The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): Season 1, Episode 29 - Nightmare as a Child - full transcript
Helen Foley is a school teacher who when arriving home one day meets a little girl, Markie, sitting on the steps just outside her apartment door. Helen invites her in and gives her a cup of hot cocoa. Strangely however, Markie seems to know a great deal about her - that she doesn't like marshmallows in her cocoa or that she has a scar on her elbow. She also knows what Helen did earlier that day including seeing a somewhat familiar man, Peter Selden, behind the wheel of a car. When Selden arrives at her apartment a few moments later he says he worked for her mother but Helen has no memory of what happened to her mother all those years ago. As her memories return however, she finds herself in grave danger.
Nightmare As A Child
First Aired: 29 April 1960
English Subtitles by
Pandorafilm - Heerlen
There is a fifth dimension.
Beyond that which is known to man.
It is a dimension as vast as space.
And as timeless as infinity.
It is the middle ground
between light and shadow...
between science and superstition.
And it lies between
the pit of man's fears...
and the summit of his knowledge.
This is the dimension
of imagination.
It is an area which we call:
The Twilight Zone.
Well, hello there.
How are you?
You're new here, aren't you?
You're visiting, is that it? Just
visiting someone in the building?
You're a quiet one, aren't you?
Not much to say, is that it?
I'm kind of an expert on children.
Quiet ones, noisy ones. All kinds.
I teach school.
-I know. I know all about you.
You do? Well, how about a
cup of hot chocolate?
That's the first thing I usually
make when I come home from school.
I know. But you don't like
marshmallows, do you?
You're right, I don't.
-I don't either.
Here we are.
We ought to tell your mother
where you are.
That won't be necessary.
Well, I'll just put the milk on.
-I'm in no hurry.
Month of November.
Hot chocolate.
And a small cameo of a child's face.
Imperfect only in its solemnity.
These are the improbable ingredients
to a human emotion like fear.
But in a moment, this woman,
Helen Foley, will realize fear.
She will understand what are
the properties of terror.
A little girl will lead her and
walk with her into a nightmare.
There you are.
I hope it isn't too rich.
No, it's fine.
I'm glad it isn't too hot.
I don't much like very hot things.
-I don't blame you.
Of course you don't.
You got burnt once.
That scar, right below your elbow.
You remember?
Of course I remember.
-How did it happen?
Well, actually, I don't remember.
A lot of things I don't recall
at a certain age.
Something happened to me then.
I'm not sure exactly what it was.
Some things I'm rather vague about.
-I know that very well.
I know all about you.
Don't you remember?
Yes, I remember that you said that.
Do people look familiar sometimes?
-What do you mean?
I mean, when you pass people on
the streets or see them in a bank.
Or they walk by you.
Do they look familiar to you?
Sometimes.
-Today?
Today?
-Yes, today.
Did someone go by you today
who looked familiar?
No.
Really?
It's not polite to contradict people.
I told you that I didn't.
Did you remember?
Yes, there was someone.
Outside the school when crossing the
street, there was a man in a car.
There was a man in a car.
He stopped for a red light.
I looked at him.
-And you recognized him.
No, I didn't recognize him.
Well, he looked so...
-So familiar to you.
He made you frightened, didn't he?
Of course he did.
-What are you talking about?
I know he looks familiar.
And I know he frightens me.
Just like he frightens you.
Who are you? What's your name?
Where are you from?
I live around here
and I have a nickname.
People call me Markie.
That's not my real name
But that's what people call me.
Markie! Did you hear?
-Yes, I heard. Markie.
It's a very pretty name.
-Is that all you've got to say?
It's a very cute name.
What more did you want me to say?
Nothing.
I just thought...
Feeling warm?
Yes. It is a bit warm,
don't you think?
No, I think it's very comfortable.
Someone's coming.
-More families are living here.
Yes, but whoever's coming,
is coming here.
I'm going out the back door.
-There's nothing to be afraid of.
Yes, there is. Good-bye.
I'll come back later.
Yes?
-Miss Helen Foley?
Yes, who is it?
-It's Peter Selden, Miss Foley.
I don't know whether you remember me.
But I knew your mother very well.
Do you remember me?
You do look familiar.
-Didn't I see you...
In front of the school? That's right.
I was stopped for a red light.
I thought you looked
at me a little oddly.
Do you mind if I come
in for a moment?
Been a lot of years, Miss Foley.
18 or 19 to be exact.
Won't you sit down?
-Thank you.
I've got you stumped, huh?
It's no wonder.
You were a little girl at the time.
Couldn't have been more than 11.
I used to work for your mother.
Selden.
Any bells yet? Peter Selden.
I do seem to recall.
-I'd heard that you...
after the tragic thing happened
you were ill for a long time.
Were you ever able to recall
exactly what it was that...
Well, what I mean is...
you drew a blank after that evening.
I wonder if it ever
came back to you.
Oh, only vague, disjointed things.
That's all.
You were in the room
when it happened.
What happened?
I suffered a kind of a shock.
A trauma, the doctors called it.
After I recuperated, I moved to
Chicago and I lived with an aunt.
I've only been back here a year
or so. I teach school now.
I was just passing through town and
someone pointed you out to me.
And I wanted to stop
and just say hello.
You say you worked for my mother?
-Yes, almost a year.
I don't seem to recall.
-I handled her investments for her.
Selden, you say?
-That's right, Selden.
It's wonderful to see you grown up
the way you have.
Just as beautiful as you were
when you were a little girl.
I lived in the same
apartment building.
I heard you screaming that night.
I was the first one to find her.
Tragic, terrible thing your mother
being killed like that.
And they never found the man
who did it, did they?
No, I don't think they did.
Though I can't be sure.
There are so many things I don't
remember that happened at that time.
All I remember is a kind of vague,
nightmarish thing.
Waking up in my bed hearing
my mother scream and...
and seeing this person.
This person, did you see his face?
No, I don't really know.
I'm not sure.
That's one of the things I've
forgotten or pushed out of my mind.
Are you here for a while?
-No, I was just passing through.
Yes, you said that.
I forgot.
Would you like a cup of coffee
or cocoa?
What's the matter, Miss Foley?
That's odd. I thought she'd
finished her cocoa.
And here it is, untouched.
It is odd.
She's an odd little thing herself.
-Who?
Little girl who was here.
Strangest little thing. So...
solemn and wise and...
The only way I can describe her.
Well, I guess I'd better be going.
-I'll ask her how she does the trick.
Sit there sipping cocoa
and leave a full cup.
Little Markie.
-Markie?
That's her nickname.
She wouldn't tell me her real name.
She called herself Little Markie.
-That was your nickname as a child.
They called you Markie.
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# like a diamond in the sky
-Something wrong?
Oh, no nothing's wrong.
Except it's quite coincidental.
This little thing camping on my
doorstep, with the same name I did.
And that's odd, too.
Things are coming back to me.
I was called Markie.
I haven't thought of that in years.
That's what people called me.
I'm sure that, given time
you'll remember a lot of things.
Didn't the doctors tell you that
memory of things would come back?
They didn't know.
Full of talents, our little Markie.
-How do you mean?
I mean her singing.
I don't hear anything.
Has she stopped?
I mean that.
-What?
Her singing.
Can't you hear her singing?
I guess your ears
are better than mine.
She's stopped now.
-I want something to show you.
I can't understand you're not
hearing her. It was so plain.
It's a photo your mother gave me of
you when you were a little girl.
You were an exceptionally
beautiful child.
And you look so like your mother.
Especially now.
So much like your mother.
-I don't understand.
What don't you understand,
Miss Foley?
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
Has that man left?
He left some time ago, Markie.
It's rather late. Go home.
Your mother will be worried.
No. She won't be worried.
I don't have a mother anymore.
Do you remember now about Markie?
Do you, Helen?
-Yes, I remember.
And the time you burnt your arm?
Do you?
You got a nasty burn
right below the elbow.
Who are you?
What's your name?
I want you to tell me who you are.
And where you're from.
And tell me now, understand?
I want you to tell me who you are.
You don't know?
You don't have any idea?
And you were doing so well, Helen.
You were starting to remember things.
