TRAUMAFESSIONS :: Reader Brad W. on DARKROOM

 

 

There was a show on when I was little called DARKROOM. It was kind of like THE TWILIGHT ZONE and they told different horror stories each week. One episode was about a girl who was convinced that this guy she knew was a vampire and nobody believed her. At the end she is proven wrong and is all relieved, but then the guy says at the last minute "I'm not a vampire…I'm a werewolf!" and attacks her. Just thought you should know that this was the scariest thing I can remember seeing on T.V.

UNKLE LANCIFER SEZ: Brad! God bless you! I had nearly forgotten about this show! The episode that sticks in my brain is one that involved toy soldiers coming to life and attacking a guy. DARKROOM was hosted by JAMES COBURN, ran from 1981-82 (7 episodes, 16 stories in all) and is not currently available on DVD. The episode you mentioned is called "The Bogeyman Will Get You" and was written by PSYCHO scribe Robert Block. Believe it or not, it stars a young HELEN HUNT and telenastie-fave QUINN CUMMINGS (THE BABYSITTER, NIGHT TERROR). I found a great episode guide HERE and if you're up for it, you can watch the beginning of the episode you mentioned HERE. Unfortunately that scary ending is nowhere to be found, but maybe that's for the best. Another interesting thing that I discovered is that the stories in the much-loved theatrical anthology film NIGHTMARES were all originally written for the show DARKROOM, but were considered too intense for television. Man, Brad you lit a fire under my shoe! Now I gotta find me some more DARKROOM!

KINDER UPDATE: Talk about Synchronicity! It has come to my attention that one of your Unkle Lancifer's favorite people Jeff Allard, just posted a great piece on this very show. So, for even more developments in the DARKROOM make sure you stop by and have DINNER WITH MAX JENKE !