Top 7 Kolchak: The Night Stalker Episodes

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Written By Chris Well

Kolchak Best Episodes, Episode Guide, Why Was It Canceled, Watch Episodes Online

About the 1970s classic TV show Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Best-known to younger TV viewers as one of the inspirations for the X-Files, the short-lived horror TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker starred Darren McGavin as wise-cracking reporter Carl Kolchak. Always dressed in his seersucker suit and straw boater hat, Kolchak was like something out of a 1940’s newspaper film.

Somehow he continually stumbled across outrageous news stories that inevitably involved horrific supernatural or paranormal beings like vampires, werewolves and aliens. Unfortunately, his editor never ran his stories—so the public never learned about each close call. However, Kolchak never allowed his lot in life to keep him from seeking out the truth—at whatever cost.

The origins of Kolchak: The Night Stalker began in the (then) unpublished novel by Jeff Rice titled The Kolchak Papers, written around 1970. The story, which featured a fast-talking newsman hunting a modern-day vampire, was adapted by horror legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) into the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker. The inspired casting for the movie included Darren McGavin as the crusading smart alec, and Simon Oakland as his short-tempered, but remarkably patient editor.

The blockbuster success of the TV movie inevitably led to the sequel The Night Strangler (1973), followed by the short-lived, cult classic television series. Over the course of 20 episodes, Kolchak faced a zombie, a haunted suit of killer armor, a headless motorcycle gang member, a werewolf, and more.

New edition of the original novel available:

Revised Apr 2025.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker Episode Guide

  1. Episode 1: “The Ripper” (Broadcast: September 13, 1974)—Kolchak finds a strong resemblance between the murders of several Chicago women and killings by Jack the Ripper in the 1800s.

  2. Episode 2: “Zombie” (Broadcast: September 20, 1974)—Kolchak once saw the “enforcer” who is now killing gang members in a numbers-racket war lying dead in the morgue.

  3. Episode 3: “They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be...” (Broadcast: September 27, 1974)—Kolchak suspects extraterrestrial involvement when a series of electronic-equipment thefts is linked to several bizarre murders.

  4. Episode 4: “Vampire” (Broadcast: October 4, 1974)—Kolchak theorizes a vampire is behind a string of deaths from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, in which bodies were left drained of blood.

  5. Episode 5: “The Werewolf” (Broadcast: November 1, 1974)—A full moon rising over the final cruise of a luxury liner brings on the mauling deaths of a passenger and three crewmen.

  6. Episode 6: “Firefall” (Broadcast: November 8, 1974)—The fiery deaths of three associates of a symphony conductor bring fatigued Kolchak into a confrontation with a supernatural force.

  7. Episode 7: “The Devil’s Platform” (Broadcast: November 15, 1974)—Kolchak believes a senatorial candidate has sold his soul to the devil, after the man’s campaign opponents begin turning up dead.

  8. Episode 8: “Bad Medicine” (Broadcast: November 29, 1974)—Kolchak suspects that the deaths of wealthy women, following thefts of their jewelry, are the work of an ancient Indian sorcerer.

  9. Episode 9: “The Spanish Moss Murders” (Broadcast: December 6, 1974)—Kolchak suspects more than mere murder when a swamp moss not native to the Chicago area is found at the sites of several homicides.

  10. Episode 10: “The Energy Eater” (Broadcast: December 13, 1974)—Cracking walls and the mysterious deaths of staff and patients plague a newly dedicated lakefront hospital; guest Joyce Jillson.

  11. Episode 11: “Horror in the Heights” (Broadcast: December 20, 1974)—A trail of strange murders leads Kolchak to an elderly Hindu man who reveals an evil spirit is roaming Chicago.

  12. Episode 12: “Mr. R.I.N.G.” (Broadcast: January 10, 1975)—A military robot learns it is about to be deactivated and acts upon its survival-instinct programming by killing its creator.

  13. Episode 13: “Primal Scream” (Broadcast: January 17, 1975)—Kolchak believes a creature regenerated from cells frozen during the Ice Age may be responsible for a modern-day homicide.

  14. Episode 14: “The Trevi Collection” (Broadcast: January 24, 1975)—A model in the salon of a ruthless fashion designer convinces Kolchak a witch aims to take over the industry.

  15. Episode 15: “Chopper” (Broadcast: January 31, 1975)—Kolchak suspects a headless ghost is wreaking its revenge on the middle-aged members of a 1950s motorcycle gang.

  16. Episode 16: “Demon in Lace” (Broadcast: February 7, 1975)—Horrified looks on the faces of male college students felled by heart attacks lead Kolchak to think a female demon is responsible.

  17. Episode 17: “Legacy of Terror” (Broadcast: February 14, 1975)—The bizarre murders of four people by a huge, eagle-like being send Kolchak on a hunt for the revived mummy of an Aztec warrior.

  18. Episode 18: “The Knightly Murders” (Broadcast: March 7, 1975)—Converting part of a museum into a nightclub bring about the crossbow, lance and mace murders of people working on the project.

  19. Episode 19: “The Youth Killer” (Broadcast: March 14, 1975)—Kolchak makes a connection between the disappearance of four young people and the discovery of corpses of four elderly people.

  20. Episode 20: “Sentry” (Broadcast: March 28, 1975)—Kolchak’s investigation into the inexplicable deaths of workers in an underground archive leads to strange, egg-like rocks unearthed during digging.

Why did the original TV show Kolchak: The Night Stalker end?

The series ended when Darren McGavin asked to be released from his contract. He had been disappointed with the scripts and was exhausted from his uncredited producing duties. Three scripts were left unproduced, two of which were adapted into a Kolchak series of comic books in 2003.

New Kolchak stuff

Over the past few years, there have been a growing number of new Kolchak: The Night Stalker projects being released, including original books and comic books. Monster Complex is planning to create a new post soon to show off some of that stuff. Watch for that soon! (Planning that post as of April 2025.)

Chris Well

Chris Well been a writer pretty much his entire life. (Well, since his childhood.) Over the years, he has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio, and books. He now is the chief of the website Monster Complex, celebrating monster stories in lit and pop culture. He also writes horror comedy fiction that embraces Universal Monsters, 1960s sitcoms, 1980s action movies, and the X-Files.

https://chriswell.substack.com/
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