As many fans binge watch their favorite episodes for National Twilight Zone Day, the innovative publisher, Riverdale Avenue Books has published the sixth book in its TV pop culture series, The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Twilight Zone by Jacob Trusell.
There are a lot of compendiums on The Twilight Zone out there, most offering a backstage peek at the ins and outs of producing this seminal genre series. The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Twilight Zone will offer you something these other books do not: a microscopic look into the themes and ideas that Rod Serling weaved into his landmark show to give you a deeper understanding of why The Twilight Zone still resonates with audiences over 60 years later.
This guide will examine how the socio-political turmoil of the early 1960s, the global anxiety over nuclear power, and the looming specter of trauma in post-war America influenced Serling to use The Twilight Zone as a bully pulpit, pushing back against social ills, from racism and censorship to McCarthyism and totalitarianism.
“What I want to illustrate with this guide is how Serling’s true genius was in masking social commentary on post-war America through horror and science fiction tropes, concocting parables that spoke to his present moment, while still managing to be inventive, scary, and thoroughly entertaining,” said Author Jacob Trussell.
“Now more than ever is the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with this groundbreaking series because, if the past year was any indication, we’ve already slipped back into The Twilight Zone."
Whether this is your first trip to the Zone or you’re an old fan returning for one more round, this retrospective is an opportunity to engage with the timeless classic in a way that can help you make sense of our here and now.
About Jacob Trussell
Jacob Trussell is a writer and actor based in New York City. His editorial work has been featured on the BBC, Rue Morgue magazine, Film School Rejects and One Perfect Shot. As an actor, he’s worked in New York and regional theatre, as well as appearing in short films and commercials. For updates on new work, scary movies, and pictures of his cat, follow Jacob on Twitter @JE_TRUSSELL.
