There is little twist to this one. But still it's great, with Nightfall's attention to characterization and music evident. - Dylan Miller

Buried Alive

A sleazy hypnotist fakes his own death for the insurance money. He awakens in his coffin with an oxygen tank and an intercom, and waits for his wife and assistant to dig him up. Unfortunately, the two “rescuers” are having an affair and decide to leave him entombed. 

 Reviews: 
Pretty cool, though the “hypnosis” angle was a bit much. A lesser episode, but certainly not bad. The hypnotist himself was entertaining. Such a swine.-Brad Reed

England, in the 19th century, is the setting for this episode. Times are hard, and making ends meet is extremely difficult. Grave robbing, therefore, is a lucrative business in an otherwise sterile job market. Why wait for the bodies to drop over of natural causes, though, when you can speed up the process a bit? 

Reviews:
Not one of the most exciting shows of the series, but still worth your time. Save this one for after you have heard the better of the Nightfall shows. - Brian Lane

Carmilla                                                         Creatures

Set in Germany's Black Forest. A wealthy man and his daughter receive a mysterious house guest who has  a secret life, one which threatens to destroy anyone who encounters her.

Reviews:
This is not a good listen. Characters are not interesting, the story is dull and overall nothing held my attention. One of the weaker shows in this series. - Paul Hesse

Cemetery Stop                                                                                                                       Ghosts

A recently widowed bus driver is haunted by a strange woman who everyday insists on getting off at a lonely stop outside of a Toronto cemetery.

Reviews:
Nice, little ghost story. Not one of the best, but a nice way to spend 30 minutes. - C. Grigsby

Child’s Play                                                                                                                                      

A couple move into the wife's childhood home, in spite of the memories of her parents, who were murdered there in their bed when she was a little girl.  Bad idea.

Reviews:
An extremely scary supernatural thriller.  Although the ending was fairly obvious from the second flashback on up, 'Child's Play' still left a few questions unanswered, such as, who, or what were the spectral children being seen, and heard outside the house?  I only hope none of them show up at my door, and ask if I can come out and play!- 'Fallen Angel'

The Chrysalids  (3 part episode)

In an irradiated post-Holocaust future, Mankind is rebuilding civilization, but he still harbors the same old evils of prejudice,  intolerance, and fanaticism, now directed toward anyone unfortunate enough to have been born with any variation on the established physical norm. Based on the novel by John Wyndham.

A Canadian student at Cambridge, obsessed by a desire to see ghosts,  determines to spend the night in a room once used for meetings by members of the Everlasting Club.  This eighteenth-century gentlemen’s club expected members to attend its annual meetings, with no exceptions granted to the deceased....

Reviews:
Creepy. While I could predict the ending, I still grew scared. The acting and the sound work were both very, very good. Fine, fine episode. - Brad Reed

The writer of the summary is a professor of languages and got unexpected pleasure out of the story’s moral to know one’s Latin!  - Anonymous

Great buildup with a nice twist at the end. Good one to listen to with the lights off. - C. Grigsby

I have to agree that the setup is promising and interesting, but the payoff is predictable and laden with senseless gore. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve come to expect a higher standard of terror from OTR and, unfortunately, the scare tactics used in this particular episode are as cliché and commonplace as the kind you would find in a run-of-the-mill modern slasher film. This one is disappointing and predictable at best. - Jennifer Morrison

A young man find himself on hard times, or so it seems. He is indebted to a man he met in prison. He just can't seem to get the money, so things look bleak for the man. Luckily, his wife is sympathetic, and rich. She can bail him out. Unfortunately, what she mistakenly believes is a heavy gambling debt is actually a contract to have her killed.

 Reviews:    
 Fun story, but the ending can be seen a mile off. Don't expect too much from this episode and you will enjoy it. - Brian Lane

Based on a Honore de Balzac story. Its a tale of infidelity, and of revenge. A Count discovers his wife's infidelity and takes steps to see that it doesn't happen again.

Daddy’s Girl                                                                                                                            Occult

A man on vacation in the West Indies gets more than he bargains for when he gets on the wrong side of a young girl who is a practitioner of black magic. Can he escape and tell the authorities of the strange deaths that have occurred on the island before it's too late?

