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The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
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"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. Originally aired when memories of the Second Red Scare were still fresh in the minds of viewers, the episode is often presented commercial-free as part of the Cable in the Classroom series, to teach kids about the dangers of prejudice and hysteria. The question of whether the monsters of the title are the suspected aliens or the prejudiced residents of Maple Street is open to interpretation.
s mid-evening in September and the street is full of playing children and adults talking.
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Encyclopedia
"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. Originally aired when memories of the Second Red Scare were still fresh in the minds of viewers, the episode is often presented commercial-free as part of the Cable in the Classroom series, to teach kids about the dangers of prejudice and hysteria. The question of whether the monsters of the title are the suspected aliens or the prejudiced residents of Maple Street is open to interpretation.
Synopsis
It is mid-evening in September and the street is full of playing children and adults talking. A shadow passes overhead and a loud roar is heard, accompanied by a flash of light. Later, after it has gone dark, the residents of Maple Street find that their machines no longer work, and there is no power. They gather together in the street to discuss the matter. One of them, Pete Van Horn, volunteers to walk out of the neighborhood to see if the problem is widespread.
Another resident, Steve Brand, wants to go into town but Tommy, a boy from the neighborhood, tells him not to. His reasons being: he read in his comic/action hero books that an alien invasion is taking place, and that Steve will not be allowed to leave. Furthermore - as part of this invasion - the aliens have insidiously placed within the neighborhood a family that looks like humans, but isn't. The power outage is meant to isolate and contain the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, another resident, Les Goodman, tries unsuccessfully to start his car. He gets out and begins to walk back towards the other residents when the car starts all by itself. The bizarre behavior of his car makes Les the object of immediate suspicion. One woman begins to discuss his late nights spent standing in the garden looking up at the sky. Les claims to be an insomniac. Later that night, Steve tries to defuse the situation and prevent it from becoming a witch-hunt. Charlie, one of the loudest and most aggressive residents, pressures Steve about his hobby building a radio that no one has ever seen. Suspicion suddenly falls on Steve when he reveals that he talks to monsters from outer space on his radio.
Nic begins to build, and Charlie grabs a shotgun and kills the figure, thinking it's the alleged monster. When the crowd reaches the fallen figure, they realize that it is Pete Van Horn, returning from his scouting mission.
Suddenly the lights in Charlie's house come on and he panics, realizing how it looks. He is now the subject of the suspicion. He makes a run for his house while the other residents begin to chase him and throw stones. Terrified, Charlie attempts to deflect suspicion onto Tommy, the boy who originally brought up the idea of alien infiltration. Lights begin turning on and off in different houses; lawn mowers and cars start up for no apparent reason. A riot begins and the hysterical residents smash windows, fight and switch blame from one person to another with little justification.
The ending reveals that what flew overhead was indeed a spaceship with two alien observers watching the rioting on Maple Street and discussing how easy it was to create paranoia and panic, and let the people of Earth destroy themselves, one "Maple Street" at a time. This proves that Tommy was correct, that an invasion from outer space is prepared to begin.
Remake
A remake of the episode was created in the latest re-adaptation of The Twilight Zone, but it was renamed "The Monsters Are On Maple Street". The difference between the two is that the remake is more about the fear of terrorism in America and how it drives people apart. When the power surge happens in the remake, it is not caused by aliens but by the government, specifically the army, experimenting on how small towns react to the fear of terrorism. In the end, the neighborhood takes out its anger and frustration on a family who never left their house after the power surge occurred, thinking that they caused it since they still have power.
Other Media
A radio dramatization of this episode was produced in the mid-2000s, featuring Frank John Hughes as Steve Brand. It was included in The Twilight Zone: Radio Dramas - Volume 2 collection.
A graphic novel version was published by the Savanna College of Art and Design partnered with Walker & Co.
External links
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