CRestview 4-8511

by David Wiener (June 2026)

 

 

Harry “HellaDJ” Halperin had been the late-night guy at the little radio station for six years when he got an idea for a really nifty Halloween night stunt.

He talked it up on the air for about a month.

“Look, guys, here’s what I’m going to do at midnight on Halloween. We’re going to make a phone call to The Twilight Zone. You know I’m a big Rod Serling fan and I like surfing the net for any fun trivia about Rod and The Zone. Coupla nights ago, I found a scanned image of an old letter from The Twilight Zone production office—just a letter to a viewer saying we’re glad you enjoy the show, right?

“Well, on the letterhead, you can clearly read the phone number for The Twilight Zone production office. So, I’m gonna call Rod Serling’s office line on Halloween at midnight and see if anyone answers, right? Rod passed on more than 50 years ago, so maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll pick up, right? You never know. It’ll be fun, so be sure to tune in for my ‘Halloween Midnight Call to The Twilight Zone.’ Gonna be interesting!”

A few of the local nerds called up the station to let Harry know they’d be listening.

And the big night came.

“OK, ladies and germs, toys and squirrels, it’s midnight and it’s time to call Rod Serling.”

He threw in the sound of an old dial phone just to make it more fun.

“And there’s the last number,” Harry said.

Harry listened as the phone rang four, five times. Then he brought up The Twilight Zone theme music and cross-faded into the recorded ad break.

But all through the ad break, Harry listened to the ringing. It was odd—no “The number you have called” intercept. No long buzz. No clicks. No silence. Just ringing.

Rodman Edward Serling was too preoccupied to notice his desk phone was ringing.

He was busy pounding away at his Royal, typing and typing and typing.

 

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David Wiener has written cover, feature, and interview articles for various performing arts magazines including American Cinematographer, Producers Guild Journal, Cahiers du Cinema, and The Journal of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. His plays have been produced in London, India, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and the U.S. and have been published three times in the Smith & Kraus “Best Plays” one-act anthology series. He In 2007, he completed a Literary Internship with La Jolla Playhouse and went on to work as that theatre’s Dramaturgy Associate during the 07-08 season.

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