A stolen camera has the ability to render anyone who is photographed by it dead.

Reviews:
A good episode that ends way too soon. It needed to be about twice as long, since it set up all sorts of cool ideas and left it dangling. Given an hour, this could have been a classic.- Brad Reed

A fraternity initiation ritual goes too far, and the young man being initiated is killed. And that's the end of that. Or is it...

A newlywed wife accepts a job as an assistant in the office of a genteel dentist who often treats the poor for free. However, she soon suspects something is wrong when the patients are seen  leaving in a disassociated stupor.

The Devil’s Backbone

Three treasure seekers looking for Spanish gold from a sunken galleon off the Nova Scotia coast are frustrated in their quest by a strange creature which has set up house in the wreck.

Reviews:
Well done.  A very engrossing first-person narration helps to pull the listener in, although it sets up a slightly awkward postscript when the show has to pull away to third-person viewpoint in order to provide the resolution.-- Geoff Loker

The Fatal Eggs                                                                                                                     Super science

Set in communist Russia, a scientist discovers a compound, which when injected into chicken eggs, produces giant chickens. Only the government gets hold of the compound and accidentally injects it into snake eggs, with really fun results.

After  narrowly missing being killed by a truck, an ad executive becomes obsessed with the sound of footsteps following him wherever he goes.

Set in old Scotland. A young man delivers his rent to the local laird, but the latter dies before a receipt can be written, and the money disappears. Desperate, the young man turns to an enigmatic stranger for help.

Reviews:
Picture being on a tour of Scotland and coming into contact with the wizened old groundskeeper of an ancient castle whose sole purpose in life is to pass along the tales handed to him from his father. This story takes you from the front of a forgotten war all the way through the gates of Hell and back out into the mundane. Its nightmarish scenery certainly kept my attention and I can say with confidence that the story is very far from dull. It also illustrates the comical lengths one must go through to penetrate the most rigid forms of bureaucracy. I must warn you though, that the subject matter is more than a little far-fetched and if it’s blood and gore you’re after, you won’t find it here. Although my exposure to the series is somewhat limited, I consider this to be one of the best, but even so, I invite you to draw your own conclusions. - Jennifer Morrison

After getting his television repaired, a man is horrified to behold broadcasts from the future, a future in which his wayward criminal son will become the new Hitler.

Reviews:
A so-so episode.  None of the characters are particularly likeable, and the general story doesn't flow very well.- Geoff Loker

Cool setup, pretty good payoff. I do like how the parents are written. The father is a jerk, the mother a whiner who tries to “make things okay.” They felt all too real. Would you kill Hitler as a boy if he were your son? -Brad Reed

Gerald                                                                                                                                   Occult/Creatures

Guest of Honor                                                                                                                         Supernatural

Lady Neville is old and has one last wish - to throw the grandest, most outrageous party in the history of London. To make it so, she invites the most infamous guest of all - the Grim Reaper. 

Hands Off                                                                                                                                 Super Science

A chemical designed to trigger aggression accidentally spills in the laboratory, getting on the hands of its inventors. The scent causes everyone and everything they encounter to react with murderous hatred.

Reviews:
A very good story.  The action becomes a little confused towards the end, and the sound effects can make the resolution a little difficult to figure out. - Geoff Loker

An excellent story of "overreaching scientist suffers the consequences of his work."  Very well acted, and very scary.  I particularly enjoyed the first person narration with the murderous dogs providing a constant background, and the fact that even the scientists who's hands were covered with the chemical, "rose water," weren't immune to its effects.  Certainly makes you wonder what that sweet smell clinging to some people's hands could be. - 'Fallen Angel'

A man's innocent view of the general goodness of mankind is shattered by his wife's murder.

Reviews:
Based on a Stan Rogers song.  Opening with the first verse of the folk song, the play elicited a groan from me as deep as Roger’s voice.  However, it’s an episode that builds beautifully and by the end I was completely captivated.  It’s more than a bit different than a typical Nightfall episode, with it’s use of the song to move the plot forward and its complex examination of morality built into a rather simple tale.  It’s somehow got itself stuck in my head and is certainly worth a listen to.  Though be warned, good or bad, it does reek of a certain Canadian-ness of character found in much of our media in the 80’s. - Jason Pichonsky

A man returns from four years in a European mental institution to stay with a friend in Toronto . The phone rings, and it’s a man asking strange questions. And the man already knows his name. Things spiral downhill from there.

