Mr. Garrity and the Graves

"Mr. Garrity and the Graves"
The Twilight Zone episode
Scene from Mr.Garrity and the Graves
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 152
Directed by	Ted Post
Written by	Rod Serling (From a story by Mike Korologos)
Featured music	Tommy Morgan
Production code	2637
Original air date	May 8, 1964
Guest stars
John Dehner: Jared Garrity J. Pat O'Malley: Gooberman Stanley Adams: Jensen John Mitchum: Ace Percy Helton: Lapham Kate Murtagh: Zelda
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Encounter" Next → "The Brain Center at Whipple's"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"Mr. Garrity and the Graves"^[1] is an episode of the American television series The Twilight Zone.

Synopsis

A traveling peddler, Garrity, arrives in the little, recently-renamed town of Happiness, Arizona, offering to bring the townsfolk's dead back from Boot Hill. Initially, they don't believe him, but when he appears to resurrect a dead dog struck by a traveler's horse-drawn wagon, they do believe him. After performing the resurrection ritual, Garrity, in seemingly casual conversation, reminds the people about the dead and departed, almost all of whom were murdered: who died having a score to settle with whom, and so forth. The townsfolk grow uncomfortable at the thought of facing problems they thought buried with the dead; when one apparent resurrectee is seen approaching town, his brother, who shot the man himself, bribes Garrity to reverse the ritual, and the figure vanishes. Ultimately, everyone in town similarly pays Garrity to not revive their "loved ones."

Later that night, Garrity and his assistant (who was both wagon driver and "resurrectee") ride away with the money, joking about how they cannot actually bring the dead back to life: they had simply performed a few smoke and mirrors tricks to con the townsfolk, and used a dog that was alive the whole time but simply knew how to play dead. After they have left the town, the last scene reveals that the dead really are rising from the grave, with one commenting that the peddler underestimates his own ability.

Original sources

There are three possible sources for "Mr. Garrity and the Graves":

"Based on a story by Mike Korologos"

First, the episode's credits state, "Teleplay by Rod Serling | Based on a Story by Mike Korologos."

There is no evidence that Mike Korologos ever published any stories. In fact, the only evidence of the existence of a writer named "Mike Korologos" is found in the credits of this episode.

"Uproar in Acheron"

Second, according to Philip José Farmer, the source for "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" was his own short story "Uproar in Acheron" (The Saint Mystery Magazine, May 1962).

For all practical purposes, the short story (published in May 1962) and The Twilight Zone episode (originally broadcast on 8 May 1964) are identical.

"Mister Lazarus"

Third, the story of "Mister Lazarus," found in Historic Haunted America,^[2] identifies a legend from Alta, Utah, as the source of "Mr. Garrity and the Graves."

According to the story of "Mister Lazarus," a mysterious stranger arrived in Alta, Utah, during its heyday as a silver-mining boomtown in the late 19th century—and promised to raise the dead. The story unfolds in the same manner as both "Uproar in Acheron" and "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" but without the clever twist at the end.

References and further reading

1. ^ The script was published in As Timeless as Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Volume 6, edited by Tony Albarella (Gauntlet Press, 2009). The original script (Script 152) is part of The Rod Serling Archives at Ithaca College.
2. ^ "Mister Lazarus." In Historic Haunted America by Michael Norman and Beth Scott. New York: Tor | A Tom Doherty Associates Book, October 1995, pp. 341–342. ISBN 0-312-85752-7

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

• The Rod Serling Archives at Ithaca College, The Twilight Zone, Season 5, Script 152, "Mr. Garrity and the Graves"
• "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" at the Internet Movie Database