Rod Serling: For those of you who've never met me, you might call me the undernourished Alfred Hitchcock. The great British craftsman and I do share something in common: an interest in the oddball. A predilection towards the bizarre, and this place is nothing if it isn't bizarre, by virtue of the paintings you see hanging around me.
Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay
Based on the short story "The Witch" by A.E. van Vogt.
Teleplay by: Alvin Sapinsley
Directed by: William Hale
Rod Serling: This item here is called: Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay, and Aunt Ada is a most memorable character. You may not like her, but I seriously doubt if you'll ever forget her. Be thankful you've met her only in: the Night Gallery.
University science professor Craig Lowell (James Farentino) and his wife Joanna (Michele Lee) have taken in Joanna's great aunt, Ada Quigley (Jeanette Nolan), as a houseguest for a few years. Craig expresses misgivings about Ada staying with them, as he has noticed she has an aversion to certain flowers and has been collecting unusual plants that resemble weeds. On consulting his fellow professor and occult expert Nick Porteus, Craig concludes that Ada is a wicked witch who lives forever by swapping bodies with other women, and may be planning to do the same to Joanna.
Tropes
- The Bad Guy Wins: As shown by the ending, Ada was successful in transferring her soul into Joanna's body.
- Body Swap: Ada attempts to steal her niece's body when hers grows old and frail. The ending hints that she succeeded in doing so.
- Bookends: The beginning and end of the segment have Craig leaving the house for the university.
- Cassandra Truth: Joanna thinks her husband to be mad when he blurts out the truth about her great aunt, thinking that he needs to be put away.
- Chekhov's Gun: The green carnation Craig wears in his shirt pocket, which is a weakness to witches he uses to try and stop Ada, though it doesn't help.
- Contrived Coincidence: Ada tries to get Craig out of the house with one, having a telegram sent to him stating that a fellow professor is having a family emergency and needs a substitute for their class. Craig is fortunately able to see through it and works around it at Joanna's insistence, but it still fails.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Craig discovers that the real Ada Quigley has been dead for quite a while, despite having been the Lowells' houseguest years before the segment begins. She's revealed to be a witch who accomplished this by transferring her soul to a new body once her last one became too frail. It's heavily implied at the end of the segment that she transferred her soul into Joanna's body.
- Evil Old Folks: Ada, who aches to take over her niece's body.
- He Knows Too Much: When Craig confronts her about her true identity, Ada kills Nick via a psychic stroke to deprive Craig of his only ally.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Joanna sees nothing sinister about the witch impersonating her great-aunt, and thinks that Craig is going to be put away when he reveals the truth to her.
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: The night of Ada's ritual is such a night.
- Me's a Crowd: Ada self-duplicates during the ritual to steal Joanna's body, conjuring a small army of herself to stop Craig from disrupting the ritual.
- Odd Friendship: Craig, a man of logic and science, is acquaintances with Nick, a superstitious man knowledgeable in the occult.
- Offscreen Teleportation: As Ada lounges in the garden, Craig suddenly sees her disappear and reappear in the house when he tries to look at her.
- Properly Paranoid: Before he knew the truth, Craig was hesitant about letting Ada stay with him and Joanna. Once Nick tells him about witches, he finds that he was right all along to be suspicious.
- Race Against the Clock: Craig spends the climactic scene racing back home before the strokes of midnight end to keep Joanna from becoming Ada's newest body.
- Spot the Thread: The ending of the segment has Joanna seemingly forgetting to put Craig's green carnation in his shirt like she usually does. Craig's discovery of this, as well as Joanna nervously staring at the green carnations in the garden, reveal that Ada successfully took over her body.
- Stating the Simple Solution: During their argument about whether he should stay home to protect her or substitute his fellow professor's class, Joanna tells Craig that if he's adamant in protecting her, then she should just come with him to continue being protected and be far away from Ada. As Joanna tells him, Craig legitimately never considered that option because it's too simple for his logical mind to comprehend. It fails anyway when Ada subliminally programs Joanna to return to the house.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Joanna and Ada enjoy the latter's seaweed tea, drinking it even at the odd hours of the night. We later learn that Ada was making Joanna drink the tea to better prepare her as her new vessel.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Green carnations are fatal to witches, being the only thing that can prevent one from body swapping with a younger woman. Craig regularly wears one on his shirt, so he lights it on fire and throws it at Ada during her ritual to destroy her. Or so he thinks.