Reviews: 
Really good. Not only was the story disorienting and scary, it tied together much better than it had any right to. Fine, fine episode. - Brad Reed

Hypnotized                                                         Occult

A woman under hypnotic regression begins recollections of a very disturbing previous incarnation, in which she has some attachment to the Devil...

When an ill-tempered old farmer refuses to have surgery for his cataracts,  a mysterious young man shows up to help him, and the farmer's past comes back to haunt him.

Reviews:
An excellent episode.  Very well acted and produced.  On the surface, things seem fine, but there are just enough undercurrents of something hidden going on to keep things unsettled until an understated ending.
An excellent "let you scare yourself silly" revenge story.-- Geoff Loker

A former high-school football star who is in decline and well past his "glory days" is haunted by a mysterious jogger, whom he feels he must catch at all costs.

Reviews:
A good episode.  The characterizations are not clear, however, and it's  not entirely clear what the jogger is supposed to represent.  Without a better understanding of motivations or a reason to care for any of the characters, the story feels a bit hollow.- Geoff Loker

The Last Visit                                                                                                                                 Supernatural

A couple on vacation in Newfoundland are waylaid by heavy fog in a remote area where they keep running into the same local yokel, although in different guises. More than a little creeped out, they try to walk out of town, but that seems to be impossible.... 

Reviews:
It takes the listener all of five minutes to figure out what’s going on. Despite that, it’s a great episode. The characters are very well drawn, the encroaching dread is well handled, and it doesn’t beat you over the head. The episode takes good advantage of radio’s strengths, playing with sound and creating images in the listener’s mind. - Brad Reed

Not the most original Nightfall in the world.  I had a bit of a "heard all this before" feeling.  The episode reminded me more than a bit of the "CBS Radio Mystery Theater" story, "The Master Computer," only without "Mr. Handy."  What was it about the 80s, that there were so many of that type of story kicking around the airwaves? - 'Fallen Angel'

Blinded and injured in a car accident in the middle of a blizzard, Claire tries to find help in an abandoned train station.  An old steam train pulls in, and a man from the train offers her help "for a price".

Reviews:
Well done episode.  The main complaint that I have about the episode is that it never explains how Vic knows the old man from the train, although it seems to indicate that there is a fairly obvious explanation.  Other than that quibble, it's good. -- Geoff Loker  

Lazarus Rising                                                                                                                                  Occult

A reporter becomes entangled in a web of revenge and sorcery when he arrives in a small country town to investigate the incredible report of a man who apparently rose from the dead. 

Reviews:
Initially, creepy and mysterious, in a Lovecraftian country setting.  The concept is intriguing, but the ending is a letdown.  The dead man’s daughter, while extremely important to the story, is under-developed and all but forgotten by the end. - Jason Pichonsky

A man loses more than the lines in his palms as the result of burns in an apartment fire.

Reviews:
The story gives a new meaning to the search for identity. One of the better episodes. - R. Riddle

Two medical students pull a prank involving a cadaver of an old woman. The next day, one of the students is pursued by a beautiful young woman who dresses, decorates, and acts like it’s sixty years earlier. And she won’t let him go.

 Reviews:
Spooky, though I felt the end a bit –meh-. Brad Reed

The Maid’s Bell                                                                                                                                     

A maidservant takes a job with a kind but sad mistress who suffers from a weak heart, a cruel and tyrannical husband, and the presence of a deceased former maid who refuses to leave the house. Story by Edith Wharton. 

A government agent lands in London on a mission to do... something. He know only that he is programmed to carry out the mission, whatever it might be.

The Monkey’s Paw 

The classic tale of a talisman in the form of a shrunken monkey's hand which holds the power to make wishes come true, but not in the way the wisher might expect.... 

Versions of this story were produced for Beyond Midnight, Favorite Story, Mysterious Circumstances (BBC), and Fear on Four (BBC).

