The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Nightmare as a Child (1960) User Reviews

"Nightmare as a Child" delves into suppressed memory

[chuck-reilly · 8/10 · 11 July 2008]

"Nightmare as a Child" is one Twilight Zone episode that doesn't exhibit any of the usual fantasies or Sci-Fi themes the series is noted for. It deals strictly with a real-life traumatic event and lets the chips fall where they may. Janice Rule is Helen Foley, a woman who has been suppressing the horrific memory of her mother's murder for many years. She witnessed the brutal attack as a very young child and is now in her late 20's when the story begins. Living alone in an apartment in Chicago, she encounters a little neighborhood girl named Markie (Terry Burnham). The precocious child begins to bother and annoy her; it seems she knows everything about Helen including specific facts from her past. She's also aware that Helen had been frightened earlier by the face of an unknown man who she had seen but briefly in a passing automobile. His face had stirred Helen's memory to the night of her mother's murder and she begins to wonder how and why little Markie knows so much about everything in her life. One might surmise that Markie is beginning to seriously rattle poor Helen's nerves. Enter Peter Selden (old-time character actor Shepperd Strudwick). This dour and suspicious fellow unexpectedly introduces himself to Helen at her apartment and informs her that he knew both her and her late mother some twenty years earlier. Strangely, he doesn't seem to hear Markie singing away in the hall of the apartment building, but he does tell Helen that "Markie" was "her" childhood name.

"Nightmare as a Child" is a serious psychological study in suppressed memory from traumatic events and is presented without the usual Twilight Zone effects. Neither is there any unnecessary moralizing from host Rod Serling to interfere with the story. Little Markie is really Helen's inner consciousness coming to life and awakening her to the present danger that she faces. It all comes back to her in a hurry as soon as Mr. Selden arrives in town. The final confrontation between Ms. Foley and Selden is worth the price of admission for this entry and is extremely well-done.

Janice Rule was one of film and television's most versatile actresses and she handles her demanding role here with believability and considerable restraint. Shepperd Strudwick conveys just the right amount of understated ruthlessness for his character. It's clear that he's becoming totally unhinged and is desperate enough to do anything to escape justice. Child actress Terry Burnham is perfect as the all-knowing kid who arrives in the nick of time to wake up Ms. Rule and save her from a ghastly fate. Smart kid.

Deep Seated Memories

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 3 October 2008]

This is a little more human episode. Are we dealing with the memories, repressed at childhood, or are we seeing the supernatural at work. Whether the young woman is actually experiencing this or thinking it doesn't matter. It is in her psyche and she must try to come to grips with it. The little girl's presence is certainly eerie, but this is about loneliness and fear and reclamation. The acting performances are quite good and the little girl is better than most. Serling loved to work the the ghosts of people's pasts, but usually it was some thing that they had done and they are now being punished for. This has a little of the lady caught in the bus station. Those observing would say she was on the brink of insanity. The difference comes in; the understanding. A good episode.

Face Of The Past

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 26 October 2014]

Janice Rule plays school teacher Helen Foley, who, after returning home from work, is confronted by a talkative little girl named Markie(played by Terry Burnham) who looks strangely familiar, but Helen just can't place her, despite Markie's constant prompting. Then a man from Helen's past returns into her life when he knocks on her door, reminding Helen that he knew her deceased mother and her many years ago, and that now he has come back for a most sinister reason... Interesting episode has a quite sophisticated idea at its heart, even if it is now rather obvious. Certainly a unique tale in the series canon, if not that well remembered.

Sinister Psychological Drama

[dougdoepke · 24 June 2016]

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.

'Did someone go by you today who looked familiar? Really?'

[darrenpearce111 · 7/10 · 9 December 2013]

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.

"I heard you screaming that night".

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 25 March 2010]

If you're any kind of follower of The Twilight Zone, whether from back in the day or a present day fan watching for the first time, there's a pretty good chance you'll figure this one out pretty early. If you've never seen an episode before, this one will have you duly intrigued and guessing at every step. Either way, it's a suspenseful story that can be viewed on a couple of different levels. On one hand, it might seem to be delving in the supernatural with a ghostly incarnation from the past. Yet on another more clinical level, one can readily connect with the psychological aspects of Helen Foley's (Janice Rule) trauma over her mother's murder when she was a child. With a little more thought and some better writing, I think the story wouldn't have had to make the character of Peter Selden (Shepperd Strudwick) so obvious with his evil designs on Helen. He probably could have remained anonymous forever to Helen, and even if she did eventually remember, wouldn't necessarily have the means or wherewithal to ever seek him out for retribution. But it's tough to explore all those angles in only twenty five minutes, so those gaps in reasoning are generally bridged over capably enough to provide an adequate ending in the TZ universe. Not much of a twist here for sure, but not all together necessary for an absorbing story.

