Tristram Halbin

Tristram Halbin was a warlock and an associate of Lucy Mailer who lived during the mid 17th century. He died in the year 1763 and was buried in a vault in a secret crypt beneath the Mailers' castle estate. Lucy Mailer, herself a powerful witch, enchanted a grandfather clock with the ability to resurrect the dead at the stroke of midnight.

In 1967, Bob and Julie Farrell purchased the old castle and found Lucy Mailer's clock. Unaware of its mystical properties, they brought the clock out of the cellar and set it up in the foyer. When the clock struck midnight, Tristram Halbin rose from the dead. He appeared at the front door of the Mailer castle, posing as a traveler caught in the rain. The Farrells took pity on him and offered him shelter.

The following day, Tristram tried to turn the Farrells against one another. He hypnotized Julie, convincing her that she hated her husband and wanted to get away from him. Bob meanwhile, had learned the truth about Tristram and confronted him. He suspected that destroying the grandfather clock might send him back into the afterlife. As he reached for it, Tristram tried to stop him, but Bob succeeded in stopping the clock's clapper. All of a sudden, all three of them burst into flame.

A short time later, another couple moved into the Mailer estate. As before, they recovered the grandfather clock and got it work. Tristram Halbin appeared at their front door and the cycle started anew.

Notes & Trivia

 * In addition to playing the role of Tristram Halbin, John Carradine also served as the narrator in Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors.