The Twilight Zone’s 15 Scariest Episodes, Ranked

One of the most groundbreaking shows in television history is “The Twilight Zone,” created in 1959 by Rod Serling. An anthology series, each episode weaves into thought-provoking tales that individually veer into the realms of science fiction, fantasy, or outright horror. Well-received during its initial broadcast run, “The Twilight Zone” went on to produce multiple revival series after the original show’s conclusion in 1964. And while horror wasn’t always the series’ main focus, it produced some of the most memorably frightening episodes of its time.

Whether asking disturbing existential questions or presenting genuinely terrifying antagonists and narrative stakes, “The Twilight Zone” has always been effective at telling scary stories. This remains true of several of its revivals, particularly the ’80s iteration and the Paramount+ series that began in 2019. In its exploration of the surreal, there is always something haunting about “The Twilight Zone” and its best horror-oriented episodes will stay with viewers long after the closing credits run. With that in mind, here are the 15 scariest of “The Twilight Zone,” ranked based on their respective fear factor.

A show like “The Twilight Zone” is ripe for a meta-textual episode, and the 2019 revival series takes advantage of that potential. The 1st season finale, “Blurryman,” stars Zazie Beetz as Sophie Gelson, a screenwriter and classic “Twilight Zone” fan. After noticing a mysterious blurry man on “Twilight Zone” episodes, Sophie finds this frightening figure pursuing her in real life. This leads to the blurryman following Sophie while she attempts to work on the 2019 “Twilight Zone” revival with Jordan Peele before it reveals its identity to her.

With so many “Twilight Zone” episodes involving unstoppable pursuers, “Blurryman” puts its own fourth-wall-breaking twist to the trope. The episode’s meta-textual premise makes this all the more fun, though the blurryman himself effectively brings genuine terror and tension to the proceedings. Beetz really elevates that sense of suspense, progressing from confusion to horror and, eventually, acceptance of her fate. One of the stronger episodes in the 2019 revival, “Blurryman” is a self-aware love letter to the entire franchise.

The “Twilight Zone” revival that began in 1985 is an overlooked gem in the franchise’s wider legacy, overshadowed by competing anthology series at the time. Among the highlights from the ’80s “Twilight Zone” is “Button, Button,” adapting a story by prolific horror writer Richard Matheson. A hard-luck couple receives a box with a button on it from a stranger (Basil Hoffman) who informs them that they will receive a hefty sum if they press it. However, pressing the button means that someone they don’t know will die in exchange for the money.

“Button, Button” is the kind of morality play that all incarnations of “The Twilight Zone” excel at. Mare Winningham and Brad Davis, playing the couple, run the full gamut of emotions, agonizing if the sudden payday is worth the lethal cost. And, of course, no deal with the devil is without its true price in one of the ’80s series’ more understatedly scary endings. In 2009, “Button, Button” would be adapted into the feature film “The Box,” though the streamlined version that “The Twilight Zone” tells is far superior.

One thing so many horror stories seem to agree on is that there is just something inherently creepy about ventriloquist dummies. This sensibility is at the core of the original series episode “The Dummy,” with unstable ventriloquist Jerry (Cliff Robertson) convinced his dummy is actually alive. As Jerry tries to change his act and dummy, he finds himself stalked by his original dummy, Willy, while trying to maintain his sanity. Alone, Jerry learns his suspicions about Willy aren’t without merit as he confronts the dummy once and for all.

“The Dummy” presents a paranoid man at the end of his delusional rope, only to discover that his delusions aren’t as fantastical as he believes. Robertson also provides the voice for both of Jerry’s dummies on the episode, flitting effortlessly into the sinister menace that Willy presents Jerry. Willy hunting Jerry steadily builds the suspense, providing “The Dummy” with a relentless antagonist, even when Willy isn’t physically on-screen. A particularly bleak episode of the original “Twilight Zone,” “The Dummy” reminds audiences that there are just some adversaries that cannot be eluded forever.

“The Twilight Zone” is full of social misfits and ostracized outcasts just looking for a place to belong and someone to share life with. The 2020 episode “Meet in the Middle” plays on those common tropes of loneliness and longing to manipulative effect. Awkward loner Phil (Jimmi Simpson) begins telepathically communicating with a woman named Annie (Gillian Jacobs). As Phil and Annie grow closer through their unique connection, Annie informs him that she’s abducted and pleads for him to rescue her.

Simpson has made a solid career of playing likable outsiders, both to dramatic and comedic effect. He’s a natural fit for the role of Phil, playing up the character’s isolation and bewilderment over his sudden development of telepathy. Viewers get invested with Phil finally finding someone he can communicate with, albeit unconventionally, before he is placed in an impromptu heroic role. Which, of course, makes the episode’s final twist all the more unsettling, as the full scope of what Phil has become involved in unfolds.