Very good...

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 3 October 2009]

Helen Foley is a strange lady because most of her childhood is missing. She isn't sure why, but she has no recollection of the time up until her mother was murdered. When a child just shows up at her apartment unannounced, she invites the girl in and they begin having a rather bizarre conversation. It's obvious that this is no ordinary kid--she knows details about Helen's life that even Helen isn't aware of--and Helen seems nervous and disturbed by this. A short time later, the child leaves and a man who identifies himself as a friend of the family arrives. At this point, it seemed pretty obvious what was occurring, though Helen kept denying who he and the little girl are.

The story is about suppressed memories of trauma and works very well. I won't say more about it and the symbolic nature of the episode but I do think that towards the end, the writing suffered a bit. In the scene with the two cops talking, they essentially explained exactly what had happened to the audience--even though the audience (unless they are quite dumb) should have surmised this already. This exposition is like telling someone a joke and then explaining the punchline and why it is funny--at that point you've said too much. Aside from this one scene, an excellent and interesting episode.

A quietly unsettling episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 20 June 2017]

School teacher Helen Foley (a fine performance by Janice Rule) meets a strange little girl named Markie (well played to the uncanny hilt by Terry Burnham) who knows a lot about her despite having never met Helen before.

Director Alvin Ganzer relates the compelling story at a steady pace and ably crafts an intriguing mysterious atmosphere. Rod Serling's involving script makes a poignant central point concerning repressed memories about upsetting childhood traumas. Markie's adult-like wisdom and solemnity proves to be genuinely unnerving. Sheppard Strudwick cuts an impressively sinister figure as the creepy Peter Selden. A very spooky and effective show.

An atmosphere of subdued creepiness, but also rather predictable.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 14 December 2017]

Schoolteacher Helen Foley (Janice Rule) meets a strange little girl sitting on the stairs outside her apartment; after inviting her in for hot chocolate, it becomes apparent that the girl, who identifies herself as Markie, knows everything about Helen, right down to the fact that she has a scar on her arm.

When a man, Peter Selden (Shepperd Strudwick), also shows up at the apartment, Markie does a runner, afraid of the new visitor. Selden seems familiar to Helen, but she can't quite place him. What follows isn't, to be honest, all that surprising, making this one of the least memorable episodes of Season 1 of The Twilight Zone.

Spoiler ahead (as if you hadn't already figured it out): Markie is Helen's subconscious, helping her to remember a disturbing event from her childhood-the murder of her mother by Selden.

Query: Why has Selden left it almost twenty years before tying up loose ends? Surely an earlier opportunity must have presented itself.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Nightmare as a Child

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 13 May 2012]

Unsettling document of a young woman, a schoolteacher who is visited upon by a strange child with certain facts that awaken repressed, nightmarish memories from when she herself was a little girl. Memories of a tragic night involving the murder of her mother have remained dormant for 18 years, this blond 10 year old girl, Markie (Terry Burnham; for some reason she is rather unnerving) seems to know a lot of personal details only Helen Foley (Janice Rule) should have knowledge of. Helen receives a visitor from the past, Peter Selden (Shepperd Strudwick, conveying a sinister presence) claiming to have known and worked for her mother. As slivers of memory slowly return of the night that sent Helen into a shock, such trauma behind the amnesia fading, Helen's life becomes endangered as the murderer returns to finish the job, one last witness who must be silenced if he is to completely get away with his crime. The mystery of the little girl, the murderer, and how it ties to Helen is obvious, but the presentation is disturbing, Strudwick's Peter a real creep with a smile that gets under the skin. You know from the moment he appears that Peter is not to be trusted even though he projects an air of everyman, seemingly ordinary but harboring an evil that will surface much to the possible detriment of Helen. How the character of Markie is used really provides this degree of unease that I commend director Ganzer for because mood is everything on The Twilight Zone. Serling's script really sets the stage well, how it will take a catalyst of some sort, in this case the little girl, to unearth long buried details needing to be revealed in order for closure.

Ok, but not a top episode.

[vitoscotti · 6/10 · 20 February 2023]

Only a classic television series could have a story that's totally predictable and still be a decent watch that's not a time waster. Rod Serling certainly succeeded on achieving creepiness and intensity. Me personally I prefer more of an unexpected surprise ending. Perfect casting and strong performances by Helen Foley (Janice Rule), Peter Selden (Sheppherd Strudwick), and Markie (Terry Burnham). The most clever aspect of the writing was young Markie appearing to warn Helen of the coming danger. At the end we see Morgan Brittany replacing Markie on the stairs. Who "The Andy Griffith Show" fans will remember as Mary Alice Carter who dumped Opie (Ron Howard) after she accepted a dance invitation.

