The Night Stalker (1973) by Jeff Rice
My father, God rest his soul, had a long and storied history of allowing me to watch age-inappropriate movies, and I loved him for it. Such was the case when in January of 1972, Dad excitedly told me we were going to watch a TV movie about a vampire. That movie was The Night Stalker and I was 6 months shy of my 10th birthday. Just a few months later he took me to see The Godfather and the next year, Enter the Dragon and The Exorcist . Dad was cool like that. I vividly remember the movie, which was a smash hit, garnering the highest ratings of any TV movie at the time. It starred the charismatic Darren McGavin as investigative newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak and was produced by veteran TV producer Dan Curtis, best known for being the driving creative force behind the hit horror soap opera, Dark Shadows . Its teleplay was written by none other than veteran...