Richard Matheson’s impact on the legacy of “The Twilight Zone” can’t be understated, as he wrote several of the franchise’s best episodes, primarily for the original series. Matheson adapted one of his own short stories for the 1964 episode “Night Call,” focused on elderly widow Elva Keene (Gladys Cooper). On a dark and stormy night, Elva receives disturbing phone calls from someone moaning and trying to talk to her. Tracing the phone call, Elva discovers the phone line travels over the grave of her late husband Brian, adding a ghostly edge to her persistent caller.

While the initial phone calls that Elva receives are haunting (pun intended) enough, the story’s more melancholy aspects come later. Confined to extreme loneliness since Brian’s passing years earlier, Elva gets her deepest wish fulfilled through the phone, but in a twisted and macabre way. What she does with the knowledge of who’s actually calling her delivers one of the series’ saddest endings, with a closing scene that sticks with viewers as the credits roll.

The ’80s “Twilight Zone” included the adaptation of a Stephen King short story, “Gramma,” in its 1st season, adapted by another prolific author, Harlan Ellison. The tale has adolescent Georgie (Barret Oliver) visit his ailing grandmother despite his deep-seated fear of her. As Georgie is forced to face his fears while taking care of her alone, he begins to learn about her dark history. And with his grandmother’s mental health rapidly declining, Georgie realizes he isn’t safe as her condition worsens.

“The Twilight Zone” adds a growing sense of mystery and mounting dread to King’s original story. This includes several genuinely startling jump scares to keep the audience on their toes as the narrative steadily grows more disturbing. Oliver really sells the episode’s scares, delivering the wide-eyed terror that his character finds himself in. “Gramma” would receive its own feature film adaptation in 2014, titled “Mercy,” but, like so many “Twilight Zone” stories, it was better suited for the television medium.

The most disturbing horror of all comes from scares rooted firmly within the possibilities of the real world instead of under the veneer of the paranormal. In that sense, the 2019 episode “Replay” is one of the most terrifying “Twilight Zone” episodes of all, blending the inexplicably supernatural with real-life horrors. The episode has Nina Harrison (Sanaa Lathan) discover that her camcorder can turn back time when she presses the rewind button. This discovery coincides with Nina and her family being viciously harassed a racist state trooper (Glenn Fleshler), no matter what alternate timelines Nina explores.

Even with the power of time travel, “Replay” is a story about the absence of hope and inevitability of injustice. Every time Nina turns back the clock, she can’t escape her family’s prejudiced fate. Just the sight of the red and blue flashing lights, something meant to signal help on the way, foments a deep sense of despair in what’s coming next. Pointed and sadly enduring in its social commentary, “Replay” stands as both the best 2019 revival episode and the most disturbing on a guttural level.

The unrelenting antagonist is a recurring trope throughout all permutations of “The Twilight Zone,” but no episode does it better than “The Hitch-Hiker.” The episode follows Nan Adams (Inger Stevens), a young woman on a solitary cross-country drive. After experiencing a harrowing incident on the road, Nan notices a hitchhiker (Leonard Strong) approaching for a ride. Nan becomes increasingly unnerved as she continues to see the same hitchhiker across her journey, convinced he is stalking her to kill her.

Even knowing the final twist that’s coming, “The Hitch-Hiker” is still a tautly paced early-series episode. Stevens plays into Nan’s growing hysteria about being followed well, including a tense encounter by a railroad crossing. And, of course, Strong’s surly and unassuming performance as the hitchhiker himself brings a subtly growing menace to the story. “The Hitch-Hiker” set a thematic template for similar tales in the franchise moving forward, but none quite as effective.

Award-winning filmmaker William Friedkin, perhaps best known for helming “The Exorcist,” brought his prestige horror reputation to the ’80s “Twilight Zone.” Friedkin directed the Season 1 story “Nightcrawlers,” involving a troubled Vietnam War veteran named Price (Scott Paulin). Due to being exposed to a strange chemical, whenever Price sleeps, the wartime horrors that haunt him come to life and endanger everyone around him. Realizing Price’s condition has caused several grisly killings nearby, state trooper Dennis Wells (James Whitmore, Jr.) tries to stop him.

“Nightcrawlers” is the most intense and graphically disturbing episode from the 1985 “Twilight Zone” revival, reflected through its striking cinematography and staging. Friedkin proves himself just as effective in the television medium as he was in film, blending intimate trauma with fiery spectacle. A metaphor for the lingering traumas of Vietnam that continued to loom over the country, “Nightcrawlers” bombards its audience, leaving them shaken as Price’s inner demons spring forth.

Unchecked omnipotence, even in the hands of a seemingly innocent child, is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. That understanding informs the 1961 episode “It’s a Good Life,” set in the small fictional town of Peaksville, Ohio. The community lives in fear of its precocious young resident Anthony Fremont (Billy Mumy), who has separated the town from the rest of reality. If Anthony senses any unhappy thoughts from his neighbors or is angered by them, he makes them vanish into thin air.

