling, Rod.  From the Twilight Zone.  New York: Doubleday, 1962; 314 pgs.

• -----.  More Stories From the Twilight Zone.  New York: Bantam, 1961; 149 pgs.

• -----.  New Stories From the Twilight Zone.  New York: Bantam, 1962; 122 pgs.

• -----.  Night Gallery.  New York: Bantam, 1971; 147 pgs.

• -----.  Night Gallery 2.  New York: Bantam, 1972; 152 pgs.

• -----.  The Season to Be Wary.  Boston: Little, Brown, 1967; 276 pgs.  Trio of novellas which Serling later adapted into the classic Night Gallery pilot.

• -----.  Stories From the Twilight Zone.  New York: Bantam, 1960; 151 pgs.

• -----.  The Twilight Zone: The Complete Stories.  New York: TV Books, 1999; 448 pgs. The Nineteen stories previously published as Stories From the Twilight Zone, More Stories From..., and New Stories From... compiled in one volume, with an introduction by T.E.D. Klein.

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BACKGROUND

• Stempel,  Tom.  Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American Television Writing.  New York: Continuum, 1992; 307 pgs.  The title says it all; a solid look at the medium, with Serling's contributions noted. 

• Sturcken, Frank.  Live Television: The Golden Age of 1946-1958 in New York.  Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1990; 178 pgs.  Serling is discussed with the other pioneers responsible for this critical period in the evolution of television.

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PERIODICALS

• Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine (aka Twilight Zone Magazine).  New York: TZ Publications, 1981-1989.  Serling's widow, Carol, was associate publisher and consulting editor of this bimonthly which ran for eight years.  Issues featured original TZ teleplays, episode guides to TZ and Night Gallery, interviews with those in the sf/horror field (Stephen King, Robert Bloch, Leonard Nimoy), fiction, and film previews.  Full information can be found at The Fifth Dimension.

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