Deadly Aliens: Adapting Richard Matheson’s third Kolchak script, Night Killers
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Kolchak the Night Stalker: Double Feature by Richard Matheson and
Chuck Miller (Moonstone, November 2017). Cover art by Mark Maddox
I’ve been asked over the years about the process I used to adapt the late Richard Matheson’s unproduced script for “The Night Killers” into a novella. I thought I’d go ahead today and give a few brief answers.
First, to address the changes I made in the story: It’s not that I think I’m more talented than Richard Matheson, because manifestly I am not. But what I had was very much a first draft script. If “The Night Killers” had gone into production, a lot of things would have been reworked, based on input from Matheson himself, the director, and certainly Darren McGavin. So that’s how I approached it. I regarded the script as a living document that I could have a hand in shaping.

I imagined myself as a script guy in a room with Matheson and the others, discussing what we could do with this great story. (In fact, it was my imaginary McGavin who suggested the oddly heartwarming scenes between Kolchak and Crossbinder. “Just why in the hell,” he wanted to know, “would Crossbinder hire Carl again after what happened in Seattle?”)
Whenever I thought of a different way to do a thing, I always asked myself if Matheson would have approved. Would he have done it himself? I could never be sure, of course, but if I couldn’t come up with a reasonably unequivocal “yes,” I dropped my idea. (I’m not sure he would have liked me making the aliens more bloodthirsty than they were, since his work was more about subtlety, but I arrogantly overrode him on that one issue.)
And there were a few other things that influenced my decisions. For one, I had what amounted to an unlimited budget in TV terms. That is, I could do anything, use any special effect, without having to worry about cost. I could afford to “hire” a special guest star, in the form of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a prominent UFO researcher who was particularly active during the year in which “The Night Killers” would have taken place, 1973-74.
I also introduced a character called John Kasko, loosely based on paranormal researcher John Keel, who provided a vague explanation for why Carl might find himself confronting the supernatural again and again throughout his life. Not a definitive answer, just a suggestion.

And, of course, since the aliens were never actually seen in Matheson’s script, I kept them invisible, and suggested a connection with the other invisible aliens Carl would encounter in the third episode of the Night Stalker TV series.
I looked at it as an insanely lucky opportunity to “collaborate” with a guy who was light years ahead of me in my chosen field, and had always been a personal hero of mine. With immense respect, I strove to help shape it into a story that could have proudly stood alongside “The Night Stalker” and “The Night Strangler.” Whether or not I succeeded is up to the fans.
Personally, I had the time of my life, and I like to think Richard Matheson would have enjoyed it too.
Kolchak the Night Stalker: Double Feature is still listed on Moonstone’s website, but has been out of stock for some time.
Chuck Miller was born in Ohio, lived in Alabama for many years, and now resides in Norman, Oklahoma. He is a Libra whose interests include monster movies, comic books, music, writing, and getting paid for writing, which is the most elusive beast of them all. He holds a BA in creative writing from the University of South Alabama, and is the creator/writer of Tales of the Black Centipede, The Incredible Adventures of Vionna Valis and Mary Jane Kelly, The Bay Phantom Chronicles, and The Mystic Files of Doctor Unknown Junior.