Sean Parker
What is your favorite episode of The Twilight Zone? Tough question, I know. There are just so many good ones to choose from. There’s “Where is Everybody?” the unforgettable pilot. “Time Enough at Last,” with Burgess Meredith and his books. “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” where William Shatner sees something on the wing of his plane. Some… thing! But for my money, there’s nothing else like “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” As I watched the pilot for Screambox’s latest series, Tales from the Void, the incredible modern parallel gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the season.
Episodic anthologies are a bit of a toss-up. Some people just don’t find the appeal of contained episodes with no seasonal arc. I’m different, I guess. A child of monster-of-the-week episodes, I like to venture into shows like these when I’m not ready for the commitment of interconnected multi-season television. I also like the freedom of anthology series and one-off episodes. If an episode holds no interest, I’ll skip it. To be honest, I’ve done this quite a bit with American Horror Stories, a show that’s been on for three years and whose stories are often overly convoluted for the time allotted.
Starting episode one of Tales from the Void, titled “Into the Unknown,” the images of static lighting up a dark room to reveal the white-knuckled grip of a clearly enthralled viewer feels like something special. While it only serves as an introduction, I think it’s essential. Where would we be without the cackle of the Crypt Keeper or Rod Serling’s hypnotizing monologue? Atmosphere goes a long way in reeling in horror viewers, and Tales from the Void has that covered right away.
Spoilers for Tales from the Void: Into the Unknown ahead.
The series’ first episode, “Into the Unknown,” is based on Matthew Dymerski’s subreddit r/NoSleep story “The Black Square” and brought to life by Suitable Flesh director Joe Lynch and written by Tales from the Void showrunner Francesco Loschiavo. The episode’s plot concerns a young man named Harris (Falling Skies’ Mpho Koaho), who lives in a melting pot of an apartment complex with a very Cabrini Green projects quality about it. Returning home late one night, Harris greets his apartment’s night guard, Anton (Humane’s Martin Roach), after denying entry to a vengeful tweaker trying to get into the building. When Harris walks across to a different entrance, he fades out of Anton’s view, much to his bewilderment. Upon checking it out, Anton discovers a perfect black square hovering inches above the center of the property.
Now, one of the very cool things Tales from the Void does when the episode ends is it allows the story’s original writer to provide their insights. The television episode certainly implies some racial connotations in the scenes that lie ahead, with Harris and Anton being black men guarding the enigmatic square. But Dymerski admits that was not what he was going for when he wrote the story. What he’s actually doing is depicting people’s reactions to something they can’t comprehend. Still, I think Loschiavo and Lynch spin this one just enough in the right direction to add some depth and social commentary to the visual elements.
When morning comes, Anton is relieved of his post by Bill (Joey Freddy Larson), who serves as the head security detail of the apartment complex. There’s an almost gangster-like approach to how Bill engages with the community during this scene. At the opening, we see Bill briefly putting a coat on his young daughter and nodding to Harris, but at this moment, he’s all business, and what he says goes. The echoes of other children playing on the property are equally worth noting in the initial setup scene so the audience understands what’s at stake in Bill’s mind. While Harris argues that they could perform tests and objectively find answers through a scientific approach, Bill is more concerned that the government has sent a weapon to the edges of this housing complex, possibly to destroy it and the people inside.
The divisiveness of the storyline gives “Into the Unknown” that “Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” vibe. The Twilight Zone story emerged from post-Cold-War era witch hunts where everyone became consumed with finding the communists, or in The Twilight Zone’s case the aliens, among them. Ultimately, the extra-terrestrials never needed to do anything because fear was enough to allow the neighborhood to tear itself apart. That’s where “Into the Unknown” comes from, potentially issuing another societal warning.
Bill’s fear of the government is based on the project’s constant neglect. At one point in “Into the Unknown,” he calls the police to report the phenomena, and they dismiss his call by saying something to the effect of: “It’s a big city, sir.” The police are never seen responding to the call, either. Even still, I would believe a person like Bill has never known a positive interaction with the police, likely losing more than he’s ever gained by getting them involved. Still, there’s an ingrained message here that some “bad” neighborhoods get forgotten and left to police themselves, and that’s why we see Bill, Anton, and others in the apartment complex carrying guns and providing a watchful eye. If they aren’t going to do it, no one else will.
In the post-COVID reality, that suspicion of government has grown in popularity, with many people holding out from taking the COVID-19 vaccine and voting for repealing many government offices and programs with their votes in this last election. The idea that science could likely determine what someone already knows in their gut is a harmful notion, but even Harris goes about proving his point poorly. Deciding to stand up against Bill’s paranoia, Harris defies Bill’s authoritarian demands to stay away from the square and throws a silver ball through it, hearing a plop as it hits something within the space. That night, Anton is found with his throat and face slashed.
We don’t know specifically that Harris’ actions led to Anton’s death. Remember, Anton was arguing with a tweaker at the start of the episode who vowed revenge, but the first assumption from Bill’s crew is that this is a direct result of Harris’ actions with the square. When Harris discovers Anton’s body, he runs the instant one of Bill’s crew begins to approach him. Scared, he flees back to his apartment, where he’s beaten and dragged outside to the square.
Angry at Harris’ disrespect for his authority, Bill decides Harris is guilty without due process. Bill becomes the thing he despises. He punishes Harris with a one-way ticket through the square. Again, the visual commentary evokes a degree of authoritative classism with racist overtones, with Bill leading the command in a suggestively realistic scenario. While some will argue that it isn’t racist because one of Bill’s crew is also black, I urge them to remember that Officer J. Alexander Kueng, a black man, was present when Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. It’s more about the complicit nature of police brutality and their view on certain people, neighborhoods, and other demographics.
Whether right or wrong, Harris pays with his life, and the punishment does not fit the crime, as it didn’t in Floyd’s case either. Only when Harris doesn’t return does Bill realize the monster he’s become. While in charge of protecting and serving his community, Bill has sentenced his neighbor to death or something death-adjacent. Will the people in the development see him as helpful after these actions, or another point of authority directing its rage over a marginalized group?
I haven’t fully understood the meaning behind what it is that Harris exactly sees from his Tasha Yar pit of supposed dark matter. Screaming in the infinite darkness of the void as the same ooze he’s drenched in retreats from people who look like his neighbors’ facial orifices before a tsunami of the stuff covers them all. It sure is creepy as hell, I’ll tell you that. But if the hole is fear, the incarnation of those inside may be seen as being consumed by fear itself.
As the episode finishes, The black box doesn’t go away. It just gets covered over to look like a cartoonish ACME wooden box. The problem exists. The problem will always exist. But covering it up becomes the easiest solution.
There are many significant societal parallels in “Into the Unknown,” but my biggest issue is that it isn’t as fleshed out as it could be. Dymerski’s story is great, and the additional details Loschiavo and Lynch push into it could have developed “Into the Unknown” into something more extensive than the bite-size drama it is. The beginning could do better about setting up some things, and behavioral inferences could have been acted out onscreen rather than wrapped up in a couple of lines of dialogue. Regardless, Tales from the Void’s first episode certainly grasps the sentiment of Rod Serling’s classic television series and has me locked in for the remaining five episodes.
Tales From The Void | Official Trailer | Streaming October 13
An episodic horror anthology series based on the most viral and haunting stories from the r/NoSleep community. Streaming on Screambox starting October 13. E101: “Into The Unknown” – October 13 E102: “Fixed Frequency” – October 13 E103: “Starlight” – October 20 E104: “Carry” – October 20 E105: “Plastic Smile’ – October 27 E106: “Whistle In the Woods” – October 27 SCREAMBOX is your home for horror.
