The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street [1960]
Rod Serling (1924-1975)
VOCABULARY
all-pervading: (adj) prevalent throughout
antagonism: (n) a state of deep-seated ill-will
contorted: (adj) twisted out of its usual from
converge: (v) come together
Dark Ages: (n) a period in European history marked by repressiveness, a lack of enlightenment, and advanced knowledge
defiantly: (adv) openly resisting
explicit: (adj) fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated; leaving nothing merely implied
Fifth columnists: (n) citizens who help the invading enemies of their nation
fallout: (n) radioactive particles falling to the earth; for example, after a nuclear explosion
ham radio set: (n) amateur radio operator's equipment
idiosyncrasy: (n) a strange or unusual habit
inexplicably:(adv) without explanation
incisive: (adj) penetrating
incriminate: (v) charge with or show evidence of involvement in a crime
instill: (v) put in or into little by little
intersperse: (v) scatter among other things
intimidate: (v) make timid or afraid
kangaroo court: (n) unauthorized court that disregards regular legal procedure; named because its enforcement of justice occurs rapidly and unpredictably, in leaps and bounds
materialized: (v) appear in bodily form
metamorphosis: (n) transformation
morass: (n) perplexing state of affairs
nebula: (n) an immense cloud of gas (mainly hydrogen) and dust in interstellar space
optimism: (n) a general disposition to expect the best in all things
raise Cain with: create commotion with; biblical reference to Cain, the oldest son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel
reflective: (adj) meditative; thoughtful
revelation: (n) something disclosed
sentry-like:(adj) like a military guard
sluggish: (adj) moving slowly
sunspots: (n) temporarily cooler places on the surface of the sun, which appear as dark spots and are sometimes associated with physical disturbances of earth
transfixed: (adj) made motionless
validity: (n) quality of being firmly grounded on facts
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Cold War: This screenplay was written during the Cold War, (1946-1989) a period when the United States and the communist Soviet Union were engaged in a nuclear arms race. Fear led to suspicion, and many people in the United States were accused of being communist spies.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
mood: the atmosphere that pervades a literary work with the intention of evoking a certain emotion or feeling from the audience or reader
allegory: a literary work where the setting, characters, or action make sense on a literal level, but also convey an abstract level of meaning, which is usually religious or political in nature
NARRATOR
TOMMY
STEVE BRAND
DON MARTIN
MYRA BRAND, Steve's Wife
WOMAN
VOICE ONE
VOICE TWO
VOICE THREE
VOICE FOUR
VOICE FIVE
PETE VAN HORN
CHARLIE
SALLY, TOMMY’S MOTHER
MAN ONE
LES GOODMAN
ETHEL GOODMAN, Les's Wife
MAN TWO
FIGURE ONE
FIGURE TWO
TWILIGHT ZONE THEME
ACT ONE
(Fade in on a shot of the night sky. The various nebulae and planet bodies stand out in sharp, sparkling relief, and the camera begins a slow pan across the Heavens.)
NARRATOR: There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to humankind. It is a dimension as vast as space and timeless as infinity. It is in the middle ground between light and shadow—between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of our fears and the summit of our knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is and area that we all call the “Twilight Zone.”
(The camera has begun to pan down until it passes the horizon and is on a sign which reads “Maple Street.” Pan down until we are shooting down at an angle toward the street below. It’s a tree-lined, quiet residential American street, very typical of the small town. The houses have front porches on which people sit and swing on gliders, conversing across from house to house. Steve Brand polishes his car parked in front of his house. His neighbor, don martin , leans against the fender watching him. A Good Humor man rides a bicycle and is just in the process of stopping to sell some ice cream to a couple of kids. Two women gossip on the front lawn. Another man waters his lawn.)
NARRATOR: Maple Street, U.S.A., late summer. A tree-lined little world of front-porch gliders, hopscotch, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice-cream vendor.
(There is a pause, and the camera moves over to a shot of the ice-cream vendor and two small boys who are standing alongside just buying ice cream.)
NARRATOR: At the sound of the roar and the flash of the light, it will be precisely 6:43 p.m. on Maple Street.
(At this moment Tommy, one of the two boys buying ice cream from the vendor, looks up to listen to a tremendous screeching roar from overhead. A flash of light plays on the faces of both boys and then moves down the street and disappears. Various people leave their porches or stop what they are doing to stare up at the sky. Steve Brand, the man who has been polishing his car, stands there transfixed, staring upwards. He looks at Don Martin, his neighbor from across the street.)
STEVE: What was that? A meteor?
DON: (nods) That’s what it looked like. I didn’t hear any crash though, did you?
STEVE: (shakes his head) Nope. I didn’t hear anything except a roar.
MYRA: (from her porch) Steve? What was that?
STEVE: (raising his voice and looking toward the porch) Guess it was a meteor, honey. Came awful close, didn’t it?
MYRA: Too close for my money! Much too close.
(The camera pans across the various porches to people who stand there watching and talking in low tones.)
NARRATOR: Maple Street. Six-forty-four p.m. on a late September evening. (a pause) Maple Street in the last calm and reflective moment...before the monsters came!
