User reviews

SPOILERS.

I don't remember it ever being called Ghost Story, so maybe I missed the first few episodes. We called it Circle of Fear. At the beginning they had some mesmerizing circles spinning around. You knew when it was coming on.

There was only one episode that didn't scare me. They were in a twelve-story building and all of a sudden people were headed to the 13th floor. This was Hell. It didn't make much sense, but then I was 8.

I think the first one I saw was the one with the little walnut headed monsters. They made weird noises for communication and didn't like light. Just as the hero was about to save the girl, it was already too late. The walnut heads dragged her into a hole and apparently ate her. The end. Now, time to go to sleep. I couldn't sleep after that! Too freaky.

I remember the Susan Dey episode. That was my favorite, so I'll spoil it for you. Mind you, most of what I remember is pictures, so the plot might not be 100% accurate. Here goes. She inherits a mansion from her grandfather. She stays there all alone, of course, and it was a warm summer day outside. But then she's upstairs by that one odd door and hears noises inside. She opens it. Empty room. She starts to leave. Hears more noises. Opens it again. Instead of a room, it leads outside, and it's snowing. There's a crazy old man near a tree with an axe, a shovel, and a big sack he's burying. I think the crazy old man was her dead grandfather. He looks at her. She freaks and slams the door. It keeps alternating between an empty room and a snowy outdoors throughout the episode and the crazy old man gets closer every time. I don't know why she kept opening the door each time. I wouldn't have. Obviously time didn't work right inside that one door. At the end (ooh, I'm getting goosebumps) the man is gone and she gets the courage to go out and see what he buried by the tree. There's nothing there. Then she sees him come out the same door, lock it, and come at her with an empty sack and an axe. So that means earlier, she was watching him bury her own body after he had already killed her with the axe. That one scared the crap out of me. I think they ended it with a picture of the mansion and a 'For Sale' sign in front. Still got the goosebumps.

I want the whole series on DVD.

This show has some interesting guest stars from the era as well as some good stories. Available on DVD and some episodes are on YouTube.

I remember watching the entire run of this on TV when I was 10. It only played about 24 episodes or so but I loved it! I distinctly remember a shot of a ghost that almost had me bolting from the room! There's one episode that stands out though. I'm kind of vague on the details however. A woman is pregnant. She's happily married to a man who (I believe) is a guard at a facility that contains reels of old horror movies. Somehow the monsters come out of the movies and appear to the woman yelling, "Give him to me". They basically want her unborn child! I remember covering my eyes a few times during that one. And one of the producers William Castle does a quick cameo. I don't think I'd like to see it now--it probably wouldn't live up to my childhood memories. But I LOVE being scared and that show really did the trick for me...when I was 10! I give it a 7.

This series apparently was supposed to give Rod Serling's Night Gallery a run for its money. The show only lasted a season, but what a season! I first saw this show on an independant VHF channel about 15 years ago, in that age when independent channels had to conceive their own programming, and the result of this UPN and WB network-free environment was the broadcasting of little-known gems like this show. Best episode I remember: Martin Sheen playing a construction worker who, while demolishing an old house, stumbles upon a strange box with a mirrored interior containing a toy horse on wheels. Once the horse is out of the box, all kinds of weirdness ensues! This episode was heavy on symbolism and kinda esoteric--I remember not really understanding the entire episode at the time, although a sorta explanation is given for the horse's being in the box. The whole episode was bizarre and was that much creepier because it wasn't really explained. More challenging than your average anthology show episode. Kinda far out for the seventies.

I was probably 8 or 9 when I saw the episode with Martin Sheen and Kim Darby and the toy horse.

Man it creeped me out and for the next several years I slept with my head under the covers. It took me a long time to watch another scary movie (I liked Night Gallery but it was nowhere as scary as Circle of Fear/Ghost Story.

I don't know why I don't remember any of the other episodes. The descriptions of the episodes sound cool.

I agree that another horror anthology would be good, but historically they don

This is one show I hope they would bring back just so I can relive my childhood. As an 8 year old I remember it would be on Friday night at 9 on NBC. It would start out with that haunting opening theme. I still feel uncomfortable when next to heavy set men in beards.

This show came out during a time when scary and genre was in. It competed with the likes of the Night Stalker, Night Gallery and the Sixth Sense, not to mention all the re-runs of some other shows such as Twighlight Zone, Outer Limits and Boris Karlofffs Thriller.

