I finally got to see this episode after 52 years. I had read so much about it being the most frightening and eerie television episode ever broadcast that I had to see if everything I had heard was true. George Grizzard, Alfred Ryder,and Joanne Linville were all first rate actors and they do a professional job in the role interpretation in this particular show. The episode was shot in B&W which was the rule for most TV programs in 1962. Of course, this turns off most modern viewers. Stephen King and several other critics have credited Robert Bloch with the teleplay based on his short story but it was actually veteran TV writer Barry Trivers who did the teleplay writing.
Except for the opening with Rhodes Reason at the crash site and a very short sequence in the bus stop diner the is really no connection to the show Bus Stop. Its more like an episode of One Step Beyond and with John Newland directing this isn't surprising.
Grizzard plays a young man who wrecked his car on his wedding night causing his new bride "Linville" to be killed. His profound sense of loss and his guilt about his possible responsibility for the accident seem to be driving him over the edge. His wife's brother "Ryder" who happens to be his employer is trying to keep him from a total breakdown because he needs Grizzard to finish an important project his company is working on and Grizzard is an integral part of that project. The lid blows off the relationship when Grizzard reveals to Ryder that Linville's ghost returns to him nightly to embrace him and at which time he "kisses her shadow".
The episode is entertaining and well acted but it's hardly the most frightening show I ever saw on television. If I had seen it without the advanced fanfare I probably would have enjoyed it a whole lot better.What scares you at age 12 is a whole lot different then what scares you at age 63. I find watching the local news is much more frightening than anything I see in a movie or TV show.