The Monkey’s Raincoat      

A satirical vision of the future of American politics, as a freshly inaugurated President must prove his caliber (pun intended) by eliminating several assassins on his way to the White House.

A story which is scary by virtue of the fact that it actually could happen. Carole is plagued by a mysterious man who keeps calling and asking for Mr. Agostino. Its just a wrong number. Right?

A female mechanic has her hands injured in a car engine. Frantic, the service station owner and a professor of history take her into the Future Clinic, the new hospital in town. Only it's not like any they've ever seen.

Reviews:
The characterizations in this one are quite good. The three main characters (injured mechanic, head mechanic, customer) are distinct and interesting people. The plot is okay, but it does all seem pointless. My guess is that it’s a satire of the impersonal world of socialized medicine in Canada. - Brad Reed

One of the best Nightfalls I've heard.  Well written, and well acted.  Very, very creepy.  Certainly makes you wonder what would happen if computers ran everything.  The only other thing I can say is, "Don't ever take me to the Future Clinic." - Mary Villa

What happens when video games take over your life? 

Reviews:
An interesting perspective on the modern age. Sort of reminds me of 'The Story of Mr. Maggs', from Lights Out.. - Robert Riddle

The Old Post Road                                                                                                                      Ghosts

A couple late for a dinner engagement take a shortcut down a deserted road where they encounter a series of increasingly bizarre paranormal events.

Reviews:
A good episode.  Well acted and well written.  The switching from past to present is a little confusing at first, but works well.- Geoff Loker

On Christmas Day in the Morning

A mailman is found dead by the side of the road on Christmas morning, the victim of a hit and run. The mayor’s wild son is suspected of being the driver. A retired judge joins the sheriff and the mayor in investigating the crime, which leads them to the house of an old woman in the middle of nowhere.

Reviews:
This is not a horror story. It’s a boring and predictable “mystery.” Right from the get-go, it’s obvious who did it. The only question is how it will be proved. That becomes easy to figure out as soon as the old lady starts talking. Also, the circumstances of the “mystery” were very poorly handled. Just plain weak. - Brad Reed

The Porch Light                                                                                                                             Ghosts

A couple rent a remote house in the country unaware that it had been the site of a brutal murder spree twenty years earlier. A nocturnal visitor appears on their porch who can illuminate them in a most poignant way.

Reviews:
If you're a fan of ghost stories, don't miss this one. It's CREEPY. One of the more disturbing episodes of the Nightfall series.-- Webmaster

A very scary episode.  Although the idea of "young couple trapped in a cabin with an unknown intruder outside in the winter storm" isn't exactly new, the treatment was highly original, and the acting was excellent!  Two thumbs up for "The Porch Light!" - 'Fallen Angel'

Young women are disappearing in the middle of downtown, in broad daylight. Can Constable Wood figure out what's going on, before it's too late?

The Repossession                                                                                                                       Ghosts

The spirit of a twin which died during separation at birth returns to claim the life and body of  the surviving brother.

Reviews:
Not for the squeamish.  This is a very powerful episode, and doesn't pull its punches in the struggle between living and dead brothers.  The final scene has the most grotesque sound effects that I have heard, although it was quite successful in painting a very vivid picture in my mind of the action.-- Geoff Loker

Excellent. Absolutely excellent. Scared the bejeezus out of me. The arguments between the brothers were involving, and the dead brother is unbelievably creepy. - Brad Reed

After hearing this story for the first time, I must say that the acting was well-done, and the sound effects were absolutely amazing, making for a highly nasty ending.  However, I didn't particularly care for Robert Stroud that much as a person, and therefore didn't really care what happened to him.  No heroically facing the unknown for this guy.  He sniveled and whined the whole way through.  - 'Fallen Angel'

A couple visiting a London pub fashioned after a Second World War theme are disturbed by the sight of what looks like the husband's father, who was killed in this selfsame pub during the Blitz. A strange transformation follows - of a sudden its 1941 and the Blitz is in full swing.

Reviews:
Not one of the best Nightfalls in the series.  It seemed to me that the writer of that particular story watched one too many time travel episodes of the Twilight Zone before he wrote that one. - 'Fallen Angel'

A milquetoast purchases an antique mirror and encounters an alter ego of himself, which offers to exchange places for awhile to take revenge on everyone who has treated him like a doormat. 

