ROD SERLING'S THE TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE
Vol. 1 No. 2
May 1981
TZ Publications, Inc.
Publisher: Nils A. Shapiro
Associate Publisher: Carol Serling
Editor: T.E.D. Klein
Cover: "The Pleasure Principle" by Rene Magritte
Pages: 108
Cover price: $2.00
Boy, was I ready for a magazine like this. The 70's were over and there seemed to be a push towards the new rather than the classic when it came to monster mags. FAMOUS MONSTERS was fast becoming a shadow of its former self and tried to cash in on the current sci-fi craze. Almost gone were the beautiful Gogos covers of the past and in their place were gaudy images of R2-D2, C-3PO and a interplanetary bigfoot called Chewbacca. It felt like space-rape.
Now, I don't have anything against science fiction, and I believe it has its place -- but when it invaded the pages of FM, practically taking over each issue, I quickly lost interest and looked to other sources for my monster fix.
My nostalgia was assuaged on one of my many trips to a shop called The Paperback Shack in North Hollywood. It was the local mecca for books and magazines. The 'zine rack snaked its way along the walls, burgeoning with what seemed like every periodical being published at the time. It was there that I spied the first issue of THE TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE and it was there that I was able to revel in the classics of the past.
Haunting, superbly written stories, and book and movie reviews were all provided by the premier authors of the day. Admittedly, the stories did have a modern edge to them, but they usually had the vintage feel lurking just in the background.
Today, I post the first part of the second issue. I beg your indulgence to read it as it contains some of the best written "weird" fiction that was available.
