JANUARY 11, 2010—WALLED LAKE, MI—While Michigan’s winter weather swirled and plunged into sub-freezing temperatures last weekend, a harlequin doll, armed with a paring knife, viciously attacked a nine-year old Brigthon girl.

On screen at least. “Lee Martin’s Midnight Hour,” the locally produced hit TV show which made history as the first homegrown dramatic series to come out of Detroit, Michigan, was at it again. “Harley Returns” is the story of Kelly Metcalfe (Chloe McDole), whose spiteful father (Robert W. Maples) springs her from a mental institution and brings her home—only to reunite her with the devil-doll protagonist from earlier “Midnight Hour” episode, “The Devil’s Locket.”

“’Devil’s Locket’ was a big hit for us,” says shock-jock* series creator Lee Martin. “As soon as we knew the fans were eating it up, we decided to give them more.”

“Harley Returns” certainly does give “more.” There’s mystery, suspense, bloodshed and oh, yes—Harley, the grotesque harlequin doll who commits most (but not all) of the mayhem.

“Everybody loves Harley,” laughs Martin. “We found him last year in a tiny doll shop, run by an elderly woman. This particular doll had been made in the 1940s and was incredibly well preserved. It’s also one-of-a-kind.”

With a face not even a mother could love, it isn’t hard to imagine Harley coming to life and stalking you in your sleep.

“My eight-year old daughter had a sleepover last summer and we showed (The Devil’s Locket) to her friends. Some of them were so scared, they cried. Others demanded to go home because they were afraid to stay any longer. But I loved him,” quips Dana McDole, Chloe’s mother.

As with all “Midnight Hour” episodes, “Harley Returns” was filmed in just two days. “We had one of our best teams to date,” says Martin. “We welcomed a lot of new talent recently and everybody brought their best game.”

Series vets Robert W. Maples and Jeff Kotlarz were on hand to lend show-stealing support in character roles. Sporting eye-patch and attitude, Maples reprised his role as the father who would rather take his daughter down than take her to the park. Kotlarz, who played the voodoo-vengeful hubby in “Portrait of Jadine,” was perfectly cast as a child psychologist whose prescription is anything but healthful.

“I think the fans will have a lot of fun with this one,” says Martin. “We always like to give them something extra, a little surprise at the end. ‘Harley Returns’ is no exception.”

“Harley Returns” will air Thursdays at midnight and Saturdays at 10:30pm on select greater Detroit Comcast and WOW! stations throughout April, 2010. See the Air Dates page of www.themidnighthour.tv for details.

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“HARLEY RETURNS” CAST: Robert W. Maples, Jeff Kotlarz, Mollie Hanf, Katarina Von Eper and Chloe McDole. CREW: Kenneth Schraeder, DP; Dave Dork, production manager; Jason Hiltz, FX makeup & special props; Linda Carr, script & continuity manager; Rick LeValley and Mike Kozub, gaffers; stills courtesy Jerry Richart, www.DistinctiveImage.net.

* Metro Times (10/28/09)