SCIENCE FICTION THEATER: In this science-fiction anthology series host Truman Bradley introduces stories extrapolated from actual scientific data available 1955-1957, concentrating on such concepts as space flight, UFOs, and mental telepathy.
My bedroom was located on the side of the house which faced the backyard. Our back yard looked out upon very old garages, which were either in disrepair, or dilapidated, one time being fit for a model T-Ford, but now home to chained up entrances or GHOSTS! Behind the garages was a patch of land the kids on our street called the WOODS, we knew it was a good place to explore because it was a place our parents insisted we not visit. We also knew to never EXPLORE it alone because maybe our parents knew something we did NOT! During the day, the kids would play dodge ball, softball even volleyball, on the cement driveway plastered with potholes, and ruts. (As kids usually do, after a while, you know the terrain, and somehow always miss the potholes or puddles and can play a good game of ball). It was a safe HAVEN when the sun shined, because, once again, we all knew, as kids, that any creature or monster of good standing slept during the day! But once dusk approached and our mothers would call us in for dinner, the backyard was to be left alone. (We figured that it was a SHARABLE SPACE, daytime kids playground, and nighttime, WHATEVER otherworldly THINGS dwelled there, could have it!
My room had very thin curtains, the kind that might as well have been nothing but gauze and see-through material. My mother insisted that the moonlight could act as a night light, and seeing the stars was calming. What MY MOTHER did not understand, was that the CREATURES living behind or even IN the garages, did not like being disturbed, and even more, could and would come after you if they even presumed you were watching them. AND MY MOTHER and FATHER had no idea, that OUR backyard was a perfect place for “FLYING SAUCERS”, to not only land but to kidnap the kids who watched them land! How did I KNOW this…SIMPLE…the SCIENCE FICTION THEATER on Channel 2 in Pittsburgh, on Saturday night at 10:30, had way too many programs which reminded us, WE ARE NOT ALONE. (My parents knew I had an imagination, they never wanted to stifle it, and would permit me to watch these ‘SILLY SHOWS” and did warn me that sometimes too much of an imagination can take you to places you might want to avoid. Oftentimes, I would challenge my bravery on those very stary nights, and peek through the curtains (I never looked at the garages, because I WAS certain of what lived there…BUT I looked at the sky, and I swear to this day, I saw “Flying Saucers”, but I was smart enough to NEVER let them see me watching!
IMAGINATION/SCIENCE FICTION/MAKE BELIEVE/ all of that still my childhood memories, all of that once upon a time…but as a 71-year-old man, SADLY, the horrors I see now in my life, are not of monsters, or creatures, or ghosts or aliens, NO, they are too much more frightening, they are REAL PEOPLE, who don’t go away when the sun shines, or the TV is turned off. I HAVE BECOME SCARED AGAIN!