In season two the show became known as Circle of Fear I believe because of the untimely death of Sebastian Cabot. There are some episodes that are not listed. One title I remember specifically was Night of the Toad which told the story about a lady that was being tormented by a satanic cult. I can't recall how it ended which is another reason why I hope they bring it back, even for a short time.

I felt that this show did not rank second to any of the ones I already mentioned. I was mad when they canceled the show-and relieved.

Short lived series, my average score for all episodes is just over 5, the lowest for any anthology where I've been able to watch more than a handful of eps. However I've rated it 7 because of a few good ones I will see again before long.

To be honest I'm not a great fan of ghost stories, which may partly explain my lack of enthusiasm for the series. It's doubtless why my favourite is At the Cradle Foot, the least supernatural and most sci-fi like. Paul Dover (James Franciscus) has premonitions that in the distant future his young daughter will be shot, and he tries to prevent it. The only flaw is the ending which could have been more conclusive. My second pick is The Phantom of Herald Square in which David Soul plays a man rather older than he appears. Again, rather sci-fi cum horror, and despite the title not a ghost in sight.

A number of reviewers decry the dropping of host Sebastian Cabot in the middle of the series. Also I'm puzzled why he was given a stage name and role as a hotel owner. He looks distinguished enough not to need any props.

Despite some great talents on-board (Richard Matheson as director of development, Jimmy Sangster as story consultant and occasional writer, William Castle as executive producer, Sebastian Cabot as host, and a slew of up-and-coming directors at the helm), "Ghost Story" didn't make it in the ratings, and was in fact retitled halfway through its run to "Circle of Fear". Cabot welcomes us as Winston Essex, portly host of the ornately spooky Mansfield House, introducing us to the characters in each week's one-hour episode. It's an anthology series which doesn't have much on "Night Gallery" (which, in turn, had nothing on "The Twilight Zone"). Usually, a married couple is beset with supernatural trouble when either the husband or the wife starts hearing/seeing things, while their respective spouses attempt to stop the madness in its tracks. Some of the trick photography and editing effects in the pilot episode (wherein pregnant Barbara Parkins is hearing things) are actually quite good, though subsequent episodes show a dip in inspiration. Some stories (such as "Concrete Captain") are mercilessly padded to fill time on the clock, while others are over-plotted and fall apart from the weight (as with "The Dead We Leave Behind", concerning a TV set which turns crystal ball). Nice to see this early work from filmmakers such as Richard Donner and Leo Penn, and actors like Jodie Foster, Karen Black, Susan Dey, Gena Rowlands, etc. But taking ideas from the imagination to the printed page--and then onto the television screen--has never been an easy journey, and "Ghost Story" doesn't fulfill expectations.

I very much enjoyed watching Circle of Fear. Being only 7 at the time, there was one episode that has stayed with me to date. Thanks to the episode "Dark Vengeance" I still have a small fear of wooden toy horses. The "scary" stuff on TV today does not compare with the horror shows of 70's such as Circle of Fear. I would be overjoyed if copies of these episodes were avaible for purchase.

Sebastian Cabot starred as Winston Essex, manager of Mansfield House, where he would tell supernatural stories about various guests who had stayed there, or were about to. A great pity he never participated in an episode proper, but the viewer got the feeling that there was a back story to the man we were never privy to...

Sadly, he was dropped as host, and much of the charm was lost, though some fine episodes remained. It was retitled "Circle Of Fear" from "Ghost Story", an unwise change that suggested the studio was trying to fool the audience that it was a different show(in some ways it was!) Spooky title sequence and theme added to the eeriness.

The pilot episode 'The New House' was the best, though only a few of the subsequent episodes ever came close to this quality again. A few duds, but for a one season series, still quite watchable, just better with Sebastian Cabot as host!

The best thing you can say about a show that tells scary stories is whether or not any of the stories, indeed, scared you. And, in this instance, they did.

"Ghost Story" (best known by me as "Circle of Fear"), told some deceptively simple stories about people in frightening circumstances, some deserving it, others not, and all of them were well-mounted in my humble-yet-informed opinion.

Obviously, some talented directors were on hand in their early days (Donner, Moxey, Rich) and some of the stories did indeed frighten the heck out of me, even if I was just seven at the time (maybe THAT'S what's wrong with me now. Oh well...).

The episodes I remember best were as follows: a grandfather who gives his grand-daughter a voodoo-like doll house; a man kills his wife and her lover then sees their bodies rise up on his TV; murder victim seeks revenge through donated body parts already on their recipients... there are more but it freaks me out just remembering them.