Remember what things?
Familiar?
It's supposed to be me
when I was your age.
But it's not me, Markie.
It's a snapshot of you.
You still don't understand, do you?
-Understand what?
That I'm you, Helen.
Understand now? I am you.
I'm you when you were 10 years old
when you were called Markie.
I'm you when you lived with your
mother in the apartment house.
I'm you when you were asleep in your
bed that night and the man came.
And he was arguing with
mother downstairs.
And she tried to get away and
she ran into your room.
And the man caught her and
he choked her. Helen, remember?
Then he hit her on the head. Then
she fell. And then you screamed.
The man looked at you.
Then you screamed so loud, Helen.
You screamed so loud.
I want to bring you up to date.
You've lived with ignorance too long.
I want to impart some information.
It's obviously coming back to you.
And I want to be the very first.
That night, it was me in your
bedroom. I killed your mother.
There was trouble with the books.
I asked her to cover for me. But...
your mother was a particularly rigid
woman, who was going to inform on me.
When she ran into your bedroom
I had to follow her.
Oddly enough, Helen, I'd have
had to come after you next.
But your screams brought people there
and I had to get out in a hurry.
It wasn't until later
that I learned...
that you had no recollection
of who was in the bedroom.
You blacked out the whole incident.
But you weren't neglected, Helen.
I've been keeping tabs on you.
Chicago, college, here.
I've been following you because I
knew one day you'd start to remember.
That's why I came back.
I had to come back
To take care of unfinished business.
You're the only person who
knows how your mother died.
Will she be all right, doc?
-I've given her a sedative.
Do you have everything you need?
-Yeah. It all ties in together.
She's a fortunate woman.
Otherwise she'd be a homicide victim.
And that child she talking about?
-That's her. She conjured it up.
It was a part of her,
buried deep inside.
A recollection that had to come out
in the form of herself as a child.
Weird. Really weird.
The human imagination is often weird.
Sometimes it means salvation.
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
Hello.
-Hello, little one.
You want to know something?
You've got a lovely smile.
Don't ever lose it.
-Thank you. My doll has a smile, too.
You both have lovely smiles.
Helen Foley, who has lived in night
and who will wake up to morning.
Helen Foley, who took a dark spot
of her life and rubbed it clean.
Then stepped back a few paces
and got a good look at...
the Twilight Zone.
English Subtitles by
B. Cornelis - Pandorafilm - Heerlen
First Aired: 29 April 1960
English Subtitles by
Pandorafilm - Heerlen
There is a fifth dimension.
Beyond that which is known to man.
It is a dimension as vast as space.
And as timeless as infinity.
It is the middle ground
between light and shadow...
between science and superstition.
And it lies between
the pit of man's fears...
and the summit of his knowledge.
This is the dimension
of imagination.
It is an area which we call:
The Twilight Zone.
Well, hello there.
How are you?
You're new here, aren't you?
You're visiting, is that it? Just
visiting someone in the building?
You're a quiet one, aren't you?
Not much to say, is that it?
I'm kind of an expert on children.
Quiet ones, noisy ones. All kinds.
I teach school.
-I know. I know all about you.
You do? Well, how about a
cup of hot chocolate?
That's the first thing I usually
make when I come home from school.
I know. But you don't like
marshmallows, do you?
You're right, I don't.
-I don't either.
Here we are.
We ought to tell your mother
where you are.
That won't be necessary.
Well, I'll just put the milk on.
-I'm in no hurry.
Month of November.
Hot chocolate.
And a small cameo of a child's face.
Imperfect only in its solemnity.
These are the improbable ingredients
to a human emotion like fear.
But in a moment, this woman,
Helen Foley, will realize fear.
She will understand what are
the properties of terror.
A little girl will lead her and
walk with her into a nightmare.
There you are.
I hope it isn't too rich.
No, it's fine.
I'm glad it isn't too hot.
I don't much like very hot things.
-I don't blame you.
Of course you don't.
You got burnt once.
That scar, right below your elbow.
You remember?
Of course I remember.
-How did it happen?
Well, actually, I don't remember.
A lot of things I don't recall
at a certain age.
