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Twilight Zone: The Movie
First Published: 1983 Publisher: Warner Books Format: Paperback |
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Summary: novelization of the 1983 motion picture of the same name.
Bloch: “My agent was contacted by Warner Books, who had just published Psycho II, and asked if I’d be willing to do the Twilight Zone novelization for them. It was a rush assignment, but they agreed to provide me with a secretary for the project. I was promised cooperation from Steven Spielberg’s production company and arranged to start work. But I didn’t get much help. A script was delivered to me and I finally got one afternoon meeting with Joe Dante, the director of one episode; at that time, I was given a screening of the two middle episodes of the picture. And that was my sole contact with the actual project.
Among the things I wasn’t told was that the first section (which I didn’t see) had been changed so as to eliminate the child characters and the helicopter sequence and ending that had been involved in the tragic accident while shooting. I learned of this only after my novelization was completed—and of course I had to go back and rewrite accordingly. Also, I was never informed that the central character of the “Kick the Can” section was played by a black actor. No one even remarked on this after the book was completed, and I never found out about it until, by chance, George Clayton Johnson (one of the writers) mentioned it when we met at a convention where I spoke. By then the book had already gone to press.
In addition to the hasty deadline, which required that I deliver a completed—and revised—manuscript in just six weeks, I was hampered by a strict ruling from the Spielberg organization which forbid me to change anything in the script or add additional elements. Bearing in mind that the actual material was based on four short stories which ran about five thousand words each in original form, and that there was absolutely no connecting link between the episodes and no continuing characters, it was quite a challenge to find ways in which I could expand my work to novel-length.
My only solution was to develop the characterizations of the protagonists in each of the episodes. I did so by using a stream-of-consciousness technique and fill in their backgrounds without deviating from their characterizations and actions as set forth in the script. I think it is here that I managed to inject my own style and personality into the text.”—Robert Bloch Companion
Note: The order of segments in the book does not match the order within the film, as Bloch worked from the original screenplay, where "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" was the second segment, and "Kick the Can" was the fourth. Both the film’s prologue and epilogue are missing in the novelization as Bloch claimed that no one told him the anthology had a wraparound sequence.
Bloch: “My agent was contacted by Warner Books, who had just published Psycho II, and asked if I’d be willing to do the Twilight Zone novelization for them. It was a rush assignment, but they agreed to provide me with a secretary for the project. I was promised cooperation from Steven Spielberg’s production company and arranged to start work. But I didn’t get much help. A script was delivered to me and I finally got one afternoon meeting with Joe Dante, the director of one episode; at that time, I was given a screening of the two middle episodes of the picture. And that was my sole contact with the actual project.
Among the things I wasn’t told was that the first section (which I didn’t see) had been changed so as to eliminate the child characters and the helicopter sequence and ending that had been involved in the tragic accident while shooting. I learned of this only after my novelization was completed—and of course I had to go back and rewrite accordingly. Also, I was never informed that the central character of the “Kick the Can” section was played by a black actor. No one even remarked on this after the book was completed, and I never found out about it until, by chance, George Clayton Johnson (one of the writers) mentioned it when we met at a convention where I spoke. By then the book had already gone to press.
In addition to the hasty deadline, which required that I deliver a completed—and revised—manuscript in just six weeks, I was hampered by a strict ruling from the Spielberg organization which forbid me to change anything in the script or add additional elements. Bearing in mind that the actual material was based on four short stories which ran about five thousand words each in original form, and that there was absolutely no connecting link between the episodes and no continuing characters, it was quite a challenge to find ways in which I could expand my work to novel-length.
My only solution was to develop the characterizations of the protagonists in each of the episodes. I did so by using a stream-of-consciousness technique and fill in their backgrounds without deviating from their characterizations and actions as set forth in the script. I think it is here that I managed to inject my own style and personality into the text.”—Robert Bloch Companion
Note: The order of segments in the book does not match the order within the film, as Bloch worked from the original screenplay, where "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" was the second segment, and "Kick the Can" was the fourth. Both the film’s prologue and epilogue are missing in the novelization as Bloch claimed that no one told him the anthology had a wraparound sequence.
Bibliography
US: Warner Books; pb 1983
Germany: Bastei Lubbe ("Unheimliche Schattenlichter"); pb 1983
Spain: Brugera ("En Los Límites De La Realidad"); hc 1983
UK: Corgi; pb 1983
US: Grand Central Pub; hc 1983
France: J'ai lu ("La quatrième dimension"); pb 1983
Japan: Kadokawa Shoten; pb 1983
Australia QB Book; pb 1983
Thailand: สำนักพิมพ์ไต้ฝุ่น ("แดนสนธยา"); pb 1983
Argentina: Emecé ("Al filo de la realidad"); pb 1984
Portugal: Publicações Europa-América ("No Limiar da Realidade"); pb 1984
Netherlands: W & L Boeken; pb 1984
France: J'Ai Lu ("La quatrième dimension"); pb 2001
Mexico: Escorpio ("Quinta Dimensión: Galaxia Desconocida"); pb (year unknown)
Germany: Bastei Lubbe ("Unheimliche Schattenlichter"); pb 1983
Spain: Brugera ("En Los Límites De La Realidad"); hc 1983
UK: Corgi; pb 1983
US: Grand Central Pub; hc 1983
France: J'ai lu ("La quatrième dimension"); pb 1983
Japan: Kadokawa Shoten; pb 1983
Australia QB Book; pb 1983
Thailand: สำนักพิมพ์ไต้ฝุ่น ("แดนสนธยา"); pb 1983
Argentina: Emecé ("Al filo de la realidad"); pb 1984
Portugal: Publicações Europa-América ("No Limiar da Realidade"); pb 1984
Netherlands: W & L Boeken; pb 1984
France: J'Ai Lu ("La quatrième dimension"); pb 2001
Mexico: Escorpio ("Quinta Dimensión: Galaxia Desconocida"); pb (year unknown)