(The camera slowly pans across the porches again. We see a man screwing a light bulb on a front porch, then getting down off the stool to flick the switch and finding that nothing happens. Another man is working on an electric power mower. He plugs in the plug, flicks on the switch of the power mower, off and on, with nothing happening. Through the window of a front porch, we see a woman pushing her finger back and forth on the dial hook. Her voice is indistinct and distant, but intelligible and repetitive.)
WOMAN: Operator, operator, something’s wrong on the phone, operator! (Myra Brand comes out on the porch and calls to Steve.)
MYRA: (calling) Steve, the power’s off. I had the soup on the stove, and the stove just stopped working.
WOMAN: Same thing over here. I can’t get anybody on the phone either. The phone seems to be dead.
(We look down on the street as we hear the voices creep up from below, small, mildly disturbed voices highlighting these kinds of phrases:)
VOICE ONE: Electricity’s off.
VOICE TWO: Phone won’t work.
VOICE THREE: Can’t get a thing on the radio.
VOICE FOUR: Voice Four. My power mower won’t move, won’t work at all.
VOICE FIVE: Radio’s gone dead!
(Pete Van Horn, a tall, thin man, is seen standing in front of his house.)
PETE: I’ll cut through the back yard to see if the power’s still on, on Floral Street. I’ll be right back!
(He walks past the side of his house and disappears into the back yard. The camera pans down slowly until we are looking at ten or eleven people standing around the street and overflowing to the curb and sidewalk. In the background is Steve Brand’s car.)
STEVE: Doesn’t make sense. Why should the power go off all of a sudden and the phone line?
DON: Maybe some kind of an electrical storm or something.
CHARLIE: That don’t seem likely. Sky’s just as blue as anything. Not a cloud. No lightning. No thunder. No nothing. How could it be a storm?
WOMAN: I can’t get a thing on the radio. Not even the portable.
(The people again murmur softly in wonderment and question.)
CHARLIE: Well, why don’t you go downtown and check with the police, though they’ll probably think we’re crazy or something. A little power failure and right away we get all flustered and everything—
STEVE: It isn’t just the power failure, Charlie. If it was, we’d still be able to get a broadcast on the portable.
(There is a murmur of reaction to this. Steve looks from face to face and then at his car.)
STEVE: I’ll run downtown. We’ll get this all straightened out.
(He walks over to the car, gets in it, turns the key. Looking through the open car door, we see the crowd watching him from the other side. Steve starts the engine. It turns over sluggishly and then just stops dead. He tries it again and this time he can’t get it to turn over. Then, very slowly and reflectively, he turns the key back to “off” and slowly gets out of the car. The people stare at Steve . He stands for a moment by the car, then walks toward the group.)
STEVE: I don’t understand it. It was working fine before...
DON: Out of gas?
STEVE: (shakes his head) I just had it filled up.
WOMAN: What’s it mean?
CHARLIE: It’s just as if...as if everything had stopped. (Then he turns toward Steve.) We’d better walk downtown. (Another murmur of assent to this.)
STEVE: The two of us can go, Charlie. (He turns to look back at the car.) It couldn’t be the meteor. A meteor couldn’t do this.
(He and Charlie exchange a look, then they start to walk away from the group. We see Tommy, a serious-faced fourteen-year-old in spectacles who stands a few feet away from the group. He is halfway between them and the two men, who start to walk down the sidewalk.)
TOMMY: Mr. Brand...you better not!
STEVE: Why not?
TOMMY: They don’t want you to.
(Steve and Charlie exchange a grin, and Steve looks back toward the boy.)
STEVE: Who doesn’t want us to?
TOMMY: (jerks his head in the general direction of the distant horizon) Them!
STEVE: Them?
CHARLIE: Who are them?
TOMMY: (very intently) Whoever was in that thing that came by overhead.
(Steve knits his brows for a moment, cocking his head questioningly. His voice is intense.)
STEVE: What?
TOMMY: Whoever was in that thing that came over. I don’t think they want us to leave here.
(Steve leaves Charlie and walks over to the boy. He kneels down in front of him. He forces his voice to remain gentle. He reaches out and holds the boy.)
STEVE: What do you mean? What are you talking about?
TOMMY: They don’t want us to leave. That’s why they shut everything off.
STEVE: What makes you say that? Whatever gave you that idea?
WOMAN: (from the crowd) Now isn’t that the craziest thing you ever heard?
TOMMY: (persistent but a little intimidated by the crowd) It’s always that way, in every story I ever read about a ship landing from outer space.
WOMAN: (to the boy’s mother, Sally, who stands on the fringe of the crowd) From outer space yet! Sally, you better get that boy of yours up to bed. He’s been reading too many comic books or seeing too many movies or something!
SALLY: Tommy, come over here and stop that kind of talk.
STEVE: Go ahead, Tommy. We’ll be right back. And you’ll see. That wasn’t any ship or anything like it. That was just a . . . a meteor or something. Likely as not— (He turns to the group, now trying to weight his words with an optimism he obviously doesn’t feel but is desperately trying to instill in himself as well as the others.) No doubt it did have something to do with all this power failure and the rest of it. Meteors can do some crazy things. Like sunspots.