Something happened to me then.
I'm not sure exactly what it was.
Some things I'm rather vague about.
-I know that very well.
I know all about you.
Don't you remember?
Yes, I remember that you said that.
Do people look familiar sometimes?
-What do you mean?
I mean, when you pass people on
the streets or see them in a bank.
Or they walk by you.
Do they look familiar to you?
Sometimes.
-Today?
Today?
-Yes, today.
Did someone go by you today
who looked familiar?
No.
Really?
It's not polite to contradict people.
I told you that I didn't.
Did you remember?
Yes, there was someone.
Outside the school when crossing the
street, there was a man in a car.
There was a man in a car.
He stopped for a red light.
I looked at him.
-And you recognized him.
No, I didn't recognize him.
Well, he looked so...
-So familiar to you.
He made you frightened, didn't he?
Of course he did.
-What are you talking about?
I know he looks familiar.
And I know he frightens me.
Just like he frightens you.
Who are you? What's your name?
Where are you from?
I live around here
and I have a nickname.
People call me Markie.
That's not my real name
But that's what people call me.
Markie! Did you hear?
-Yes, I heard. Markie.
It's a very pretty name.
-Is that all you've got to say?
It's a very cute name.
What more did you want me to say?
Nothing.
I just thought...
Feeling warm?
Yes. It is a bit warm,
don't you think?
No, I think it's very comfortable.
Someone's coming.
-More families are living here.
Yes, but whoever's coming,
is coming here.
I'm going out the back door.
-There's nothing to be afraid of.
Yes, there is. Good-bye.
I'll come back later.
Yes?
-Miss Helen Foley?
Yes, who is it?
-It's Peter Selden, Miss Foley.
I don't know whether you remember me.
But I knew your mother very well.
Do you remember me?
You do look familiar.
-Didn't I see you...
In front of the school? That's right.
I was stopped for a red light.
I thought you looked
at me a little oddly.
Do you mind if I come
in for a moment?
Been a lot of years, Miss Foley.
18 or 19 to be exact.
Won't you sit down?
-Thank you.
I've got you stumped, huh?
It's no wonder.
You were a little girl at the time.
Couldn't have been more than 11.
I used to work for your mother.
Selden.
Any bells yet? Peter Selden.
I do seem to recall.
-I'd heard that you...
after the tragic thing happened
you were ill for a long time.
Were you ever able to recall
exactly what it was that...
Well, what I mean is...
you drew a blank after that evening.
I wonder if it ever
came back to you.
Oh, only vague, disjointed things.
That's all.
You were in the room
when it happened.
What happened?
I suffered a kind of a shock.
A trauma, the doctors called it.
After I recuperated, I moved to
Chicago and I lived with an aunt.
I've only been back here a year
or so. I teach school now.
I was just passing through town and
someone pointed you out to me.
And I wanted to stop
and just say hello.
You say you worked for my mother?
-Yes, almost a year.
I don't seem to recall.
-I handled her investments for her.
Selden, you say?
-That's right, Selden.
It's wonderful to see you grown up
the way you have.
Just as beautiful as you were
when you were a little girl.
I lived in the same
apartment building.
I heard you screaming that night.
I was the first one to find her.
Tragic, terrible thing your mother
being killed like that.
And they never found the man
who did it, did they?
No, I don't think they did.
Though I can't be sure.
There are so many things I don't
remember that happened at that time.
All I remember is a kind of vague,
nightmarish thing.
Waking up in my bed hearing
my mother scream and...
and seeing this person.
This person, did you see his face?
No, I don't really know.
I'm not sure.
That's one of the things I've
forgotten or pushed out of my mind.
Are you here for a while?
-No, I was just passing through.
Yes, you said that.
I forgot.
Would you like a cup of coffee
or cocoa?
What's the matter, Miss Foley?
That's odd. I thought she'd
finished her cocoa.
And here it is, untouched.
It is odd.
She's an odd little thing herself.
-Who?
Little girl who was here.
Strangest little thing. So...
solemn and wise and...
The only way I can describe her.
Well, I guess I'd better be going.
-I'll ask her how she does the trick.