Ringing the Changes                                                                                                                  Supernatural

A honeymoon couple arrive in a sleepy Cornwall village seeking a place to celebrate. Their choice of an out-of-the-way town proves unwise, as the town has a very special
tradition.

Reviews:
Very well acted.  You can't wait for this devoted husband and his spirited, lovely wife to get the heck away from that town. And what can have twisted the mind of the innkeeper so he takes any borders on a night like this?  The final scenes are incredible.  Don't listen alone. - Gudrun Brunot

Not bad. Using the standard “outsiders come to cursed town and slowly figure things ain’t right” setup, this episode creates interest and builds tension effectively. I found the end a bit of a letdown, but I do give the writer points for a different approach. - Brad Reed

The Road Ends at the Sea                                         Supernatural

Determined to confront his old friend about the affair he's been having with his wife, a man drives out to the lighthouse where they live. But the couple seem more interested  in the strange black ship which has appeared offshore....

The Room                                                                                                                                             Ghosts

Enticed by an eccentric, yet  wealthy widow's substantial reward, a skeptic accepts an offer to spend a night locked in a supposedly haunted room in her mansion, despite the fact that previous volunteers have all gone insane....

Another version was produced for the Australian series Beyond Midnight.

Reviews:
A good ghost story.  The general story was good, but I found the resolution unsatisfying.- Geoff Loker

An extremely powerful ghost story.  The acting was very good, and the characters were very believable.  I was wondering all through the episode if the old woman was up to something, but the old priest reminded me more than a little of the hotel manager from Stephen King's short story, "1408."  Thanks to that element, I half expected to hear an inhuman voice screaming, "This is 9!  9!  We have killed your friends!  Every friend is now dead!" from the receiver of an old telephone. - 'Fallen Angel'

A couple become concerned when their young son's religious leanings take on a warped, fanatical bent.

Reviews:
The Plot Spot says Nightfall got complaints about being too scary; I think it might have been this episode. Terrifying. - Dylan Miller

A dark little tale of what can happen when Christianity gains too great a hold on one's life.  Do you really want to go to church after hearing this one?  I think not!  And who exactly was that crazy TV preacher who was able to answer questions from the television?  Please, touch that dial!!! - 'Fallen Angel'

Semi-Detached                                                      Occult 

A young girl living in a foster home finds herself potentially homeless when her 'parents' announce they are expecting. She is helpless to prevent being cast aside, ... or is she? Strange, unnatural  things start to happen around the house.

A wealthy and successful businesswoman, bedridden by disease, has visions in her dreams that her dogs speak to her. She also has a philandering husband and a secretary who wants to run away with him. Drama ensues.

Reviews:
Boring and uninspired. Rather than a horror story, it seemed more of a weak soap opera.  The dogs were irrelevant to the story. To be honest, so were the main character’s “visions.” To its credit, this episode is merely boring, instead of flat-out bad. This isn’t the worst episode of Nightfall, but it’s near the bottom. - Brad Reed

The Signalman                                                                                                                                   Ghosts

A railroad signalman is driven to the brink of madness by a spectral apparition at the mouth of a train tunnel, which seems to be trying to warn him of ..........what? Story by Charles Dickens. 

Other versions of this story were produced  for Lights Out, Suspense, Columbia Workshop, and more recently  for the CBC's Mystery Theater; Also for Weird Circle as 'The Thing in the Tunnel' and as 'Hello Below There' on Beyond Midnight, a horror series from South Africa.

A couple on their way to visit a sick aunt are run off the road by an ambulance. The husband is rushed to a 'special services' hospital which claims to treat only the elite of society, but his wife suspect the doctors are lying about his sudden demise in the operating room.

A 19th century ship's crew encounter a ghostly vessel in a thick night fog. Her hull is made of stone and the putrid stench about her is the stench of death. Despite their superstition and fear,  they feel compelled to board her...

Reviews:
Not standard Nightfall but I think it stands with any Weird Circle horror adaptation. - Dylan Miller

One of my favorites. If only for the ending and ensuing meaning. Like a Machen tale set in the 80's. - Dylan Miller