“It’s a Good Life” is one of the bleakest episodes from the original “Twilight Zone” series, particularly with its defeatist ending. The story is one that revolves around its villain, with no growth or comeuppance for Anthony, who lives free of discipline or consequence. Whenever someone tries to stand up to the pint-sized demigod, the audience is on edge because they know that retribution will be swiftly enacted. The episode would even get its own sequel, in the 2002 revival series. The story was later adapted for “Twilight Zone: The Movie,” albeit with a tighter focus and happier ending, while the original version is the show at its meanest.

Decades before the horror movie franchise Child’s Play and its own killer doll Chucky, “The Twilight Zone” explored the idea of a murderous plaything. The 1963 episode “Living Doll” has Annabelle (Mary La Roche) buy her lonely daughter a Talking Tina doll to the chagrin of her husband Erich (Telly Savalas). Erich begins to imagine the doll is out to kill him over his treatment of his daughter, with his family becoming increasingly concerned about his behavior. This leads Erich to go to progressively greater lengths to dispose of or destroy Talking Tina, with little effect as the doll continues her threats.

Just as there’s something inherently creepy about ventriloquist dummies, there is also something unnerving about talking dolls. Savalas’ Erich, while never particularly likable, is someone who the audience believes is doing his best to stay alive. The escalating efforts that Erich goes to thwart Talking Tina are unhinged themselves, made all the more terrifying by how consistently futile his attempts are. Talking Tina is one of the most genuinely frightening antagonists on “The Twilight Zone,” making “Living Doll” a horrifying classic.

The rich and entitled earn their grotesque retribution on the 1964 episode “The Masks,” one of the best episodes towards the end of the original series’ run. As the affluent Jason Foster (Robert Keith) learns he is terminally ill, he decides to end his life paying back his conniving family. With his greedy daughter Emily (Virginia Gregg) and her family in tow, Jason holds a private Mardi Gras celebration with them. Realizing this is the only way to earn their inheritance, his family agrees, though they are unnerved by having to wear hideous masks until the stroke of midnight.

There is a growing sense of unease throughout “The Masks” as Jason unveils the conditions of his strange party. This is elevated by the masks themselves, each just hauntingly ugly in their own disgusting way. And, being an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” we all know there’s a morality tale about payback through these masks, we’re just not quite sure what it is. Rod Serling was a master of telegraphing the payoff while masterfully playing the long game, and “The Masks” is a prime example of that.

Of all the doll-like objects that the “Twilight Zone” utilized for their naturally unsettling qualities, the one it used the most effectively was mannequins. The 1960 episode “The After Hours” takes place in a department store as a woman named Marsha White (Anne Francis) looks for a gift for her mother. This is complicated when Marsha is locked in the store after its closing, finding herself surrounded by its display mannequins. Even scarier, the mannequins that she encounters resemble employees she interacted with while the store was open.

“The After Hours” plays out like a mystery, granted one largely set in a darkened store filled with creepy mannequins. The episode expertly paces out its big reveals, including the true nature of the mannequins in the store. The ’80s revival series includes a remake of the episode, albeit one that tries to replace the mystery with more suspense. However, the original version of “The After Hours” is still very much the standout, blending tension and shadowy scares.

Arguably the most famous episode of “The Twilight Zone,” 1963’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” is another enduring contribution by Richard Matheson. William Shatner stars as Robert Wilson, a highly anxious man with a deep-seated fear of flying who agrees to go on a flight with his wife. However, Robert notices a gremlin on the plane’s wing tampering with the engine and is unable to convince anyone of this strange sighting. As the gremlin continues to damage the airplane, Robert decides to take matters into his own hands to stop it, even if it leads everyone to denounce him as insane.

Beyond the original episode, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” has been updated and retold for both 1983’s “Twilight Zone: The Movie” and the 2019 revival series. The story is the quintessential “Twilight Zone” tale, blending suspense and the dangerously inexplicable with a flawed, humanist protagonist. The original episode also contains the best “Twilight Zone” jumpscare, one that cements the gremlin and Shatner’s place in the franchise’s legacy. “The Twilight Zone” keeps revisiting “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” precisely because of how effective it truly is.

Outside of Rod Serling, perhaps nobody understood the core “Twilight Zone” ethos better than Richard Matheson. Matheson wrote the 1961 classic “The Invaders,” a largely silent episode starring Agnes Moorehead as a nameless elderly woman living on her own. After hearing a strange noise, the woman is attacked by two small figures wearing pressurized suits. Terrorized around her own home, the woman fights back as the origins behind these unfriendly visitors are revealed.

Fear factor aside, “The Invaders” is one of the all-time best episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and perfectly distills what the show is all about. With the horror elements included, the episode is especially vicious, illustrated by the lengths that the titular invaders go to attack the woman. This is the original “Twilight Zone” at its most brutal and visceral, with Moorehead delivering that mounting terror. That “The Invaders” completely flips its premise on its head in its closing scene cements it as a television classic.