"The Howling Man" is episode 41 of the

American television Television is one of the Mass media in the United States, major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August ...

anthology series ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. It originally aired on November 4, 1960 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. The episode was based on the short story by

Charles Beaumont Charles Beaumont (born Charles Leroy Nutt; January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres.Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, "Beaumont, Charles" ...

published in the November 1959 issue of ''

Rogue A rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior or strikes out on an independent and possibly destructive path. Rogue, rogues, or going rogue may also refer to: Companies * Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon * ...

'' magazine.

Opening narration

Plot

While on a walking trip through post–

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

circa 1919, David Ellington becomes lost in a storm. He sees an ancient

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, now the home of a

monastic order Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

. He knocks at the door and pleads for help. He is told by the

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

who opens the door that they do not allow visitors. After Ellington further begs, the monk goes to speak to a person he names as Brother Jerome, while Ellington waits and hears a wolf-like howl coming from inside the castle. The monk returns and, when asked about the howling, says it is merely the wind. The monk takes Ellington to meet Brother Jerome, the leader of the order. After Ellington explains himself, Brother Jerome announces that there is no help to be had there and that Ellington must leave. Bewildered, Ellington walks out and collapses in the hallway. When Ellington awakens, he again hears howling. He investigates and finds a man in a cell. The man claims to be unjustly imprisoned by the "mad" monks, and beaten by Brother Jerome using the staff he carries. Ellington is seen talking to the prisoner and is taken back to Brother Jerome. Ellington agrees to leave but also threatens to go to the police. Brother Jerome, disturbed by Ellington's threat, then reveals the truth: the prisoner is the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

himself, and can only be contained by Brother Jerome's "Staff of Truth". The Devil had come to the village shortly after World War I to corrupt it, but Brother Jerome used the staff to imprison him. These actions have given the world five years of relative peace. Ellington pretends to believe the story; Brother Jerome is not fooled and assigns a brother to watch him. Ellington waits until his guard falls asleep, then creeps down to the cell and sees that the door is held shut only by a staff that is within reach of the imprisoned man. At the man's urging, Ellington removes the staff. The prisoner exits the cell and pins Ellington to the floor with a wave of his hand. As he walks toward the exit, he begins to change, taking on the appearance of the Devil, before departing the castle in a plume of smoke. Brother Jerome arrives, and sadly explains that the inability to recognize the Devil has always been Man's great weakness. Ellington has been telling his story to a maid. He says that ever since then he has been hunting for the Devil to atone for his mistake, through

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and the development of

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s. He has finally succeeded, locking the Devil in a closet barred by a staff similar to Brother Jerome's. Ellington intends to return him to the castle; he warns the skeptical housekeeper to not remove the staff under any circumstances. As soon as Ellington leaves, the maid hears a howl from behind the door, removes the staff, and opens the door.

Closing narration

Cast

* H.M. Wynant as David Ellington *

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...

as Brother Jerome * Robin Hughes as The Howling Man * Frederic Ledebur as Brother Christophorus * Ezelle Poule as Housekeeper

Production

This was the first aired episode of the second season that was not written by Rod Serling.

had originally envisioned that the monks would keep the Devil imprisoned by putting a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

in front of his cell door. Fearful of a backlash in the religious community, the producers substituted the "staff of truth" over Beaumont's objections.

References

*Zicree, Marc Scott. ''The Twilight Zone Companion''. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition). *DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. *Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howling Man, The 1960 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 2 episodes Fiction about the Devil Television episodes set in Europe Television shows written by Charles Beaumont Television episodes about death Television episodes directed by Douglas Heyes Television episodes set in the 1920s