Sit there sipping cocoa
and leave a full cup.
Little Markie.
-Markie?
That's her nickname.
She wouldn't tell me her real name.
She called herself Little Markie.
-That was your nickname as a child.
They called you Markie.
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# like a diamond in the sky
-Something wrong?
Oh, no nothing's wrong.
Except it's quite coincidental.
This little thing camping on my
doorstep, with the same name I did.
And that's odd, too.
Things are coming back to me.
I was called Markie.
I haven't thought of that in years.
That's what people called me.
I'm sure that, given time
you'll remember a lot of things.
Didn't the doctors tell you that
memory of things would come back?
They didn't know.
Full of talents, our little Markie.
-How do you mean?
I mean her singing.
I don't hear anything.
Has she stopped?
I mean that.
-What?
Her singing.
Can't you hear her singing?
I guess your ears
are better than mine.
She's stopped now.
-I want something to show you.
I can't understand you're not
hearing her. It was so plain.
It's a photo your mother gave me of
you when you were a little girl.
You were an exceptionally
beautiful child.
And you look so like your mother.
Especially now.
So much like your mother.
-I don't understand.
What don't you understand,
Miss Foley?
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
Has that man left?
He left some time ago, Markie.
It's rather late. Go home.
Your mother will be worried.
No. She won't be worried.
I don't have a mother anymore.
Do you remember now about Markie?
Do you, Helen?
-Yes, I remember.
And the time you burnt your arm?
Do you?
You got a nasty burn
right below the elbow.
Who are you?
What's your name?
I want you to tell me who you are.
And where you're from.
And tell me now, understand?
I want you to tell me who you are.
You don't know?
You don't have any idea?
And you were doing so well, Helen.
You were starting to remember things.
Remember what things?
Familiar?
It's supposed to be me
when I was your age.
But it's not me, Markie.
It's a snapshot of you.
You still don't understand, do you?
-Understand what?
That I'm you, Helen.
Understand now? I am you.
I'm you when you were 10 years old
when you were called Markie.
I'm you when you lived with your
mother in the apartment house.
I'm you when you were asleep in your
bed that night and the man came.
And he was arguing with
mother downstairs.
And she tried to get away and
she ran into your room.
And the man caught her and
he choked her. Helen, remember?
Then he hit her on the head. Then
she fell. And then you screamed.
The man looked at you.
Then you screamed so loud, Helen.
You screamed so loud.
I want to bring you up to date.
You've lived with ignorance too long.
I want to impart some information.
It's obviously coming back to you.
And I want to be the very first.
That night, it was me in your
bedroom. I killed your mother.
There was trouble with the books.
I asked her to cover for me. But...
your mother was a particularly rigid
woman, who was going to inform on me.
When she ran into your bedroom
I had to follow her.
Oddly enough, Helen, I'd have
had to come after you next.
But your screams brought people there
and I had to get out in a hurry.
It wasn't until later
that I learned...
that you had no recollection
of who was in the bedroom.
You blacked out the whole incident.
But you weren't neglected, Helen.
I've been keeping tabs on you.
Chicago, college, here.
I've been following you because I
knew one day you'd start to remember.
That's why I came back.
I had to come back
To take care of unfinished business.
You're the only person who
knows how your mother died.
Will she be all right, doc?
-I've given her a sedative.
Do you have everything you need?
-Yeah. It all ties in together.
She's a fortunate woman.
Otherwise she'd be a homicide victim.
And that child she talking about?
-That's her. She conjured it up.
It was a part of her,
buried deep inside.
A recollection that had to come out
in the form of herself as a child.
Weird. Really weird.
The human imagination is often weird.
Sometimes it means salvation.
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
# up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
# twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
Hello.
-Hello, little one.
You want to know something?
You've got a lovely smile.
Don't ever lose it.
-Thank you. My doll has a smile, too.
You both have lovely smiles.
Helen Foley, who has lived in night
and who will wake up to morning.
Helen Foley, who took a dark spot
of her life and rubbed it clean.
Then stepped back a few paces
and got a good look at...
the Twilight Zone.
English Subtitles by
B. Cornelis - Pandorafilm - Heerlen