Ghost Story Dark Vengeance (1972–1973) Online

Backhoe operator at a construction site digs up an antique box that is nearly impossible for him to get open; once he lifts the lid, taking out nothing but an innocent-seeming miniature rocking horse, his wife becomes frightened and asks him to put it back, but he can't...the horse has already grown. One of the best hour-long episodes from the doomed anthology series "Ghost Story" (which, by this time, had already been re-christened "Circle Of Fear"). Only lasting a single season, "Ghost Story" boasted such talents as story developer Richard Matheson and producer William Castle, but it took too many weeks to hit its stride and viewers gave up on it. Still, this episode, which skillfully combines shocks with a tangible mystery stemming from childhood, has solid performances from Martin Sheen and Kim Darby, plus some very smart writing. It shows what might have been--had the ratings been stronger. This spooky saga ranks as high as some of the best stories from "The Twilight Zone".

I have been having fun lately revisiting all the old movies and television series from my youth. I was delighted to find Circle Of Fear's Dark Vengeance. This was made after they renamed the anthology series. Originally it had been called Ghost Story and Sebastian Cabot as the host, Winston Essex.

Martin Sheen and Kim Darby play a young married couple, he is a construction worker who finds an old box buried in the site where he is working. She is a childcare worker running a daycare from their house.

Bringing the box home, he opens it and finds a beautiful toy horse inside. That is when their nightmares and strange visions begin.

Not many shows could pull off a toy horse on wheels being frightening, but this show managed perfectly. The scenes were suspenseful and the acting was great. The horse at times appeared genuinely terrifying. I watched his episode as a child and I always remembered the scene with the horse battering its way into the garage seeking its revenge.

It is definitely one of the better horror episodes and one that will make you look at your kids toys in a different light.

Martin Sheen & Kim Darby play a happily married couple named Frank & Cindy whose lives are turned upside down when Frank brings home an old box he found on a construction site he was working on. The box has no latch, but he gets it open only to find inside a child's rocking horse with a smashed mirror inside. Thinking it some strange joke, he puts it aside, but Cindy then starts having awful nightmares involving the rocking horse stalking her, and indeed it does seem to be getting bigger, and have a dark connection to her childhood... Potentially ludicrous tale actually works thanks to good acting, a clever script and inventive direction. Far-fetched of course, but memorable.