Sure, they may have been corny and dumb but they did their job and were effectively scary. And yes, they SHOULD be back on the air (I think some episodes are already in smaller-market syndication); Sci-Fi Channel, are you paying attention? There's money to be made here....

Eight stars for "Ghost Story". Frightful fun - just turn down the lights and grab you popcorn...and maybe a pillow to hide behind.

The pilot episode for Ghost Story/Circle of Fear was titled "The New House" and was the story of a young couple who purchased a house over the site where an innocent girl was hanged. To this day, I remember vividly how everyone in my family was scared to death as the ghost of this girl terrorized the wife, who was pregnant with her first child. It was definitely one of the best scary TV movies, and it is a shame now that it is missing. The end of this movie was so terrifying that I remember we turned on "The Odd Couple" when the movie was over so we could relax and laugh some. The fact that I can still remember this movie so well so many years later is a testament to just how scary it was. I hope one day it can be located again.

I liked this series. The one episode I remember best is "Concrete Captain," where the body of an old sailor is entombed in a block of concrete. He was killed by the grandfather of one of the characters in the story (I think it was a mercy killing) by having a harpoon chucked through his heart. The top of the harpoon still sticks out of the concrete. Then the ghost of the sailor comes back to haunt everyone.

I also liked the theme music. I actually recorded it off the TV one night with my first cassette recorder. I still have that tape.

When they changed it to "Circle of Fear," I thought it was a mistake. The theme music was dumb, too.

I remember I was only 9 at the time but it was such a scary show and peaked my interest in horror films (which I now loathe). The episode I remember was "Half Dead." A young girls sister died after a brief illness, something about a headache/migraine being the cause..however the creepy part is I remember the little girl crying in pain and consequently dying before the older sister could get home..I see the shadowy steps, the dark yard. how the wind was blowing..and all the while you could hear, "Lisa..Lisa??' It was so creepy. It will forever haunt me. I would love to get a copy of that episode, I have even looked it up on Amazon.com to no avail. Wouldn' t it be wonderful if they could air it on TV land or Sci-Fi channel?

I remember watching this TV series on occasion back in the 1970s. Unfortunately since it's been 20-25 years since I've seen it, I no longer remember any of the episodes. The only thing I remember clearly is the sound effect that was played whenever a ghost was present. Before reading about this on the IMDB I did not know that it was later re-named Circle of Fear. That was new to me. To me it was always Ghost Story. I remember that I always found the show interesting enough to watch it till the end. If you can find this on video (It's extremely hard to find), I highly recommend it. I did find one source for it on video, some years ago and purchased one episode that starred John Astin and Patty Duke Astin. This episode was from when the series had been re-named Circle of Fear. Very entertaining if you can find it. Maybe some day the Sci-Fi Channel will pick it up. Who knows?

I loved this too! I was a KID when it first aired, but have always been haunted by the images in that "Concrete Captain" episode. Truly creepy. I just found out the name of the series yesterday - I couldn't remember it for the last 32 years - and it brings back memories. I remember Jodie Foster in one, with an old actor whom I cannot remember; and another episode where there's something moving around in the well in the cellar of a house. Great stuff. They just don't show this stuff on TV anymore; episodic TV like this is thought not to work, and the 70's allowed for more downbeat endings that didn't necessarily need to be ironic. Wish someone would give us a scary series again soon. BUFFY was neat, but not scary.

Oh, yeah - I always thought Sebastian Cabot was perfectly cast. He was quite creepy! Loved him as Satan in THE EVIL.

Despite, typical seventies TV cinematography, marred by over-lighting, and bland paint by numbers art direction, (the show often looks like an episode of "Qunicy"--hardly ideal for supernatural horror--just imagine, ten years earlier it might have had the glorious monochrome of "Boris Karloff's 'Thriller') this program is, nonetheless, unjustly forgotten. I saw it in its original prime time incarnation and though it can't approach the sophistication of Britain's "Journey to the Unknown," and had more duds than hits, several episodes were standouts, and the entire series needs to again see the light of day.

