Star Trek: Catspaw

Episode: "Catspaw"
Series: Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 2, Episode 7
Original Air Date: October 27, 1967

via Memory Alpha

"Catspaw" is the closest the Star Trek franchise has ever come to a holiday special.  Exploring the planet Pyris VII, the Enterprise crew stumbles upon a gothic horror-scape, engineered by powerful beings from another galaxy.  Dungeons, skeletons, a black cat, mind control, illusions - all the spooky trappings.  Kirk even makes reference to trick-or-treat. 

via Memory Alpha

For the second week in a row, the threat comes from outside our own galaxy.  Trek marks an important departure from the xenophobia of Cold War era scifi but there are still elements of fear of the unknown.  Or perhaps it's just a reminder that no matter how far we explore, what we know will always be outweighed by what we don't.

*****

via Memory Alpha

Antoinette Bower played the role of Sylvia, the more powerful of the two alien beings, a seductress/nemesis to Kirk, yet another in the long line of Q predecessors.  Bower was born September 30, 1932 in Baden-Baden, Germany to British parents.  Most of her 33-year acting career was on television, including multiple appearances on Perry Mason, The Fugitive and Hogan's Heroes.  There has been some big screen work, including early '70s B-movie horrors such as The Mephisto Waltz and Die Sister, Die!  More recently, she was a regular on the early '90s series, Neon Rider.