Author: theLogBook.com

A series of mysterious deaths plague players from both parties during a Senatorial election. At the site of one death, an elevator crash, Kolchak witnesses a mysterious dog and manages to grab a strange pentagram amulet about its neck. The lead candidate, Robert Palmer, disappears until the dog later attacks Kolchak and recovers the amulet. The inexplicable nature of the deaths, and the presence of a similar amulet about Palmer’s neck, convince Kolchak that the politician has sold his soul to Satan in return for a guaranteed ascension from obscurity to the Presidency itself. Kolchak must confront Palmer and destroy the symbol of his demonic pact.

written by Donn Mullaly
from a story by Tim Maschler
directed by Allen Baron
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Tom Skerritt (Robert Palmer), Ellen Weston (Lorraine Palmer), Julie Gregg (Susan Driscoll), Jeanne Cooper (Dr. Kline), Stanley Adams (Louie the Bartender)

Notes: Miss Emily Cowles (Ruth McDevitt) returns from a trip to the Vatican in this episode, although she appears in an earlier episode (The Werewolf) as “Edith Cowels.” Internal consistency was not a strong point of the series. This episode, with its commentary on politics, journalism, and religion, probably has the sharpest dialogue of the series.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A series of mysterious high-society deaths coincide with the theft of valuable gems and jewelry. Kolchak and the police arrive at a jewelry exchange robbery and witness a 7′ tall Amerindian, accompanied by an unseen coyote, who casually swats aside the officers then mysteriously disappears over the edge of the rooftop. The reporter identifies the Indian from a museum display as a “diablero,” a Hopi medicine man with the ability to hypnotize his prey and change into a crow or coyote. According to legend, one medicine man was cursed to roam the world on an eternal quest to collect a hoard of jewelry. The source of his power is his eyes, through which he can control the world. Bright lights can deprive him of his powers, while only the power of his own gaze can destroy him. Tracking the diablero to the empty top floor of a skyscraper, Kolchak must use a mirror to defeat the medicine man before it can kill him.

written by L. Ford Neale & John Huff
directed by Alex Grasshoff
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Richard Kiel (the Diablero), Ramon Bieri (Captain Joe Baker), Alice Ghostley (Dr. Agnes Temple), Victor Jory (Charles Rolling Thunder)

Notes: Richard Kiel makes his first of two appearances as a Night Stalker monster. Actor Ramon Bieri plays a police captain in a later episode (Legacy Of Terror) but has a different name.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Murder victims are turning up with two unusual features. Their chests are brutally crushed, and they are covered with Spanish moss, a plant not found in Chicago. Kolchak’s investigations also determine a common factor: they were both enemies of an ill-tempered Cajun street player, Paul Langois. Langois has an ironclad alibi, however – he’s been in an induced coma for several weeks as part of a dream-research experiment. Nonetheless, Carl suspects Langois is responsible. His research shows that a bayou legend of Langois’ parish tells of “Pelemafait,” a boogeyman who crushes the life out of his victims. Kolchak believes that the experiment Langois is participating on has unleashed a monster from his childhood dreams. Langois dies as Pelemafait takes on a life of its own, and Kolchak is its next victim. Only a spear made of bayou gum wood can kill the monster in its sewer lair.

written by Al Friedman and David Chase
from a story by Al Friedman
directed by Gordon Hessler
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Keenan Wynn (Captain Joe “Mad Dog” Siska), Severn Darden (Dr. Aaron Pollack), Richard Kiel (Pelemafait), Johnny Silver (Pepe LaRue/Morris Shapiro), Ned Glass (Superintendent)

Notes: Keenan Wynn becomes the only recurring policeman to keep the same name (he also appears in Demon In Lace). Here he froths at the mouth as a captain whose months of group therapy are disrupted by Kolchak. Richard Kiel returns again as the gigantic Pelemafait.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Indian high-rise workers walk off the site of a new hospital after several of their number fall to their deaths. Construction is completed several months later, but the grand opening is complicated by a series of power failures, temperature surges, and mysterious deaths. Kolchak meets with James Elkhorn, a construction worker and sometimes medicine man who tells him that the hospital is built on an ancient Indian site wherein dwelt “Matchemonedo,” a sleeping bear-god. The god’s hibernation beneath the cold waters of Lake Michigan has been disrupted by the hospital excavation, and it is now draining the energy from the hospital and its patients. Kolchak and Elkhorn must convince the authorities to refrigerate the building and return Matchemonedo to its eternal slumber.

written by Arthur Rowe, Robert Earll, & Rudolph Borchert
directed by Alex Grasshoff
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: John Alvin (Dr. Ralph Carrie), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Hartfield), Tom Drake (Don Kibbey), Ella Edwards (Receptionist), Michael Fox (Frank Wesley), Elaine Giftos (Janis), Barbara Graham (Laurie), Melissa Greene (First Girl), Dianne Harper (Second Girl), Joyce Jillson (Diana Lanier), John Mitchum (Janitor), William Smith (Jim Elkhorn), Michael Strong (Walter Green), Robert Yuro (Captain Webster)

Notes: Currently exists as half of the TV movie Crackle Of Death. As in They Have Been…, the monster is invisible and thus never seen except a brief glimpse on X-ray plates. Captain Webster also appears in Legacy Of Terror, but is played by actor Ramon Bieri…who played Captain Baker in Bad Medicine.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Senior citizens in a low-income district are dying, literally gnawed to death. The authorities dismiss the deaths as rats feasting on persons dying of natural cause. Kolchak discovers that the neighborhood is covered with swastikas, a religious symbol among many cultures. The trail leads to an elderly Hindu restaurant owner, who fires a crossbow at the reporter and mutters about “Rakshasa.” With the aid of a museum curator, Kolchak discovers that a rakshasa is a Hindu demon that feeds on human flesh, and was banished from Earth centuries ago. From time to time they send a scout back to Earth to see if the time is right for their return. Confronting the restaurant owner, Kolchak discovers the man has devoted his life to killing the Rakshasa scouts. He is informed the creatures kill their prey by taking on the image of a trusted friend or relative, and can only be killed by a crossbow bolt blessed by a priest of Brahma. Kolchak claims to trust no one, but must then decide whether the Miss Emily approaching him is the real one, or the rakshasa.

written by Jimmy Sangster
directed by Michael T. Caffey
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Phil Silvers (Harry Starman), Murray Matheson (Lane Marriott), Benny Rubin (Julius “Buck” Fineman), Barry Gordon (Barry the Waiter), Abraham Sofaer (Elderly Rakshasa Hunter)

Notes: Considered the best Night Stalker episode by many. Author Jimmy Sangster penned a number of Hammer horror movies.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe