Original Airdate: June 1, 1997
1) The Viewing
Adam Foster, the son of a funeral home owner, is the only one home when an elderly man comes by to place war medals with the body of one Reginald Hannon. Adam allows the man to do such, despite it being past viewing hours. Outside of the viewing room, Adam ties his show, wondering what is taking the man so long. Upon investigation, the man cannot be found, until he looks into the casket. The old man is there, his medals around his neck. Running from the room, we see what the old man signed into the book, being the name of the deceased.
This is a very solid story. A creepy atmosphere, and a fantastic ending scene. An almost perfect ghost story, I feel. I rated this as "True."
Rating for story: Above Average
2) The Subway
As Al has his first night off work in some time, Anne decides the two of them so go out to dinner and a movie via subway. The train they get on, however, is void of people, save a well-dressed, pale individual. After the lighting goes off for a few seconds, the man disappears. After that, which already leaves the couple spooked, the train then speeds up, stopping at a station only after seemingly hours pass. They get off at the same station they got on at, and head back home, smelling gas from their next door neighbor's apartment. After busting in and saving the woman, Anne notices a picture that peaks her interest. The man in the picture is the long deceased husband of the neighbor - it's also the man Anne and Al saw on the train, precipitating the events of the night.
Again, this is an overly solid story. The segment while the train is speeding is, despite the lower quality, comes across as overly terrifying. The reveal at the end is also masterfully done. I rated this as "False."
Rating for story: Superb
3) Kid in the Closet
Danny is a child often terrified, partly by what he says is a monster in his closet, which is only made worse by the mocking he receives from his brother's friends, and Brian, his brother himself. About to bully Danny further, Brian goes into the closet, further mocking his brother's fear. Seconds later, though, when their mother opens the closet, Brian is gone. All that remains are the clothes and shoes Brian was wearing.
This is a story I've remembered since my childhood (and, in fact, I remember all of these segments), and it's stayed with me for a long time. It's beautifully shot, and quite well-done and suspenseful. When I was a kid, I can fairly say the conclusion actually scared me. Overall, this is one of the finer stories from this series, from those I remember. I rated this as "True," if for no other reason, I remember that it happened to be true.
Rating for story: Superb
4) Justice is Served
Robert Miller is on trial for the murder of his long-time business partner, Elizabeth Warren (and if you're a politically-minded individual, I don't mean the Massachusetts senator). His defense attorney tries to help Miller out, but upon taking the stand, Miller sees his deceased partner. This continues, and Miller breaks down, all but saying he did indeed kill Warren. He is found not guilty, due to reason of insanity. At the end, the defense attorney confirms that none of his clients have ever been found guilty.
Justice is Served is another very well-done story. The suspense felt when Miller envisions the dead partner is moderately intense, and as an audience, we're left wondering whether Miller is losing it, or if a specter is actually watching over the proceedings. I rated this one as "True."
Rating for story: Above Average
5) The Tractor
Julia is headed back to her grandfather Buck's farm after he suffered a stroke, leaving him wheelchair bound and rather bitter. The situation for the two of them is tense, and there seems to be no love lost between the two. After a heated argument over the selling of a portion of the property, Julia attempts to move a tractor back to the barn. Fate intervenes, however, and she falls off, knocking herself unconscious, while Buck watches from the kitchen window as said tractor begins backing toward her. Struggling as best he can, he crawls outside, and at the last second, finds use of his legs and is able to prevent the tractor from causing injury to Julia, giving his life to save hers.
The Tractor is a moving, emotional story, which contains a rather bittersweet ending. While there are no scenes of terror, the ending is rather suspenseful, and heartwarming at the same time, as Buck is able to overcome his paralysis to save his granddaughter. As stories like this have occurred and been reported on in the past, I labeled this one as "True."
Rating for story: Above Average
This is a very solid episode. All of the stories are pretty good, and two of them are downright fantastic. I remember all of these from when I saw them many years back, and they've stuck with me pretty well. The second and third segments are especially worth seeing.
As for the truth of these stories, I did better this time than I did in the first episode (which admittedly wasn't difficult). I got two of the answers right, leaving me a total overall of 2/10 for the series.
For episode: 2/5
Overall (for series): 2/10
Rating: Above Average, leaning toward Superb
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