DON: (picking up the cue) Sure. That’s the kind of thing—like sunspots. They raise Cain with radio reception all over the world. And this thing being so close—why, there’s no telling the sort of stuff it can do. (He wets his lips and smiles nervously) Go ahead, Charlie. You and Steve go into town and see if that isn’t what’s causing it all.
(Steve and Charlie again walk away from the group down the sidewalk. The people watch silently. Tommy stares at them, biting his lips, and finally calling out again.)
TOMMY: Mr. Brand!
(The two men stop. Tommy takes a step toward them.)
TOMMY: Mr. Brand . . . please don’t leave here.
(Steve and Charlie stop once again and turn toward the boy. There’s a murmur in the crowd, a murmur of irritation and concern as if the boy were bringing up fears that shouldn’t be brought up; words which carried with them a strange kind of validity that came without logic but
nonetheless registered and had meaning and effect. Again we hear a murmur of reaction from the crowd.)
TOMMY: You might not even be able to get to town. It was that way in the story. Nobody could leave. Nobody except—
STEVE: Except who?
TOMMY: Except the people they sent down ahead of them. They looked just like humans. And it wasn’t until the ship landed that—
(The boy suddenly stops, conscious of the parents staring at him and his mother and of the sudden hush of the crowd.)
SALLY: (in a whisper, sensing the antagonism of the crowd). Tommy, please son . . . honey, don’t talk that way—
MAN ONE: That kid shouldn’t talk that way . . .and we shouldn’t stand here listening to him. Why this is the craziest thing I ever heard of. The kid tells us a comic book plot, and here we stand listening—
(Steve walks toward the camera and stops beside the boy.)
STEVE: Go ahead, Tommy. What kind of story was this? What about the people they sent out ahead?
TOMMY: That was the way they prepared things for the landing. They sent four people. A mother and a father and two kids who looked just like humans . . . but they weren’t.
(There is another silence as Steve looks toward the crowd and then toward Tommy. He wears a tight grin.)
STEVE: Well, I guess what we’d better do then is to run a check on the neighborhood and see which ones of us are really human.
(There is laughter at this, but it’s a laughter that comes from a desperate attempt to lighten the atmosphere. The people look at one another in the middle of their laughter.)
CHARLIE: There must be somethin’ better to do than stand around makin’ bum jokes about it. (rubs his jaw nervously) I wonder if Floral Street’s got the same deal we got. (He looks past the houses.) Where is Pete Van Horn anyway? Didn’t he get back yet?
Suddenly there’s the sound of a car’s engine starting to turn over. We look across the street toward the driveway of Les Goodman’s house. He’s at the wheel trying to start the car.)
SALLY: Can you get it started, Les?
(He gets out of the car, shaking his head.)
LES: No dice.
(He walks toward the group. He stops suddenly as behind him, inexplicably and with a noise that inserts itself into the silence, the car engine starts up all by itself. Goodman whirls around to stare toward it. The car idles roughly, smoke coming from the exhaust, the frame shaking gently. Goodman’s eyes go wide, and he runs over to his car. The people stare toward the car.)
MAN ONE: He got the car started somehow. He got his car started!
(The camera pans along the faces of the people as they stare, somehow caught up by this revelation and somehow, illogically, wildly, frightened.)
WOMAN: How come his car just up and started like that?
SALLY: All by itself. He wasn’t anywheres near it. It started all by itself.
(Don approaches the group, stops a few feet away to look toward Goodman’s car and then back toward the group.)
DON: And he never did come out to look at that thing that flew overhead. He wasn’t even interested. (He turns to the group, his face taut and serious.) Why? Why didn’t he come out with the rest of us to look?
CHARLIE: He always was an oddball. Him and his whole family. Real oddball. Don. What do you say we ask him?
(The group suddenly starts toward the house. In this brief fraction of a moment they take the first step toward performing a metamorphosis that changes people from a group into a mob. They begin to head purposefully across the street toward the house at the end. Steve stands in front of them. For a moment their fear almost turns their walk into a wild stampede, but Steve’s voice, loud, incisive, and commanding, makes them stop.)
STEVE: Wait a minute... wait a minute! Let’s not be a mob!
(The people stop as a group, seem to pause for a moment, and then much more quietly and slowly start to walk across the street. Goodman stands alone facing the people.)
LES: I just don’t understand it. I tried to start it and it wouldn’t start. You saw me. All of you saw me.
(And now, just as suddenly as the engine started, it stops and there’s a long silence that is gradually intruded upon by the frightened murmuring of the people.)
LES: I don’t understand. I swear . . . I don’t understand. What’s happening?
DON: Maybe you better tell us. Nothing’s working on this street. Nothing. No lights, no power, no radio, (then meaning fully) nothing except one car—yours!
(The people pick this up and now their murmuring becomes a loud chant filling the air with accusations and demands for action. Two of the men pass Don and head toward Goodman , who backs away, backing into his car and now at bay.)
LES: Wait a minute now. You keep your distance—all of you. So I’ve got a car that starts by itself—well, that’s a freak thing, I admit it. But does that make me some kind of a criminal or something? I don’t know why the car works—it just does!
(This stops the crowd momentarily and now Goodman, still backing away, goes toward his front porch. He goes up the steps and then stops to stand facing the mob. We see a long shot of Steve as he comes through the crowd. )
STEVE: (quietly). We’re all on a monster kick, Les. Seems that the general impression holds that maybe one family isn’t what we think they are. Monsters from outer space or something. Different from us. Fifth columnists from the vast beyond. (He chuckles.) You know anybody that might fit that description around here on Maple Street?
LES: What is this, a gag? (He looks around the group again.) This a practical joke or something?
(We see a close-up of the porch light as it suddenly goes out. There’s a murmur from the group.)
LES: Now that’s supposed to incriminate me, huh? The car engine goes on and off, and that really does it, doesn’t it? (He looks around at the faces of the people.) I just don’t understand it . . . any more than any of you do! (He wets his lips, looking from face to face.) Look, you all know me. We’ve lived here five years. Right in this house. We’re no different from any of the rest of you! We’re no different at all. . . .
Really . . . this whole thing is just . . . just weird—
WOMAN: Well, if that’s the case, Les Goodman, explain why— (She stops suddenly, clamping her mouth shut.)
LES: (softly) Explain what?
STEVE: (interjecting) Look, let’s forget this—
CHARLIE (overlapping him): Go ahead, let her talk. What about it? Explain what?
WOMAN: (a little reluctantly) Well . . . sometimes I go to bed late at night. A couple of times . . . a couple of times I’d come out here on the porch, and I’d see Mr. Goodman here in the wee hours of the morning standing out in front of his house . . . looking up at the sky. (She looks around the circle of faces.) That’s right, looking up at the sky as if . . . as if he were waiting for something, (pauses) as if he were looking for something.
(There’s a murmur of reaction from the crowd again. We cut suddenly to a group shot. As Goodman starts toward them, they back away frightened.)
LES: You know really . . . this is for laughs. You know what I’m guilty of? (He laughs.) I’m guilty of insomnia. Now what’s the penalty for insomnia? (At this point the laugh, the humor, leaves his voice.) Did you hear what I said? I said it was insomnia. (A pause as he looks around, then shouts.) I said it was insomnia! You fools. You scared, frightened rabbits, you. You’re sick people, do you know that? You’re sick people—all of you! And you don’t even know what you’re starting because let me tell you . . . let me tell you—this thing you’re starting—that should frighten you. As God is my witness . . . you’re letting something begin here that’s a nightmare!
ACT TWO--SCENE ONE
(We see a medium shot of the Goodman entry hall at night. On the side table rests an unlit candle. Mrs. Goodman walks into the scene, a glass of milk in hand. She sets the milk down on the table, lights the candle with a match from a box on the table, picks up the glass of milk, and starts out of scene. Mrs. Goodman comes through her porch door, glass of milk in hand. The entry hall, with table and lit candle, can be seen behind her. Outside, the camera slowly pans down the sidewalk, taking in little knots of people who stand around talking in low voices. At the end of each conversation they look toward Les Goodman’s house. From the various houses we can see candlelight but no electricity, and there’s an all-pervading quiet that blankets the whole area, disturbed only by the almost whispered voices of the people as they stand around. The camera pans over to one group where Charlie stands. He stares across at Goodman’s house. We see a long shot of the house. Two men stand across the street in almost sentry-like poses. Then we see a medium shot of a group of people.)
SALLY: (in a small, hesitant voice) It just doesn’t seem right, though, keeping watch on them. Why . . . he was right when he said he was one of our neighbors. Why, I’ve known Ethel Goodman ever since they moved in. We’ve been good friends—
CHARLIE: That don’t prove a thing. Any guy who’d spend his time lookin’ up at the sky early in the morning—well, there’s something wrong with that kind of person. There’s something that ain’t legitimate. Maybe under normal circumstances we could let it go by, but these aren’t normal circumstances. Why, look at this street! Nothin’ but candles. Why, it’s like goin’ back into the Dark Ages or somethin’!
(Steve walks down the steps of his porch, walks down the street over to Les Goodman’s house, and then stops at the foot of the steps. Goodman stands there, his wife behind him, very frightened.)
LES: Just stay right where you are, Steve. We don’t want any trouble, but this time if anybody sets foot on my porch—that’s what they’re going to get—trouble!
STEVE: Look, Les—
LES: I’ve already explained to you people. I don’t sleep very well at night sometimes. I get up and I take a walk and I look up at the sky. I look at the stars!
ETHEL: That’s exactly what he does. Why, this whole thing, it’s . . . it’s some kind of madness or something.
STEVE: (nods grimly). That’s exactly what it is—some kind of madness.
CHARLIE: (shrill, from across the street). You best watch who you’re seen with, Steve! Until we get this all straightened out, you ain’t exactly above suspicion yourself.
STEVE: (whirling around toward him) Or you, Charlie. Or any of us, it seems. From age eight on up!
