The Twilight Zone Haiku

The Twilight Zone Haiku explores the essence of Rod Serling’s iconic, uncanny 1960s television show through haiku, giving us dazzling, spot-on snapshots of each episode. In seventeen syllables, Boykin captures the show's main objective: to deliver a keen jolt of existential awareness. As you read, you find yourself marooned on an alien planet, lost in time, trapped inside a mannequin, surrounded by the debris of a nuclear attack, and always, always powerless to forces beyond your control. The Twilight Zone Haiku conjures the trappings of each haunting plot of the series, but more astutely, its scalpel-edged soul.

Special audiobook bonus content includes: an interview by Tom Elliot with Earl Holliman, the first actor to ever step into The Twilight Zone, a special conversation between the author, Chad Ellis Boykin and audiobook producer and narrator, Tom Elliot, host of The Twilight Zone Podcast, an interview with haiku poet, artist, author, publisher, and Weirdo Poetry webmaster Jason McBride, and a special behind the scenes interview by audio engineer Christopher Sadler with the author, including new Twilight Zone Haiku poems exclusive to the audiobook.

“Fans of The Twilight Zone will love this wonderful collection of haiku based on episodes of the classic series. Like Rod Serling’s doppelganger, Chad Ellis Boykin distills the theme of each episode into seventeen perfect syllables. Even if you’ve never seen an episode, the haiku can be enjoyed for the precision of the language and the lessons they share about the human condition. This book is smart, playful, and a joy to read. Be warned: once you step into that slippery dimension between time, space, and the open page, you’ll have a hard time leaving The Twilight Zone Haiku.”

-Chuck Augello, author of Talking Vonnegut: Centennial Interviews and Essays and The Revolving Heart, a Best Books of 2020 Selection by Kirkus Reviews.