Vanishing Point
1984-1991
Known Episodes: 106
The Vanishing Point: The point between reality and fantasy.
This was an eclectic show, running the gamut of fantasy from sci-fi to horror in the same vein as Twilight Zone. The CBC followed its classic fear-fest Nightfall (1980-83) with this more versatile series that at some points adapted literature to radio (Usula LeGuin, J.G. Ballard). It ran for seven seasons (and shared many contributing writers and artists from its predecessor.
Don’t expect to make sense of -these- as you would any other show. These stories are taken from the dream state that you slide into at night, just out of grasp of your senses, completely surreal, but in the dream, it makes every bit of sense… The shows are designed to confuse and twist; they have small meanings that resonate only with the dreamer’s subconscious.
in small ways just as a dream to a sleeper at night.
Sources:
Digital Deli
Wikipedia
OTRR
Lost Door, The
An insurance salesman returns home to discover another family in his home. The doctor at the mental ward finds no record of his existence. He finally decides it was those stairs he took, the ones that weren’t supposed to be there. Eventually the same fate befalls the doctor! This is an overused concept and it’s never adequately explained here. Somehow it all ties into a jumper on a bridge. But I never figured out how.
Small Good Thing, A
A couple’s son is hit by a car and dies.They forget about the birthday cake they had ordered, and the baker makes harassing phone calls. When they go to crack his skull, he gives them fresh bread and cocoa, a small nicety in a terrible situation. A good story, but an emotional wringer. Not Horror, a psychological thriller! [Adapted from Raymond Carver]
Snow Shadow Area
A child mangler is lose in an isolated,completely snowed-in town.A similar feel to 30 Days of Night. We listen to an audio diary sent to police as we try to guess whether the recordings are real or just a fiction. The man relates how the town wonders that his child is the only one not victimized.
Testing of Stanley Teagarden, The
Stanley spends a lot of time taking and developing personality tests. (He likely has Asperger’s Syndrome.) When an attractive couple befriends him on vacation, will he see through their elaborate plot? Clearly enough to surprise me! Great deduction work, but the narrator needlessly undermines the story at the end!
Recommended Episodes:
The Playground
How Love Came to Professor Guildea
Blue Devil
Cage of Light (Remake)
The Nine Billion Names of God
The Ultimate Threshold
The Silenian Test
