Stopover in a Quiet Town
Encyclopedia
"Stopover in a Quiet Town" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone
.
They soon discover that the house is mostly props
— the telephone has no connection, the cabinetry is merely glued-on facing, the refrigerator is filled with plastic food. They hear a girl's laughter and go outside to find the child. However, once outside, they discover that the town is deserted. They find a stuffed squirrel
in a fake tree, search for help in a vacant church, and ring the bell in the church's bell tower hoping someone will come to their aid. When no one comes to help them, the increasingly desperate couple discovers even the trees are fake and the grass is papier-mâché
. The exasperated Millie begins to think that perhaps she crashed their car on the way home, and they are now in Hell
. They hear a train whistle and, thinking they have finally found a way out of the town, rush to the train station and board the train. As the train leaves the station, they begin a light-hearted conversation, relieved to be leaving. However, when the train comes to a stop, they realize it has only gone in a circle, and they are back where they started.
They leave the train and return to the town, only to be pursued by an ominous shadow, once again hearing a young girl's laughter. The shadow pursuing them is revealed to be the young girl's hand. As she picks them up, laughing joyously, it is revealed that the couple was abducted by an alien giant who brought them from Earth to be "pets" for his daughter's dollhouse neighborhood. She drops them and they run off to find a way out.
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
.
Synopsis
A married couple, Bob and Millie Frazier, wake up in an unfamiliar house. They remember only that they both drank too much at a party the night before, and that on the way home, a large shadow had appeared over their car.They soon discover that the house is mostly props
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
— the telephone has no connection, the cabinetry is merely glued-on facing, the refrigerator is filled with plastic food. They hear a girl's laughter and go outside to find the child. However, once outside, they discover that the town is deserted. They find a stuffed squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
in a fake tree, search for help in a vacant church, and ring the bell in the church's bell tower hoping someone will come to their aid. When no one comes to help them, the increasingly desperate couple discovers even the trees are fake and the grass is papier-mâché
Papier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
. The exasperated Millie begins to think that perhaps she crashed their car on the way home, and they are now in Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. They hear a train whistle and, thinking they have finally found a way out of the town, rush to the train station and board the train. As the train leaves the station, they begin a light-hearted conversation, relieved to be leaving. However, when the train comes to a stop, they realize it has only gone in a circle, and they are back where they started.
They leave the train and return to the town, only to be pursued by an ominous shadow, once again hearing a young girl's laughter. The shadow pursuing them is revealed to be the young girl's hand. As she picks them up, laughing joyously, it is revealed that the couple was abducted by an alien giant who brought them from Earth to be "pets" for his daughter's dollhouse neighborhood. She drops them and they run off to find a way out.