WOMAN: What I’d like to know is—what are we gonna do? Just stand around here all night?
CHARLIE: There’s nothin’ else we can do! (He turns back, looking toward Steve and Les again). One of ’em’ll tip their hand. They got to.
STEVE: (raising his voice) There’s something you can do, Charlie. You can go home and keep your mouth shut. You can quit strutting around like a self-appointed judge and climb into bed and forget it.
CHARLIE: You sound real anxious to have that happen, Steve. I think we better keep our eye on you, too!
DON: (as if he were taking the bit in his teeth, takes a hesitant step to the front) I think everything might as well come out now. (He turns toward Steve.) Your wife’s done plenty of talking, Steve, about how odd you are!
CHARLIE: (picking this up, his eyes widening) Go ahead, tell us what she’s said.
(We see a long shot of Steve as he walks toward them from across the street.)
STEVE: Go ahead, what’s my wife said? Let’s get it all out. Let’s pick out every idiosyncrasy of every single man, woman, and child on the street. And then we might as well set up some kind of kangaroo court. How about a firing squad at dawn, Charlie, so we can get rid of all the suspects. Narrow them down. Make it easier for you.
DON: There’s no need gettin’ so upset, Steve. It’s just that . . . well . . . Myra’s talked about how there’s been plenty of nights you spent hours down in your basement workin’ on some kind of radio or something. Well, none of us have ever seen that radio—
(By this time Steve has reached the group. He stands there defiantly.)
CHARLIE: Go ahead, Steve. What kind of “radio set” you workin’ on? I never seen it. Neither has anyone else. Who do you talk to on that radio set? And who talks to you?
STEVE: I’m surprised at you, Charlie. How come you’re so dense all of a sudden? (He pauses.) Who do I talk to? I talk to monsters from outer space. I talk to three-headed green men who fly over here in what look like meteors.
(Myra Brand steps down from the porch, bites her lip, calls out.)
MYRA: Myra. Steve! Steve, please. (Then looking around, frightened, she walks toward the group.) It’s just a ham radio set, that’s all. I bought him a book on it myself. It’s just a ham radio set. A lot of people have them. I can show it to you. It’s right down in the basement.
STEVE: (whirls around toward her) Show them nothing! If they want to look inside our house—let them go and get a search warrant.
CHARLIE: Look, buddy, you can’t afford to—
STEVE: (interrupting him). Charlie, don’t start telling me who’s dangerous and who isn’t and who’s safe and who’s a menace. (He turns to the group and shouts.) And you’re with him, too—all of you! You’re standing here all set to crucify—all set to find a scapegoat—all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor! Well now, look, friends, the only thing that’s gonna happen is that we’ll eat each other up alive—
(He stops abruptly as Charlie suddenly grabs his arm.)
CHARLIE: (in a hushed voice) That’s not the only thing that can happen to us.
(Cut to a long shot looking down the street. A figure has suddenly materialized in the gloom and in the silence we can hear the clickety-clack of slow, measured footsteps on concrete as the figure walks slowly toward them. One of the women lets out a stifled cry. The young mother grabs her boy as do a couple of others.)
TOMMY: (shouting, frightened) It’s the monster! It’s the monster!
(Another woman lets out a wail and the people fall back in a group, staring toward the darkness and the approaching figure. We see a medium group shot of the people as they stand in the shadows watching. Don Martin joins them, carrying a shotgun. He holds it up.)
DON: We may need this.
STEVE: A shotgun? (He pulls it out of Don’s hand.) No! Will anybody think a thought around here! Will you people wise up. What good would a shotgun do against—
(Now Charlie pulls the gun from Steve’s hand.)
CHARLIE: (pulling the gun from Steve’s hands) No more talk, Steve. You’re going to talk us into a grave! You’d let whatever’s out there walk right over us, wouldn’t yuh? Well, some of us won’t!
(He swings the gun around to point it toward the sidewalk. The dark figure continues to walk toward them. The group stands there, fearful,
apprehensive, mothers clutching children, men standing in front of wives. Charlie slowly raises the gun. As the figure gets closer and closer he suddenly pulls the trigger. The sound of it explodes in the stillness. There is a long angle shot looking down at the figure, who suddenly lets out a small cry, stumbles forward onto his knees and then falls forward on his face. Don, Charlie, and Steve race forward over to him. Steve is there first and turns the man over. Now the crowd gathers around them.)
STEVE: (slowly looks up) It’s Pete Van Horn.
DON: (in a hushed voice) Pete Van Horn! He was just gonna go over to the next block to see if the power was on—
WOMAN: You killed him, Charlie. You shot him dead!
CHARLIE: (looks around at the circle of faces, his eyes frightened, his face contorted) But . . . but I didn’t know who he was. I certainly didn’t know who he was. He comes walkin’ out of the darkness—how am I supposed to know who he was? (He grabs Steve.) Steve—you know why I shot! How was I supposed to know he wasn’t a monster or something? (He grabs Don.) We’re all scared of the same thing. I was just tryin’ to . . . tryin’ to protect my home, that’s all! Look, all of you, that’s all I was tryin’ to do. (He looks down wildly at the body.) I didn’t know it was somebody we knew! I didn’t know—
(There’s a sudden hush and then an intake of breath. We see a medium shot of the living room window of Charlie’s house. The window is not lit, but suddenly the house lights come on behind it. )
WOMAN: (in a hushed voice) Charlie . . . Charlie . . . the lights just went on in your house. Why did the lights just go on?
