Nightmare as a Child
Encyclopedia
"Nightmare as a Child" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone
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) finds a strange and very serious little girl named Markie (Terry Burnham) on the stairs outside her apartment. Despite her stoic appearance, she is humming the tune to a nursery rhyme. The little girl seems to know her and tries to jog her memory about a man she saw earlier that day.
The man arrives at Helen's door and Markie runs out the back way. The man is Peter Selden (Shepperd Strudwick
), who worked for Helen's mother when Helen was a child, and claimed to be the first to find her murdered mother's body. Helen witnessed the crime, but has blocked it out. When she mentions Markie, Selden tells her that was her nickname as a child and shows her an old photo of herself. She then realizes that she and Markie are one and the same.
When Selden leaves, Markie reappears. She tells Helen that she is Helen herself, and that she is there to force her to remember her mother's murder. Selden returns and confesses to the murder. He is afraid that Helen is starting to remember and has decided to kill her. She manages to run into the hallway and push Selden down the stairs to his death. After talking to the police and returning to her apartment, Helen hears a young girl's voice humming the same tune as Markie. She tells the little girl she has a beautiful smile...and advises her never to lose it.
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
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Synopsis
Schoolteacher Helen Foley (Janice RuleJanice Rule
-Early life and career:Born in Norwood, Ohio, her career included stage, screen and television work. Rule studied ballet and began dancing in Chicago nightclubs in her teens. She soon attracted attention in Hollywood and made her film debut in 1951...
) finds a strange and very serious little girl named Markie (Terry Burnham) on the stairs outside her apartment. Despite her stoic appearance, she is humming the tune to a nursery rhyme. The little girl seems to know her and tries to jog her memory about a man she saw earlier that day.
The man arrives at Helen's door and Markie runs out the back way. The man is Peter Selden (Shepperd Strudwick
Shepperd Strudwick
Shepperd Strudwick was an American actor of film, television, and stage....
), who worked for Helen's mother when Helen was a child, and claimed to be the first to find her murdered mother's body. Helen witnessed the crime, but has blocked it out. When she mentions Markie, Selden tells her that was her nickname as a child and shows her an old photo of herself. She then realizes that she and Markie are one and the same.
When Selden leaves, Markie reappears. She tells Helen that she is Helen herself, and that she is there to force her to remember her mother's murder. Selden returns and confesses to the murder. He is afraid that Helen is starting to remember and has decided to kill her. She manages to run into the hallway and push Selden down the stairs to his death. After talking to the police and returning to her apartment, Helen hears a young girl's voice humming the same tune as Markie. She tells the little girl she has a beautiful smile...and advises her never to lose it.