The Howling Man

"The Howling Man" is episode 41 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on November 4, 1960 on CBS.

Opening narration

The prostrate form of Mr. David Ellington, scholar, seeker of truth and, regretably, finder of truth. A man who will shortly arise from his exhaustion to confront a problem that has tormented mankind since the beginning of time. A man who knocked on a door seeking sanctuary and found, instead, the outer edges of The Twilight Zone.

Plot

The story is told in a flashback by an American called David Ellington. While on a walking trip through post–World War I Europe (circa 1925), Ellington becomes lost, is drenched by rain, and seeks shelter in a nearby castle (Wolfring Castle, referred to in the episode as the "Hermitage") near the village of Schwarzwald. He is told to leave immediately, but hears a disturbing wolf-like howl coming from somewhere in the castle. He turns to leave, but collapses, shivering.

Upon waking inside the castle, Ellington hears the howl again and investigates. He finds a bedraggled man in a cell. The man claims to be a prisoner of an insane religious order, locked up because he kissed his sweetheart in public.

Ellington is seen talking to the prisoner and is taken to the leader of the order, Brother Jerome, who explains that the prisoner is not a man, but rather the Devil himself. He has been locked up in the room using the "Staff of Truth" to bar the door since shortly after World War I. He had come to the village to corrupt it, but Jerome had recognized him for what he was and imprisoned him. His actions have given the world five years of relative peace, though mankind has been creating its own evil during that time. Ellington becomes convinced that Jerome is insane. Fearing for his safety, he pretends to believe the incredible story. Jerome is not fooled, however, and assigns another brother to watch him.

Ellington waits until his guard falls asleep and creeps down to the cell. Seeing that the staff which held the door shut was easily within reach of the imprisoned man, Ellington briefly wonders why he has not simply removed it himself. At the man's urging, he removes the staff and releases the prisoner. When the prisoner exits the cell, he pins Ellington to the floor with a wave of his hand from across the hall. As he walks toward the exit, he begins to change, taking on the appearance of the Devil with each step before departing the castle in a plume of smoke.

Jerome finds the collapsed Ellington and sadly explains that the inability to recognize the devil has always been Man's great weakness.

The flashback ends. Ellington explains to a hotel maid that he has spent the time since then hunting for the devil to atone for his mistake, through World War II, the Korean War, and the development of nuclear weapons. He finally succeeded; he has him locked in a closet barred by a similarly shaped staff, and he intends to return him to the castle and Brother Jerome's keeping. He warns the skeptical housekeeper not to remove the staff under any circumstances while he goes to make his final preparations.

As soon as Ellington leaves, the maid hears a howl from behind the door and in her curiosity and disbelief of Ellington's story, removes the Staff of Truth.

Closing narration

Ancient folk saying: "You can catch the Devil, but you can't hold him long." Ask Brother Jerome. Ask David Ellington. They know, and they'll go on knowing to the end of their days and beyond - in the Twilight Zone.

Cast

H.M. Wynant as David Ellington
John Carradine as Brother Jerome
Robin Hughes as The Howling Man
Frederic Ledebur as Brother Christophorus
Ezelle Poule as Housekeeper

Production

This was the first aired episode of the second season that was not written by Rod Serling.

Charles Beaumont had originally envisioned that the monks would keep the Devil imprisoned by putting a cross in front of his cell door. Fearful of a backlash in the religious community, the producers substituted the "staff of truth," over Beaumont's objections.

References

Zicree, Marc Scott. The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition).
DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0

External links

v t e The Twilight Zone (1959) episodes
Season 1	"Where Is Everybody?" "One for the Angels" "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" "Walking Distance" "Escape Clause" "The Lonely" "Time Enough at Last" "Perchance to Dream" "Judgment Night" "And When the Sky Was Opened" "What You Need" "The Four of Us Are Dying" "Third from the Sun" "I Shot an Arrow into the Air" "The Hitch-Hiker" "The Fever" "The Last Flight" "The Purple Testament" "Elegy" "Mirror Image" "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" "A World of Difference" "Long Live Walter Jameson" "People Are Alike All Over" "Execution" "The Big Tall Wish" "A Nice Place to Visit" "Nightmare as a Child" "A Stop at Willoughby" "The Chaser" "A Passage for Trumpet" "Mr. Bevis" "The After Hours" "The Mighty Casey" "A World of His Own"
Season 2	"King Nine Will Not Return" "The Man in the Bottle" "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room" "A Thing About Machines" "The Howling Man" "Eye of the Beholder" "Nick of Time" "The Lateness of the Hour" "The Trouble with Templeton" "A Most Unusual Camera" "The Night of the Meek" "Dust" "Back There" "The Whole Truth" "The Invaders" "A Penny for Your Thoughts" "Twenty Two" "The Odyssey of Flight 33" "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" "Static" "The Prime Mover" "Long Distance Call" "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" "The Rip Van Winkle Caper" "The Silence" "Shadow Play" "The Mind and the Matter" "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" "The Obsolete Man"
Season 3	"Two" "The Arrival" "The Shelter" "The Passersby" "A Game of Pool" "The Mirror" "The Grave" "It's a Good Life" "Deaths-Head Revisited" "The Midnight Sun" "Still Valley" "The Jungle" "Once Upon a Time" "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" "A Quality of Mercy" "Nothing in the Dark" "One More Pallbearer" "Dead Man's Shoes" "The Hunt" "Showdown with Rance McGrew" "Kick the Can" "A Piano in the House" "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" "To Serve Man" "The Fugitive" "Little Girl Lost" "Person or Persons Unknown" "The Little People" "Four O'Clock" "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby" "The Trade-Ins" "The Gift" "The Dummy" "Young Man's Fancy" "I Sing the Body Electric" "Cavender Is Coming" "The Changing of the Guard"
Season 4	"In His Image" "The Thirty-Fathom Grave" "Valley of the Shadow" "He's Alive" "Mute" "Death Ship" "Jess-Belle" "Miniature" "Printer's Devil" "No Time Like the Past" "The Parallel" "I Dream of Genie" "The New Exhibit" "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" "On Thursday We Leave for Home" "Passage on the Lady Anne" "The Bard"
Season 5	"In Praise of Pip" "Steel" "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" "A Kind of a Stopwatch" "The Last Night of a Jockey" "Living Doll" "The Old Man in the Cave" "Uncle Simon" "Probe 7, Over and Out" "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms" "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain" "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" "Ring-a-Ding Girl" "You Drive" "The Long Morrow" "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross" "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" "Black Leather Jackets" "Night Call" "From Agnes—With Love" "Spur of the Moment" "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" "Queen of the Nile" "What's in the Box" "The Masks" "I Am the Night—Color Me Black" "Sounds and Silences" "Caesar and Me" "The Jeopardy Room" "Stopover in a Quiet Town" "The Encounter" "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" "The Brain Center at Whipple's" "Come Wander with Me" "The Fear" "The Bewitchin' Pool"