DON: What about it, Charlie? How come you’re the only one with lights now?
LES: That’s what I’d like to know.
(A pause as they all stare toward Charlie.)
LES: You were so quick to kill, Charlie, and you were so quick to tell us who we had to be careful of. Well, maybe you had to kill. Maybe Pete there was trying to tell us something. Maybe he’d found out something and came to tell us who there was amongst us we should watch out for—
(Charlie backs away from the group, his eyes wide with fright.)
CHARLIE: No . . . no . . . it’s nothing of the sort! I don’t know why the lights are on. I swear I don’t. Somebody’s pulling a gag or something.
(He bumps against Steve, who grabs him and whirls him around.)
STEVE: A gag? A gag? Charlie, there’s a dead man on the sidewalk, and you killed him! Does this thing look like a gag to you?
(Charlie breaks away and screams as he runs toward his house.)
CHARLIE: No! No! Please!
(A man breaks away from the crowd to chase Charlie. We see a long angle shot looking down as the man tackles Charlie and lands on top of him. The other people start to run toward them. Charlie is up on his feet, breaks away from the other man’s grasp, lands a couple of desperate punches that push the man aside. Then he forces his way, fighting, through the crowd to once again break free, jumps up on his front porch. A rock thrown from the group smashes a window alongside of him, the broken glass flying past him. A couple of pieces cut him. He stands there perspiring, rumpled, blood running down from a cut on the cheek. His wife breaks away from the group to throw herself into his arms. He buries his face against her. We can see the crowd converging on the porch now.)
VOICE ONE: It must have been him.
VOICE TWO: He’s the one.
VOICE THREE: We got to get Charlie.
(Another rock lands on the porch. Charlie pushes his wife behind him, facing the group.)
CHARLIE: Charlie. Look, look, I swear to you . . . it isn’t me . . . but I do know who it is . . . I swear to you, I do know who it is. I know who the monster is here. I know who it is that doesn’t belong. I swear to you I know.
LES: (shouting) What are you waiting for?
WOMAN: (shouting) Come on, Charlie, come on.
MAN ONE: (shouting) Who is it, Charlie, tell us!
DON: (pushing his way to the front of the crowd). All right, Charlie, let’s hear it!
(Charlie’s eyes dart around wildly.)
CHARLIE: It’s . . . it’s . . .
MAN ONE: (screaming) Go ahead, Charlie.
CHARLIE: It’s . . . it’s the kid. It’s Tommy. He’s the one!
(There’s a gasp from the crowd as we see Sally holding the boy. Tommy at first doesn’t understand and then, realizing the eyes are all on him, buries his face against his mother.)
SALLY: (backs away) That’s crazy! He’s only a boy.
WOMAN: But he knew! He was the only one! He told us all about it. Well, how did he know? How could he have known?
(Various people take this up and repeat the question.)
VOICE ONE: How could he know?
VOICE TWO: Who told him?
VOICE THREE: Make the kid answer.
DON: It was Charlie who killed old man Van Horn.
WOMAN: But it was the kid here who knew what was going to happen all the time. He was the one who knew!
(We see a close-up of Steve.)
STEVE: Are you all gone crazy? (Pause as he looks about ) Stop.
(A fist crashes at Steve’s face, staggering him back out of the frame of the picture. There are several close camera shots suggesting the coming of violence. A hand fires a rifle. A fist clenches. A hand grabs the hammer from Van Horn’s body, etc. Meanwhile, we hear the following lines.)
DON: It was Charlie who killed old man Van Horn.
WOMAN: But it was the kid here who knew what was going to happen all the time. He was the one who knew!
(We see a close-up of Steve.)
STEVE: Are you all gone crazy? (Pause as he looks about) Stop.
(A fist crashes at Steve’s face, staggering him back out of the frame of the picture. There are several close camera shots suggesting the coming of violence. A hand fires a rifle. A fist clenches. A hand grabs the hammer from Van Horn’s body, etc. Meanwhile, we hear the following lines.)
DON: Charlie has to be the one—Where’s my rifle—
WOMAN: Les Goodman’s the one. His car started! Let’s wreck it.
ETHEL: What about Steve’s radio—He’s the one that called them— Smash the radio. Get me a hammer. Get me something.
STEVE: Stop—Stop—
CHARLIE: Where’s that kid—Let’s get him.
MAN ONE: Get Steve—Get Charlie—They’re working together.
(The crowd starts to converge around the mother, who grabs the child and starts to run with him. The crowd starts to follow, at first walking fast, and then running after him. We see a full shot of the street as suddenly Charlie’s lights go off and the lights in another house go on. They stay on for a moment, then from across the street other lights go on and then off again.)
