Amy Reads the Week (of June 29th, 2007)

It’s been a rather hectic few days, Gentle Reader. There has been a family emergency for the Reads Clan in New Orleans, and due to the holiday weekend, I can’t get a flight home. Since I will not be able to be there physically, I have been asked to Write Something so I can be there, in spirit. As I’d rather save my writing energies for that, and as I’ve had little time for anything fun or comic the past few days, frankly, including the time to run to My Local and pick up My Weeklies, I will have little to offer you today.

Instead, I ask you, if you have the chance, to revel in the One Thing This Humble Author Likes About The Fourth Of July: the Twilight Zone Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel. Friends, I watch this Marathon religiously every 4^th, and every New Year's Day, as not only do I love the Twilight Zone, but also I Rather Dislike the 4^th, and New Years, each of them. I have eschewed invitations to countless barbeques, drunken binges, fireworks displays, etc. in order to stay home, cook something comforting and fun, and sit, All Day, in front of the television.

So in an effort to offer you Something Today, I offer you my Ten Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes, almost all of which will be playing on the 3^rd and 4^th of July, on the Sci Fi Channel. I’ve the DVR cued up, the grocery list for a wonderful dinner planned, and I am ready to enjoy it all.

Top Ten Twilight Zone Episodes

1) A Stop at Willoughby – The classic belief that things were better the way they used to be. A man takes a train ride and finds the place of his dreams.

2) The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street – Another classic, as Twilight Zone always deals in classic fears. This time, We are the scariest monsters out there.

3) The Eye of the Beholder – One of the greatest twist endings of any Twilight Zone episode. We forget, sometimes, how we wash everything to look Just Like Us.

4) Shadow Play – This one is Mr. Reads’ favorite episodes, and he’s very unhappy that it’s not showing this year. This episode asks whether it’s true if you believe something and no one else does.

5) Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? – Another fantastic example of the power of fear working during The Red Scare.

6) It’s a Good Life – Just wish it into the cornfield, please. We want none of it here.

That’s a very good boy, Anthony.

7) The Midnight Sun – This episode amazes me, every time I see it. In fact, I still don’t think I’ve wrapped my brain around it completely.

8) Five Characters in Search of an Exit – And here we come to This Humble Author’s favorite Twilight Zone episode. There is a story attached to this one, and it’s rather simple, really. Every year, twice a year, during this marathon, I wait for this episode. Inevitably, I go off to get lunch or run an errand, and when I come back, Mr. Reads or Daddy Reads informs me that *I just missed it*. I’m ready for it, now. The DVR is programmed.

9) To Serve Man – To serve man! To Serve Man!!! Very Soylent Green, and very fun.

10) Nightmare at 20,000 Feet – And finally, the classic to end all classics: William Shatner, in an airplane, battling something perhaps only he can see.

I promise more comics-related discussion soon, Gentle Reader, as I’ve just finished Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible, which was Utterly Brilliant, a Must-Read for any comic book fan, and perhaps one of the best books I’ve read since Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box or Scott Smith’s The Ruins, except, you know, not as scary.

Well, not as obviously scary, that is.