The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

“The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” aired in the wake of the Second Red Scare (1940s-1950s), also known as the McCarthy era. Named for Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957), McCarthyism was a countersubversive anti-communist movement that swept through the American government. Though the stated aim of McCarthyistic intervention was to protect the United States from the threat of Soviet espionage and American treason, the result was the widespread repression of and persecution of innocent civilians.

Victims of countersubversive anti-communist inquest included entertainers, gay men and lesbians, journalists, academics, and outspoken leftists. The vast majority of these victims were innocent of treason. When one was suspected of Soviet sympathy, disloyalty to the US, or otherwise “unamerican activity,” they might face any number of consequences. These consequences included blacklisting, professional termination, imprisonment, and even execution. It is difficult to pinpoint how many innocent people were affected by the Second Red Scare, but hundreds were imprisoned, and thousands lost their jobs.

Rod Serling was politically outspoken throughout his life and tended toward social progressivism. Along with his antiwar activism and support for racial equality, Serling was also strongly anti-censorship. His political messaging and beliefs hinged on social liberty, making him a natural enemy of the isolationism and social conservatism that motivated McCarthyism.