MAN ONE: (shouting) It isn’t the kid . . . it’s Bob Weaver’s house.
WOMAN: It isn’t Bob Weaver’s house. It’s Don Martin’s place.
CHARLIE: I tell you it’s the kid.
DON: It’s Charlie. He’s the one.
(We move into a series of close-ups of various people as they shout, accuse, scream, interspersing these shots with shots of houses as the lights go on and off, and then slowly in the middle of this nightmarish morass of sight and sound the camera starts to pull away, until once again we’ve reached the opening shot looking at the Maple Street sign from high above. The camera continues to move away until we dissolve to a shot looking toward the metal side of a space craft, which sits shrouded in darkness. An open door throws out a beam of light from the illuminated interior. Two figures silhouetted against the bright lights appear. We get only a vague feeling of form, but nothing more explicit than that.)
FIGURE ONE: Understand the procedure now? Just stop a few of their machines and radios and telephones and lawn mowers . . . throw them into darkness for a few hours, and then you just sit back and watch the pattern.
FIGURE TWO: And this pattern is always the same?
FIGURE ONE: With few variations. They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find . . . and it’s themselves. And all we need do is sit back . . . and watch.
FIGURE TWO: Then I take it this place . . . this Maple Street . . . is not unique.
FIGURE ONE: (shaking his head) By no means. Their world is full of Maple Streets. And we’ll go from one to the other and let them destroy
themselves. One to the other . . . one to the other . . . one to the other—
(Now the camera pans up for a shot of the starry sky and over this we hear the Narrator’s voice.)
NARRATOR: The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices—to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy and a thoughtless frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own for the children . . . and the children yet unborn. (A pause) And the pity of it is . . . that these things cannot be confined to . . . The Twilight Zone!
TWILIGHT ZONE THEME
Questions for Discussion
1. What is antagonism?
A) concern
B) excitement
C) bravery
D) hostility
2. What is the meaning of contorted?
A) twisted
B) cheated
C) crooked
D) narrowed
3. What does assent mean?
A) climb
B) distance
C) agreement
D) permission
4. An optimistic person is
A) wise
B) restless
C) hopeful
D) logical
5. What is a revelation?
A) something made known
B) an object hidden secretly
C) concern for another
D) repayment of a debt
6. Which of the following generalizations is NOT true of the story?
A) The neighbors on Maple Street are suspicious of each other
B) The neighbors on Maple Street begin to act like a mob
C) The neighbors ask Les to be the leader of their neighborhood
7. An important theme of this play is that
A) humans are too dependent on electricity.
B) humans should be frightened of aliens.
C) humans are capable of being their own worst enemy.
8. The aliens were experimenting with which of the following?
A) getting humans to destroy themselves
B) getting humans to believe in aliens
C) getting humans to take children's opinions seriously
9. In Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” which event signals the beginning of the town's troubles?
A) a woman's telephone does not work
B) a man's electric mower will not start
C) a roar is heard, and a flash of light is seen
D) a boy tells about some stories he has read
10. In Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” Tommy makes some suggestions about the events that are causing fear on Maple Street. Which suggestions does he make?
I. People from outer space are responsible.
II. Some people on Maple Street are from outer space.
III. Mr. Goodman is from outer space.
IV. Nobody should try to leave the town.
A) I, II, IV
B) II, III, IV
C) I, III, IV
D) I, II, III
11. In Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” what is Steve's motivation for asking Tommy to explain his story about the aliens sent
ahead to earth?
A) He wants to make Tommy look foolish.
B) He wants to know what Tommy thinks.
C) He wants to take charge of the action.
D) He wants to leave town immediately.
12. Which of these events in Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” is a clue that the neighbors will stop trusting one another?
A) Don suggests that an electrical storm has caused the power to go off.
B) A woman says that Tommy has been reading too many comic books.
C) A man says that they should not be paying attention to Tommy.
D) Steve jokes that they should check to see who among them is human.
13. Which of these details would not be important in a summary of the action of Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
A) Pete Van Horn is tall and thin.
B) Electric appliances stop working.
C) Neighbors wonder who among them is an alien.
D) Tommy says that no one should leave town.
14. Which of these is the best summary of Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
A) The neighbors on Maple Street are unhappy because their power is out.
B) Les Goodman frightens his neighbors when his car starts by itself.
C) A strange event causes neighbors to become suspicious of one another.
D) Pete Van Horn leaves Maple Street to see what is happening elsewhere.
15. In Act II of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” what role does Steve play as his neighbors keep watch on the Goodmans' house?
A) He acts as the hanging judge: He tries to convince them that Goodman is dangerous.
B) He acts as executioner: He volunteers for a firing squad to execute the guilty parties.
C) He acts as peacemaker: He tries to persuade his neighbors to put aside their suspicions.
D) He acts as spy: He tries to reach the aliens on his ham radio.
16. What emotion motivates Steve in this speech from Act II of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
Go ahead, what's my wife said? Let's get it all out. Let's pick out every idiosyncrasy of every single man, woman, and child on the street. And then we might as well set up some kind of kangaroo court. How about a firing squad at dawn, Charlie, so we can get rid of all the suspects?
