The Veil


The Veil is an American horror/suspense anthology television series produced in 1958 by Hal Roach Studios.
The series is hosted by Boris Karloff, who also acts in every episode but one. Episode plots allegedly were based upon real-life reports of supernatural happenings and the unexplained. Ten of the 12 episodes begin and end with Karloff standing in front of a roaring fireplace and inviting viewers to find out what lies "behind the veil".
Hailed by critics as "the greatest television series never seen", The Veil was never broadcast. Troubles within the studio resulted in production being cancelled after only 10 episodes were produced. The number of episodes was considered to be too small to justify sale to a network or to syndication. In the late 1960s, footage from several episodes was combined to make films that aired on late night television. Ten episodes were released to the public in their entirety for the first time in the 1990s, and have subsequently been released on DVD by Something Weird Video.
In 1999, "Lifting the Veil of Mystery", a Tom Weaver article on the making of the series, appeared in issue #29 of Cult Movies magazine. It was later expanded into the book Scripts from the Crypt: The Veil which featured the series' history, scripts of several episodes, interviews with some of the participants, and a chapter on Boris Karloff's career as a television anthology host. Contributors included Weaver, Dr. Robert J. Kiss, and Barbara Bibas Montero, the daughter of the series' creator-producer, Frank Bibas.
For many years it was thought that only 10 episodes of The Veil had been produced, and two extra titles were "alternative titles". However, in 2008, Timeless Media Group released a two-DVD set of The Veil, under the title Tales of the Unexplained, that included "The Vestris" and "Peggy" for a total of 12 episodes. "The Vestris" is a backdoor pilot for The Veil that aired as a 1958 episode of the anthology series Telephone Time.

Episodes

There are a total of 12 episodes in the series. There is no actual airing order, since the series never aired. The episode order below is the order used in the original home video release.
  2. "The Vestris"
  3. "Vision of Crime"
  4. "Girl on the Road"
  5. "Food on the Table"
  6. "The Doctors"
  7. "The Crystal Ball"
  8. "Genesis"
  9. "Summer Heat"
  10. "The Return of Madame Vernoy"
  11. "Destination Nightmare"
  12. "Jack the Ripper"
  13. "Whatever Happened to Peggy?"

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