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: Nick tells Craig that the ritual through which Ada intends to swap bodies with Joanna occurs during the strokes of midnight on the first full moon after the autumnal equinox.
- Wicked Witch: Ada (if that's even her real name), who swaps bodies with other women to live forever.
- You Are Too Late: Ada tells Craig this when he finds Joanna unconscious and an empty cup of tea in front of her.
With Apologies to Mr. Hyde
Written by: Jack Larid
Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc
Dr. Jekyll (Adam West), busily working in his lab, is handed a beaker of formula by his hunchbacked assistant (Jack Laird), which he eagerly drinks. Once he becomes Mr. Hyde, Jekyll berates his assistant for what exactly he did wrong with the formula.
Tropes
- Bait-and-Switch: After transforming into Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll berates Igor for screwing up his monstrous martini. By using too much vermouth.
- Creator Cameo: Series producer Jack Laird plays Igor.
- The Igor: Dr. Jekyll works with one, who is given a talking to for screwing up the potion.
- Mad Doctor: Dr. Jekyll, who ingests his usual formula to become Mr. Hyde. Once he does so, he rebukes Igor for putting too much vermouth in what is revealed to actually be a martini.
The Flip-Side of Satan
Original story by: Hal Dresner
Teleplay by: Malcolm Marmorsteen & Gerald Sanford
Directed by: Jerrold Freedman
Rod Serling: We refer to him by different names: Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub. But by any other name, he'd smell of brimstone. These, the ingredients to a one-man stew: a disc jockey, a radio show, and a painting we call: The Flip-Side of Satan.
Formerly famous disc jockey J.J. Wilson (Arte Johnson) has been sent to work the midnight shift on a low-power station in the middle of nowhere. Shortly into his shift, J. J. starts having his scheduled playlist replaced with gothic organ music, eerie electronic sounds, and ominous voices demanding a sacrifice to Lucifer. He initially thinks that this is a sort of hazing by the other employees of the station, but it becomes apparent, especially with the rumors that caused his career to plummet, that J.J. is exactly where he belongs.
Tropes
- Asshole Victim: J.J. is an egotistical jackass who doesn’t care about Emily’s suicide at all, and is hinted to have actually had her killed, or even did so himself. When the creepy radio station he's taken a job at sacrifices him to Lucifer, it’s impossible to feel bad.
- Bottle Episode: The segment mainly takes place inside the recording booth in KAPH.
- Break the Haughty: KAPH demands that J.J. humble himself before being sacrificed. He refuses, granting him a horrific death.
- Catchphrase: J.J. usually psyches himself up by repeating to himself “Who's better than J.J.?”
- Creepy Souvenir: A small section of wall in KAPH features portraits of all the disc jockeys that previously worked there, all of them having worked only one night before being sacrificed to Lucifer. When J.J. himself is sacrificed at the end, his portrait is added to the collection.
- Genius Loci: KAPH, a sentient radio station that sacrifices its DJs to Lucifer and the hordes of Hell, with J.J. being its latest victim.
- Hell Is That Noise: The eerie, otherworldly... "music" that replaces J.J. 's scheduled playlist. An In-Universe example comes near the end, when J.J. is bombarded with an electronic screeching noise as he tries to shut KAPH down, which gives him horrific agony.
- High-Voltage Death: The forces of Hell, summoned through KAPH's equipment, electrocute J.J. as a sacrifice to Lucifer.
- Minimalist Cast: J.J. is the only character present, although the syndicated version adds Emily's ghost and a demonic face that makes intermittent appearances.
- Role-Ending Misdemeanor: In-Universe. J.J. was one of the hottest disc jockeys in New York City, but after his affair with Emily and her (supposed) suicide came out, his career tanked and he was forced to host the midnight shift in a low-power station miles from civilization.
- Shout-Out: As the electronic "music" begins playing, J.J. muses to himself, "And I thought we were way out in Gotham City."
- Small Name, Big Ego: J.J., to the point where he flies into a rage when the station itself demands that he humble himself.
- Vengeful Ghost: In the syndicated version, J.J. gets glimpses of Emily's ghost as KAPH calls for his sacrifice.
- With Friends Like These...: J.J. treated his agent Sid like his best friend and/or father figure. We later learn that J.J. had an affair with Sid's wife Emily, and either drove her to suicide or hired someone to kill her, if not doing so himself.