A) disgust
B) amusement
C) sorrow
D) love
17. Who or what are the monsters in the title “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
A) the people who live on Maple Street
B) the electric appliances on Maple Street
C) Les and Ethel Goodman
D) Figures One and Two
18. Which event in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” starts the breakdown of the community?
A) the voices of Figure One and Figure Two
B) the sound of an object passing overhead
C) an argument between Steve and Charlie
D) a story told by Tommy about space aliens
19. In Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” what motivates Steve to identify meteors and sunspots as the source of the neighborhood's troubles?
A) He is an astronomy teacher.
B) He is an alien disguised as a human.
C) He wants to reassure the neighbors.
D) He wants to excavate the meteor.
20. In Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” at what point do the neighbors begin to consider the possibility that one of them is responsible for the strange events?
A) when Pete Van Horn says that he is going to see if the power is still on on Floral Street
B) when Tommy says that aliens resembling humans are sent ahead to prepare for a landing
C) when Steve talks about meteors and sunspots as the most likely explanation
D)when Steve and Charlie decide that they will walk downtown to talk to the police
21. Which of these details is unimportant to a summary of Act I of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
A) Phones and various machines stop working.
B) A large object flashes overhead and disappears.
C) Steve has recently filled his car's gas tank.
D) Tommy says that no one should leave the town.
22. What emotion motivates Steve to make this speech in Act II of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
There's something you can do, Charlie. You could go home and keep your mouth shut. You could quit strutting around like a self-appointed hanging judge and just climb into bed and forget it.
A) optimism
B) fury
C) love
D) boredom
23. Which of these statements would be unimportant in a summary of Act I?
A) A roar and a flash of light interrupt the usual events in a neighborhood one evening.
B) The power fails, telephones and portable radios do not work, and cars will not start.
C) A boy says that the aliens would not like it if the neighbors left the town.
D) A man reminds his neighbors that his family has lived on the street for five years.
24. In Act II of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” why are the residents so quick to focus on one another as the source of their fear?
A) They have never trusted one another.
B) They want to keep the focus off themselves.
C) They have evidence that there are aliens in the town.
D) They see that some neighbors have lights and some do not.
25. Which detail from Act II of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” is essential to an understanding of the play?
A) Sally says that she and Ethel Goodman have been friends for years.
B) Steve says that no one may enter his home without a search warrant.
C) Charlie believes that Pete Van Horn is a monster and shoots him.
D) The lights in Charlie's house suddenly come back on.
26. What emotion motivates the speakers in this passage from Act II of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
WOMAN: (in a very hushed voice) Charlie … Charlie … the lights just went on in your house. Why did the lights just go on?
DON: What about it, Charlie? How come you're the only one with lights now?
LES: That's what I'd like to know.
A) suspicion
B) anger
C) sympathy
D) despair
27. At the climax of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” what single message underlies all of the characters' statements?
A) Pick on them, not on me!
B) I want my lights back on!
C) I never believed in aliens!
D) Somebody, call the police!
28. What can you conclude from the dialogue between Figures One and Two at the conclusion of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
A) This is not the first town they have visited.
B) They know how to control meteors and sunspots.
C) They will settle on Maple Street as human beings.
D) They are successful only in small towns.
29. Which of these lines best expresses the theme of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”?
A) “I was just tryin' to … tryin' to protect my home, that's all!”
B) “Maybe Peter there was trying to tell us something.”
C) “No … no … it's nothing of the sort! I don't know why the lights are on.”
D) “They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find … and it's themselves.”
30. Which of the following is the narrator doing at the opening of this teleplay?
A) describing the setting
B) defining the title
C) outlining the action
D) talking about prejudice
31. Tommy believes in
A) monsters from the past
B) scientific investigation
C) aliens from outer space
D) being independent
32. Why does conflict develop among neighbors on Maple Street?
A) Tommy makes everyone angry.
B) Steve attacks them with a gun.
C) Charlie wants to leave town.
D) They do not trust one another.
33. Why does Charlie accuse Tommy?
A) He has seen Tommy contacting aliens.
B) He knows he is guilty and wants to blame somebody else.
C) He wants to get the crowd off his case.
D) He holds a grudge against Tommy.
34. What causes the neighbors to turn on each other?
A) The aliens alter their brain chemistry and make them aggressive.
B) They never did like their neighbors.
C) They are jealous of each other.
D) Paranoia makes them turn on each other.
35. Charlie shoots Pete Van Horn because
A) Charlie is an alien
B) Charlie does not recognize Pete
C) Pete is an alien
D) Pete does not recognize Charlie
36. Which of the following describes the mood on Maple Street at the end of the teleplay?
A) a tense nightmare
B) a calm return to normal
C) a humorous sense of relief
D) an excited celebration
37. The aliens believe that human behavior is
A) crazy
B) predictable
C) brave
D) rational
E) unintelligent
38. After Tommy makes remarks, the townspeople
A) Start to read comic books.
B) Start to believe in aliens.
C) Begin to suspect their neighbors as being aliens.
D) Look for a spacecraft.
E) Understand what is going on.