TWILIGHT ZONE HAIKU
SYNOPSIS
The Twilight Zone Haiku explores the essence of the iconic, uncanny 1960s television show through haiku, giving us dazzling, spot-on snapshots of each episode. In seventeen syllables, Boykin captures the show’s main objective: to deliver a keen jolt of existential awareness. As you read, you find yourself marooned on an alien planet, lost in time, trapped inside a mannequin, surrounded by the debris of a nuclear attack, and always, always powerless to forces beyond your control.
The Twilight Zone has long captured our national psyche—its precarious power, its hypocrisy, its hyper-focused individualism—through riveting storytelling. Boykin’s haiku conjure the trappings of each haunting plot, but more astutely, its scalpel-edged soul.
Even if you have never seen a single episode of The Twilight Zone these haiku are spellbinding, incisive, and trenchant – taking you to parts unknown and beyond.
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EXCERPTS OF ADVANCE REVIEWS
“Deliriously insane, and in all the best ways…”
-Jim Beard, author and editor, The Subterranean Blue Grotto Essays on Batman ’66 and Planet of the Apes: Tales From The Forbidden Zone.
“With 17 syllables per episode, Chad Ellis Boykin boils the Twilight Zone and its progeny down to its essential truths and builds an overall effect of complexity and awe.”
-Hayden Childs, author of Richard and Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out the Lights (33 1/3)
“Chad captures the very essence of each episode in only a few, short, powerful words. Appropriate for a show that has stood the test of time by standing on magnificent writing. This is a must own for any Twilight Zone fan.”
-Jason Schwartz, Host of Twilight Zone Sandbox, TwilightZoneSandbox.com, @ZoneSandbox
“Chad Boykin has done the almost impossible and come up with a unique way of honoring Mr. Serling and, especially, the groundbreaking series we know and love.”
-Christopher Benedict, author of The Twilight Rounds: Rod Serling Explores the Dark Side of Boxing
“Like Rod Serling’s doppelganger, Chad Ellis Boykin distills the theme of each episode into seventeen perfect syllables. Even if you’ve never seen an episode, the haiku can be enjoyed for the precision of the language and the lessons they share about the human condition. This book is smart, playful, and a joy to read.””
-Chuck Augello, author of Talking Vonnegut: Centennial Interviews and Essays and The Revolving Heart, a Best Books of 2020 Selection by Kirkus Reviews
“Rod Serling was a master of storytelling and Chad Ellis Boykin is his poet protege in The Twilight Zone Haiku. This fantastic read, this brilliant gift, this reference-keepsake is Boykin’s profound homage to Serling and his television masterpiece. What a treasure to readers and fans everywhere.”
-Carol Owens Campbell, author of Look Away No More
The Twilight Zone ® is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc., The Twilight Zone name is used by permission. The Twight Zone Haiku is a work of homage, scholarly review, and critical analysis reflecting the perspectives and interpretations of the author. It is not endorsed, licensed, or sponsored by CBS Broadcasting, Inc.