Gramma (The Twilight Zone)
Encyclopedia
"Gramma" is the first segment of the eighteenth episode from the first season (1985–1986) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
boy left alone with his infirm grandmother when his mother visit his older brother, who's hospitalized with a broken leg. The mom, Ruth, is concerned that George is still frightened of his grandmother, but he insists he's not. As soon as Ruth leaves, George goes about dealing with his schoolwork and the household chores he was asked to do. However, a dark storm seems to come on suddenly, and a monstrous growl comes from the bedroom. It is apparently the grandmother asking George for her tea. After seeing a frightening optical illusion, George hides, but then he realizes he needs to bring her the tea. As he walks down the hall to the grandmother's room, George hears the voices of his mother and her siblings echoing in his head, discussing how dangerous Grandmother is now that she's senile. As he enters her room, he starts thinking about how awful it would be if she died while he was watching her. A gnarled hand reaches out and frightens George into dropping the tea, and he runs out.
After soul-searching for a while, George goes back in to clean up the broken teacup and tea. He accidentally opens a panel in the floor, from which he hears screams and sees red light and smoke. He thinks it's Hell. George then finds his grandmother's books and runs out with them, pausing to look through them once he's in the kitchen. They appear to be books of the dead and others that he can't read. He draws the conclusion that his grandmother wrote some of the books and apparently is a witch. George re-enters his grandmother's room and tries without success to rouse her. Thinking she must be dead, he then runs to the phone to call the hospital. He then goes over in his head about covering her face, talking to the doctor and going back in the room, even though he doesn't want to do so. As he does, however, a gnarled hand reaches out and grabs him. He sees a strange red eye open and look at him. She draws him to her magically and embraces him, telling him he is her favorite, and he seems to disappear.
The mother returns to find George sitting at the table with his grandmother's books on the table. He claims that the grandmother died and he didn't know what to do. She tries to comfort him, and he turns to reveal he has red eyes like Gramma...
by Stephen King
, published in the collection Skeleton Crew
.
The story is itself heavily indebted to H. P. Lovecraft
's story "The Thing on the Doorstep
".
The segment contains several references to the Cthulhu Mythos
, including use of the names Cthulhu
, Yog-Sothoth
, and an appearance by the Necronomicon
.
Synopsis
George is a tween-agedTween (demographic)
A tween is a North American neologism that describes a person who is between the ages of 9 and 12 years old . The term is often described in popular media as referring to a pre-adolescent who is at the "in-between" stage in their development when they are considered "too old for toys, too young...
boy left alone with his infirm grandmother when his mother visit his older brother, who's hospitalized with a broken leg. The mom, Ruth, is concerned that George is still frightened of his grandmother, but he insists he's not. As soon as Ruth leaves, George goes about dealing with his schoolwork and the household chores he was asked to do. However, a dark storm seems to come on suddenly, and a monstrous growl comes from the bedroom. It is apparently the grandmother asking George for her tea. After seeing a frightening optical illusion, George hides, but then he realizes he needs to bring her the tea. As he walks down the hall to the grandmother's room, George hears the voices of his mother and her siblings echoing in his head, discussing how dangerous Grandmother is now that she's senile. As he enters her room, he starts thinking about how awful it would be if she died while he was watching her. A gnarled hand reaches out and frightens George into dropping the tea, and he runs out.
After soul-searching for a while, George goes back in to clean up the broken teacup and tea. He accidentally opens a panel in the floor, from which he hears screams and sees red light and smoke. He thinks it's Hell. George then finds his grandmother's books and runs out with them, pausing to look through them once he's in the kitchen. They appear to be books of the dead and others that he can't read. He draws the conclusion that his grandmother wrote some of the books and apparently is a witch. George re-enters his grandmother's room and tries without success to rouse her. Thinking she must be dead, he then runs to the phone to call the hospital. He then goes over in his head about covering her face, talking to the doctor and going back in the room, even though he doesn't want to do so. As he does, however, a gnarled hand reaches out and grabs him. He sees a strange red eye open and look at him. She draws him to her magically and embraces him, telling him he is her favorite, and he seems to disappear.
The mother returns to find George sitting at the table with his grandmother's books on the table. He claims that the grandmother died and he didn't know what to do. She tries to comfort him, and he turns to reveal he has red eyes like Gramma...
Note
This episode is based on the short story of the same nameGramma (short story)
"Gramma" is a short story by Stephen King first published in Weirdbook magazine in 1984, and collected in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew. Certain characters/creatures/unearthly powers featured in the works of H.P...
by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, published in the collection Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew is the second collection of short fiction by Stephen King. The first collection, Night Shift, was published seven years prior in 1978. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was published between the two in 1982. Skeleton Crew was originally published in hardcover form by...
.
The story is itself heavily indebted to H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
's story "The Thing on the Doorstep
The Thing on the Doorstep
"The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the so-called Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror fiction. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales.-Inspiration:...
".
The segment contains several references to the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
, including use of the names Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
, Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the fictional Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...
, and an appearance by the Necronomicon
Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
.