“…But You Can’t Hold Him Long”

When I first set out on this project, I told myself that I wouldn’t binge-watch a series after watching a good episode.

That was put to the test today when I watched an absolute classic of an episode of The Twilight Zone: “The Howling Man,” a tale of the devil being caught by a quasi-religious order in a castle and a man — 60-year-old spoilers here!—releasing him into the world.

I did somehow manage to pull myself away from the show without watching another, in part because I rewatched this episode.

Anthologized #2: The Twilight Zone (1960), “The Howling Man”

Brother Jerome and David Ellington

On the face of it, it could be a terrible idea for an episode. This is, however, The Twilight Zone, and sometimes cheese or camp can be set to the side — this series is part of what helped established those tropes in television, so it should be forgiven some of its trespasses.

The plot is a simple one: David Ellington, on a walking trip in central Europe, stops at a castle after getting caught in the rain, needing a place to stay. After some discussion with the castle’s inhabitants, he’s given the permission to stay the night at the castle by one Brother Jerome. Ellington stays, hears the howling of a man in the night. Brother Jerome tells Ellington it’s the devil imprisoned and not a man, and that he’s kept behind bars by only “the Staff of Truth.”

There seems at this time an overriding sense that Ellington may be staying with a group of some strange cultists or otherwise extremists, who have imprisoned a man for nothing but suspicion alone. After some back-and-forth with said man, Ellington releases him from his prison cell, and he escapes through a window — but not before horns appear on his head, and he doffs a cape. Brother Jerome tells Ellington that his actions that night would haunt him for the rest of his life.

All that is fairly simple, and that’s just about right for an episode of this length. The relative absurdity of the story — the devil personified and imprisoned in a central European castle—is made a bit more palatable by the wrapping story, which features Ellington retelling his story to a housemaid before leaving his home. After all, Ellington says, he has him in a room in his house, which isn’t to be touched, and it’s barred only by the Staff of Truth. After Ellington leaves, the housemaid, hearing the same howling from the start of the episode, lifts the staff, opens the door, and the episode ends.

It’s the devil.

The moral

The Christian imagery here is prevalent but perhaps not dense. Brother Jerome sports a shepherd’s crook and robes; his keeping the devil from mankind is played as a straight allegory for Jesus. The staff of truth — which was to have been a cross in the original script (but notably not the original short story, both of which were written by Charles Beaumont)—is another shepherd’s crook.

In both the short story and the episode, Jerome (Brother Jerome in the episode; Father Jerome in the written story) is naive in his dealings with Ellington, who releases Satan. I think in some readings, this could be meant as blaming Ellington, who has been told to ignore the howling and does otherwise, despite the warnings. The addition of the wrapping story clarifies this for me: The person to blame is not the curious, naive one opening the door, but the one who leaves the devil in a room, accessible with minimal effort. I suspect this is meant as a statement about evil and the trend of humanity toward it, and that those who can, ought do more.

Perhaps the moral of the short story is a bit different, as Ellington steals the key from Father Jerome. In both cases, Ellington is doing what he ostensibly sees as a good act, and one that will help someone he believes to be an innocent man. Maybe the moral is a bit more along the lines of it taking good people to stop evil, which nearly rhymes, so I’ll count it as good enough for my purposes here.

Rod Serling’s final narration is illustrative:

Ancient folk saying: “You can catch the Devil, but you can’t hold him long.” Ask Brother Jerome. Ask David Ellington. They know, and they’ll go on knowing to the end of their days and beyond — in the Twilight Zone.

The good

This is a classic episode of a fantastic television series. The moral is right there (as I think it should be) and it’s hard to mistake. The original story it’s based on is also quite good, and I’d recommend giving it a read.

The bad

None of the actors in this seem to have appeared in Star Trek, which is somewhat disappointing. (I know there are plenty in the series, and we’ll get there, I’m sure.)

I guess one might say this is a bit over-the-top, but you know what? I don’t mind a bit.

Also, a final note: I don’t think that “ancient folk saying” is actually an ancient folk saying. I mean, maybe it is in some form, but those words? I can’t find them attributed to anybody but Rod Serling. That’s fine, because now it’s a relatively old folk(ish) saying, so that’s neat.