Twelve episodes were shot at the Hal Roach Studios in 1959, but never aired at the time because the show failed to be sold to any of the television networks. None of the episodes made were ever shown until released on DVD decades later. As for why the show was unaired back in the 1950s, speculation is that it was because of the financial woes the studio was experiencing. Boris Karloff supposedly claimed he was never paid.
For many years, it was thought that only those 10 episodes of The Veil had been produced, and that two extra titles that were cited in reference sources ("The Vestris" and "Whatever Happened to Peggy?") were just "alternate titles". "The Vestris" was a backdoor pilot for The Veil which aired separately as a 1958 episode of ABC-TV's anthology series Telephone Time and thus was the only episode ever aired. (Whatever Happened to Peggy? just disappeared from all of the later VHS video compilations for some unknown reason.)
Those same ten episodes were only released on VHS home video in their original format for the first time in the 1990s, and were subsequently released on DVD by Something Weird Video. But not even these collections included either the pilot (The Vestris) or Whatever Happened to Peggy?.
Those same ten episodes were only released on VHS home video in their original format for the first time in the 1990s, and were subsequently released on DVD by Something Weird Video. But not even these collections included either the pilot (The Vestris) or Whatever Happened to Peggy?.
The series was hosted by Karloff, who also acted in every episode but one (Jack the Ripper). Episode plots supposedly were based upon real-life reports of supernatural happenings and the unexplained. Ten of the 12 episodes begin and end with Karloff standing in front of a roaring Gothic fireplace and inviting viewers to find out what lies "behind the veil". Karloff began each episode with the following line: "Good evening. Tonight I'm going to tell you another strange and unusual story of the unexplainable which lies behind The Veil"
In the late 1960s, ten of the episodes were combined to form 3 different feature-length anthology films that aired on late night television. The three films were as follows:
The Veil (features 3 episodes): "Vision In Crime", "The Doctors", and "The Crystal Ball" Jack the Ripper (features 4 episodes): "Jack The Ripper", "Food on the Table", "Genesis" and "Summer Heat" Destination Nightmare (features 3 episodes): "Destination Nightmare", "Girl On The Road" and "The Return of Madame Vernoy"
The Veil (features 3 episodes): "Vision In Crime", "The Doctors", and "The Crystal Ball" Jack the Ripper (features 4 episodes): "Jack The Ripper", "Food on the Table", "Genesis" and "Summer Heat" Destination Nightmare (features 3 episodes): "Destination Nightmare", "Girl On The Road" and "The Return of Madame Vernoy"
In 1999, "Lifting the Veil of Mystery", a Tom Weaver article on the making of the series (complete with episode guide), appeared in issue #29 of Cult Movies magazine. It was later expanded into the book Scripts from the Crypt: The Veil (BearManor, 2017) which featured the series' history, scripts of several episodes, interviews with some of the participants, and a chapter on Boris Karloff's career as a TV anthology host. Contributors included Tom Weaver, Dr. Robert J. Kiss, and Barbara Bibas Montero, the daughter of the series' creator-producer, Frank Bibas.