The pilot, (entitled, "The New House") aired in March, 1972, and featured Sebastion Cabot as the program's host, grandly swaggering about an old world luxury hotel, as he expounds upon his fondness for the glories of earlier times. He then spots Barbara Parkins, (never more beautiful than here--her close-ups are lovely) the protagonist of the teleplay at hand, seated at the bar, and expresses his doubts as to her future happiness (with good reason as you will soon see!) All this serves as the springboard for her saga--a tale of witchcraft--with elements not unlike "Crowhaven Farm". This episode, despite being marred by some excessive lovey-dovey dialog between Parkins and on screen husband David Birney, is effectively rendered, and surprises in the power of its extremely bleak denouement.

The show changed its title to "Circle of Fear" in Jan. 1973, though the stories continued to be supernatural in character. Amongst the better "Circle of Fear"s were:

1) Still lovely Eleanor Parker's riveting performance as a tortured mother in a splendid yarn of spectral siblings, "Half a Death" written by the accomplished Henry Slesar.

2) The Janet Leigh episode, "Death's Head" which contains a deliciously foreboding visit to a seaside carnival gypsy, who later turns up in a woozy nightmare sequence.

3) The story depicting Martin Sheen and Kim Darby as newlyweds coping with a malefic toy horse.

4) The always superb Shirley Knight, (in an outstanding Emmy worthy characterization) as a diffident young typist who finds new meaning in the phrase, "office politics" in "Legion of Demons." This episode is extremely provocative and disturbing in its images and dialog, some of which make it hard to see how it got past the censors--and is arguably the best written of the series.

Unfortunately, the series had more bombs than clicks, which may account for its premature demise. Still, tastes vary, and there are doubtless viewers out there who will enjoy the Helen Hayes, Melvynn Douglas, and Tab Hunter episodes as well. As for the trivia-ites, note that the Jody Foster episode features the Samantha and Darren Stevens house from "Bewitched."

I barely if any remember this series, but there are two episodes I will never forget. A boy who accidentally created a doppleganger that was always getting him into trouble with his teacher, only to be surprised when a doppleganger appeared of his teacher. A little girl who could control everyone in her house through her dollhouse and then become left to rescue everyone when the dollhouse as well as the real one starts to burn down. This was the Twilight Zone up one on the horror scale as the series tried to legitimately scare you rather than teach us about human behavior. Sebastian Cabot sure made us forget his sappy "Family Affair" role as he lead us into the dark corners of the human mind. This is one show that needs to come back.

This show came on just after "Night Stalker", and became a test of bravery for my two sisters and I, all aged under 10. Best episodes for me include.. putting people in Mason Jars forever! and bricking someone up in a wall.. I believe Susan Dey was in that episode who I was already in love with from Partridge Family. Wish they would show the re-runs!

I was 8 years old when Ghost Story and Circle of Fear originally aired on NBC.It was 1972-73 i never missed an episode.I thought all the episodes were scary.I think it ran on Friday nights.The one i remember was a guy who had died and lost his eyes.This was a great series and deserves all of the episodes to be released on DVD.

I was 8 when Ghost Story aired and I looked forward to it every week! My 2 favorite episodes:

"Half a Death"(my #1 favorite)- about a girl named Christina whose dead twin comes back to haunt her. It wasn't clear as to the exact cause of death, but it is implied that she was both sickly and disfigured. Things start up when Christina goes back to her parents house to visit. I remember her standing in the back yard and all of sudden the wind started blowing very hard and she would hear this voice whispering her name: Christinaaaa! She looks around but doesn't see anything at first, only hears the voice getting louder and louder.Then in the distance the ghost of her sister appears in a white shroud with her face covered and the wind is blowing all around her-Very creepy!! In another scene, she goes to the cemetery to visit her sisters grave and when she turns back to look she sees an open casket with either her or her sister in it. When they showed a close up of the ghost later on in the story, I remember running away from the TV because I was too afraid to look!

My other favorite was the Concrete Captain, about a sea captain who was harpooned through the heart then covered in cement which became a permanent grave by the sea. The ghost of the captain and his girlfriend come back to haunt the couple who live in their house. The one scene I can remember vividly is the one where the girl living in the house holds up a mirror to look at herself and when tilting it to the side sees the face of the female ghost right behind her!

Some episodes I had forgotten, but was able to remember after reading comments, like the Susan Dey episode. Another was the one where the guy kills his wife and another person and buries them only to see them on his TV digging themselves out of their grave. I also liked the one with the toy rocking horse a family finds in their new home that gets bigger and bigger.

I saw repeats of the show about 10 yrs ago on one of the cable channels, and still found it to be pretty creepy! I wish they would start airing them again!!