The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

“The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” is the 22nd episode of Season 1 of The Twilight Zone (1959-1964). The episode originally aired on March 4, 1960, directed by Ron Winston (1932-1973) with screenplay by show creator, presenter, and executive producer Rod Serling (1924-1975). The episode stars Steve Brand played by Claude Akins (1926-1994), who returned to The Twilight Zone in 1962 to play William Fletcher in the Season 3 episode “The Little People.” Beyond The Twilight Zone, Akins had an extensive career in mid-20th Century TV and film. The episode also features Tony and Golden Globe nominee Jack Weston (1924-1996) as Charlie and G. B. Atwater (1918-1978) as Les Goodman. Atwater would go on to appear in such shows as Mission Impossible, Star Trek, and The Night Stalker.

The Twilight Zone was originally produced and distributed by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), which is owned by Paramount Global at the time of writing. The Twilight Zone was followed by a series of reboots and spinoffs, including Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), The Twilight Zone’s first TV revival (1985-1989), Rod Serling’s Lost Classics (1994), the UPN reboot (2002-2003) hosted by Forrest Whitaker (1961), and the 2019 CBS All Access streaming series, narrated and developed by Jordan Peele (1979).

The first run of The Twilight Zone was a critical and commercial success, earning three Emmys and a Golden Globe over the course of its five-season run. Today, it is widely regarded as the standard bearer for sci-fi, suspense, horror, and anthology series in American television. It was a major influence on later entries into the genre, such as The Outer Limits (1963-1965), Black Mirror (2011-2019), and Rod Serling’s Night Gallery (1970-1973). “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” itself is considered an iconic Twilight Zone episode. Since airing, it has been adapted as a radio play and a graphic novel; it was also remade for television as part of the 2003 Twilight Zone reboot.

This guide is based on a PDF of the original script.

Act 1 Summary

“The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” begins with a monologue from Rod Serling, who acts as a Greek chorus. He states that this moment is the “last calm and reflective moment” (2) Maple Street will enjoy before “the monsters” arrive.

The episode opens on a wide shot of the titular Maple Street: a slice of idyllic, middle class, American suburbia. Its residents are content, mild-mannered, and gregarious as they sit on their porches, do chores, and chat amongst themselves. This peace is disturbed, however, when what appears to be a meteor flies overhead. Maple Street’s residents find their phones and all their electrical technology—including their cars, lights, and portable radios—have stopped working.

The neighbors convene outside to discuss what to do. Pete Van Horn leaves to see if the people living on the next street over still have power. Meanwhile, Steve and Charlie agree to walk downtown to contact the police. Before they leave, a boy named Tommy begs them not to leave. “Whoever was in the thing that came over. I don’t think they want us to leave here. […] They don’t want us to leave. That’s why they shut everything off” (5). Tommy insists that aliens disguised as humans have infiltrated Maple Street and are planning a hostile takeover. He says that this is the way the story always goes in the comic books he reads, so that must be what is happening. Though Maple Street’s residents dismiss his concerns as a childish fantasy, they are noticeably disquieted by his theory.

Before Steve and Charlie can leave, Les Goodman’s car starts up by itself. The remaining residents of Maple Street become suspicious of Les. Charlie leads them to Les’s house, where they confront him with questions. He tells the group that he doesn’t know why his car started, but they are unsatisfied with his statement. The scene ends with Les scolding his neighbors for their paranoia: “Let me tell you—this thing you’re starting—that should frighten you” (9).

Act 2 Summary

By the time night falls on Maple Street, the entire neighborhood is paralyzed with terror. Charlie is sitting outside keeping watch over the Goodmans’ house. Steve approaches Les and his wife to apologize for their neighbors’ behavior, referring to their fear of aliens as “some kind of madness” (11). Charlie and Steve get into an argument. Steve attempts to dissuade Charlie from the notion that some of their neighbors are aliens in disguise. Charlie then turns his suspicions on Steve and suggests that his HAM radio set might be an alien communication device. Their neighbors look on and begin to question Steve about his radio too.

While Charlie and Steve argue, a shadowy figure approaches from down the street. Don Martin holds up a shot gun. Steve takes it from him, and Charlie snatches it away from Steve. Charlie fires at the figure, believing it to be “the monster.” The figure drops dead; when the neighbors approach it, they realize that it is actually Pete Van Horn. Suspicion falls upon Charlie. As the mob closes around him, the lights in his house flash on. Charlie accuses Tommy of being the monster to avert his neighbors’ wrath. Steve tries to calm the mob, but Maple Street dissolves into chaos. Lights, cars, and appliances flash on and off; neighbors point figures at one another, and a violent riot breaks out.

Meanwhile, two figures observe Maple Street from a distance and discuss what is unfolding: “Understand the procedure now? Just stop a few of their machines and radios and telephones and lawnmowers…throw them into darkness for a few hours and then you just sit back and watch the pattern” (17). It is heavily implied that these figures are hostile aliens who have been controlling Maple Street’s appliances with the intention of turning the neighbors against one another. They plan to recreate the events at Maple Street in neighborhoods across the world and board a spacecraft.

The episode is bookended with a closing monologue from Serling. He compares prejudice and suspicion to weapons of war and laments that these things “cannot be confined to…The Twilight Zone” (864), emphasizing that they are serious threats in real life.