Nightmare as a Child

Janice Rule stars in this Twilight Zone story about a woman who has blocked out a memory of a terrible tragedy from her childhood. She went away after the murder of her mother, but now is back and is actually teaching grade school.

Outside her apartment she meets a most strange little girl played by Terry Burnham who keeps bringing up some repressed memories of what happened. Just in time as Sheppard Strudwick who knew her back as a child and exudes more and more menace as the episode goes on.

It's rather obvious what's going on here, still Rule, Burnham, and Strudwick deliver some fine performances.

Were I giving out TZ Oscars, I'd give one to Janice Rule for her compelling turn as the troubled Helen Foley. And while I'm at it, I'd give a junior-sized one to little Terry Burnham as the sinister 10-year old girl, Markie. Between them, they really grab viewers though nothing much happens except the subtle dialog. Just who is this kid, and how is it she knows so much about the adult Helen and her mother's mysterious death. Overall, it's psychological drama at TZ's most insidious, and more dependent on good acting than most.

I really like that initial staging where little Markie sits on the stairs as if she's just stepped down from above, like from Helen's brain or maybe the Twilight Zone itself. Plus, she's so angelic looking. Could she be Serling's version of the Bad Seed (1956) despite her innocent looks. All in all, it's another first-rate installment from the series's magical first year.

The absolute best "Twilight Zone" episodes grab you by the throat straight from the beginning and practically drown you in a pool of mystery and ominousness… "Nightmare as a Child" is such a fantastic episode. Immediately from the very first sequence, when female protagonist Helen Foley comes home to her apartment and meets a little girl sitting on the staircase, you can genuinely sense that the atmosphere is tense and foreboding. There's something peculiar about the girl, who only refers to herself by her nickname Markie. Is she real or just a ghostly appearance? Is she good or bad? Those and other questions remain compellingly vague for a mere 5-10 fascinating. The more experienced thriller/Sci-Fi fanatic then obviously figures out what's going on, but the tale nevertheless remains incredibly tense. Little Markie overwhelms Helen with private observations about herself and asks whether or not she noticed someone earlier that day who looked familiar to her. Shen then receives another unexpected visitor and slowly realizes that Markie attempted to warn her for something. "Nightmare as a Child" is another magnificent TZ-episode, subtly dealing with difficult themes like unprocessed traumas and suppressed memories. Written by Rod Serling himself, the episode is intelligent and original, while the experienced TV-director Alvin Ganzer provides with a continuously sinister ambiance. Janice Rule gives an impressive performance as the insecure and vulnerable damsel-in-distress, but she also gets excellent support from young Terry Burnham as Markie and – especially – from Shepperd Strudwick as the smooth and inconspicuous but mischievous stranger.

I've seen just about every episode of the Twilight Zone, and I can say with relative confidence that this one scared me the most (and still does). Yes, it's pretty obvious what's really going on by the time it's revealed but people who say this is a detriment to the story misunderstand that this is really a suspense story not a mystery. The main source of anxiety on the viewer's part is the question of "when will Helen figure it out? Will it be in time?" The moment of realization for Helen is paired with the scariest cut in Twilight Zone history (in my opinion). The acting is really great and the casting was perfect.

Helen Foley (Janice Rule) meets a little girl who clearly knows a lot about her. Helen is uneasy in the little girl's inquisitive presence. Then an older man called Seldon (Shepherd Strudwick) appears on the scene. Both visitors are concerned with the memory of Helen.

A very psychologically infused episode that would have been harder to figure out at the time. As is the case with many other entries this kind of theme has been done a lot since (and if you think about it there's a TZ a bit like this in series five , but done with a middle- aged adult not a child).

Fairly good but without any gleaming hallmark of TZ greatness.

Janice Rule went on to be a psychoanalyst in the 1970's,as well as continuing her long acting career,but this would hardly qualified her.