Widower with three kids in San Francisco moves his family into an older apartment house for a suspiciously low fee, later discovering that the address above them has been empty for quite a while, due to a bad reputation. Gripping hour from William Castle's anthology series "Ghost Story" (which had been retitled "Circle Of Fear" by the time this episode aired). Youngsters Leif Garrett and Dawn Lyn (real-life siblings) are the first to discover a man upstairs who beckons them into his snowbound secret world...but it is older sis Susan Dey whom he really wants! The 'safe' ending unfortunately belies the shock effect writer Jimmy Sangster was probably hoping to instill--on the other hand, nobody wants to see Susan Dey fall prey to a man with an ax. Safe or not, it's a memorable yarn, topped by strong performances and a very fine visualization of the eerie happenings.
6 Reviews
The Empty Apartment
AaronCapenBanner15 November 2014
A family moves into a San Francisco apartment building where the two young siblings Robert & Jane(played by Leif Garret & Dawn Lyn) investigate the empty apartment upstairs, only to discover a door that opens into an entirely different location, a cabin in the woods where a man chopping wood beckons to them, eventually showing interest in their older sister Peggy(played by Susan Dey) She sees nothing unusual at first, but when strange sounds and footprints show up, it becomes obvious that the man upstairs has a most sinister agenda in store... Eerie episode with a surefire horror premise of a secret doorway isn't quite the classic you'd hope for but is still quite memorable and effective.
Great episode
theoctobercountry11 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This episode is very well remembered by fans of the show, and is an example of the series at its best. It's a great, classic ghost story with spooky atmosphere (complete with an empty apartment at the top of the stairs from which mysterious sound emanate, containing a doorway to another world). And those of a certain age will enjoy seeing several well-known actors of the period.
Hmmm, the park featured in this tale looks very familiar---I'm wondering if this was shot on the same back lot as the "Bewitched" series?
Note to kids everywhere---if a mysterious man with a creepy pornstache and an ax beckons you to come on over----DON'T DO IT!
Hmmm, the park featured in this tale looks very familiar---I'm wondering if this was shot on the same back lot as the "Bewitched" series?
Note to kids everywhere---if a mysterious man with a creepy pornstache and an ax beckons you to come on over----DON'T DO IT!
The Empty Apartment
BandSAboutMovies29 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Directed by Daryl Duke and written by Richard Matheson and Jimmy Sangster, this episode is all about a family moving into a new apartment in San Francisco. When young Robert (Leif Garrett) starts to explore, he finds an empty apartment with a door into the woods inside. He also meets a man inside those woods who asks to meet his sisters Jane (Garrett's sister Dawn Lyn, Walking Tall) and Peggy (Susan Dey). Yet when the girls visit the room themselves, they only find a closet.
And then she learns that the ghost - the man in the woods killed his wife with an axe and then was executed - wants her for his next wife.
"Doorway to Death" may not be the best episode of the show, but the scene where Peggy wakes up to find wet footprints around her bed, as if someone was walking her room and watching her all night? That's the kind of weird I keep watching this show for.
And then she learns that the ghost - the man in the woods killed his wife with an axe and then was executed - wants her for his next wife.
"Doorway to Death" may not be the best episode of the show, but the scene where Peggy wakes up to find wet footprints around her bed, as if someone was walking her room and watching her all night? That's the kind of weird I keep watching this show for.
The man upstairs!!
riccibilotta-167-82984720 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This show was too scary for me to watch when i was a kid. I was 9, and i stayed in the kitchen and read comic books. Now i love the show, this episode being one of my favorites. A man and his 3 kids move into a nice new apartment in San Francisco for a very low rent, The 2 younger kids visit " the man upstairs", whom they like very much.***** Possible spoiler {but i don't think it is} The kids go upstairs, into the apartment, When they go in, they open another door and see a man chopping wood outside in the snow, so they make friends with him. Why they don't find this to be very odd is beyond me. But despite that, it's one of the best episodes of a great, but sadly short run TV show. 8 stars.
70s creepyness personified
jimbostefano28 June 2021
Suffice to say this is typical of a eerie ,atmospheric story telling that seemed to occur quite a bit back then,also in the Night Gallery series and the ABC movie of the week,which often had this same creepy vibe to it. This tale about a doorway to something very unpleasant is very well done,and has a fine turn by Susan Dey to boot( as the big sister of the two kids who discover the door). Well worth a look( as is the whole series). I missed Sebastian Cabot presenting,he went after Ghost Story became Circle Of Fear,a shame as he added to the off kilter atmosphere.
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