No nightmare

[hte-trasme · 8/10 · 26 August 2016]

I watched this episode in Binghamton, New York, sure that the name of the main character, Helen Foley, was familiar. Turns out it's from the Helen Foley Theater at Binghamton High School, where I performed (not as a student) in a staged reading of Rod Serling's play "Patterns," and which was named after a teacher that Serling had at the school. No significance to any of this, other than it gave me a creepy experience while watching that was somewhat similar to the one Helen Foley has in the episode.

This is a very effective and chilling piece of psychological drama, which starts off as very creepy then moves into being very heavy viewing. Great use is made of the few characters in a claustrophobic atmosphere, and a great deal of the eeriness has to be attributed to Terry Burnham, who is unexpectedly and intangibly good as the precocious, serious, superior, spooky Markie.

I guessed ahead of time that Markie was a younger Helen, and that she was all in her head (explained somewhat sententiously by a doctor who appears only to deliver that exposition), but not that Selden was the murderer of her mother. That's an effective twist that adds a lot of drama quickly. And the resolution is effective and satisfying, even if it does leave one wondering a bit why there is no suggestion of charging Hlen with throwing Selden down the stairs.

All in all, a very creepy, memorable psycho-drama that manages to feel supernaturally spooky while keeping all such elements in the main character's head -- and being the more effective for it.

He Has Ways Of Making You Remember.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 19 March 2013]

Not one of the more interesting episodes but good enough. Janice Rule arrives home from work and finds a little girl in the hallway. She invites the girl in for cocoa and finds that the kid has an uncanny way of knowing trivia about Rule's own childhood. Rule also discovers that the kid seems to be prompting her to remember what happened the night Rule's mother was murdered, an event she has mostly blocked from her mind.

The little girl runs out when there is a knock on the door. The new visitor is Shepperd Strudwick, the murderer, who has tracked Rule down as the only witness. Having been coached by the little girl, it all comes back to Rule, who is saved from being murdered herself only at the last minute, by deus ex staircase.

Janice Rule is an actress with a good deal of range and pretty, even features. If you asked a cartoonist to sit down and sketch a quick portrait of an imaginary "attractive woman" it would come out looking something like Janice Rule. There's nothing idiosyncratic or queer about it. All her features are properly placed with relation to one another. Her face could probably be reduced to a mathematical equation. But this is television and her make up, though otherwise properly subdued, is marred by a pair of false eyelashes the size of window awnings.

Shepperd Strudwick is asked to give a rather subtle performance and he succeeds. The little girl should be stomped on.

Out of the past

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 31 October 2018]

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.

Recalling The Details

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 19 June 2021]

"Nightmare As A Child" (episode 29) was first aired on television April 29, 1960.

Anyway - As the story goes - A schoolteacher who has blocked out the details of her mother's murder encounters a strange little girl intent on making her recall the murderer's identity.

Was it magic or not?

[ericstevenson · 9/10 · 17 July 2018]

This is a lesser known episode where a woman finds a little girl around her apartment. It seems like the biggest twist is revealed halfway through the episode. The little girl says that people call her Marky. She then meets a guy who tells her that "Marky" was her childhood nickname. It's pretty obvious that the little girl is her. It turns out she has repressed memories.

She witnessed her mother being killed as a child and tried to forget it. I have no idea how that works in real life or if it even can. It still makes for an entertaining episode. It's one of the happiest endings I've seen for this show in awhile. I'm glad they didn't just end it at the halfway point. Again, maybe it was supernatural or it was just the woman going crazy. ***1/2

Markie Mark

[Calicodreamin · 7/10 · 1 June 2021]

Great episode storyline and twist. The characters were well acted and the sci-fi aspect was right on the edge of psychological.

Ghost-girl of the Past

[Coventry · 8/10 · 28 April 2017]

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.

The scariest Twilight Zone episode, a suspense story and NOT a mystery.

[johnkiunkemusic · 10/10 · 25 January 2021]

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.

Child Counceling

[hellraiser7 · 8/10 · 16 March 2018]

This is one I like, it's not quite a favorite of mine but good all the same. It's another really different entry in the series (but then again that's part of what the show is about) it kinda feels more like an anthology tale for "Alfred Hichcock Presents" as it's more of a psychological suspense thriller, but I like tales like that for the show it's kinda a breather from the usual fare.

I really like the dynamic between both Helen and Markie. Markie is an interesting character as she seems to know about every exact single detail of Helen and her past, it made me wonder if the kid was psychic because no one could ever know those intimate details unless Helen disclosed them to the girl which she never did as she's never seen her in her life.

You can say in a way it's kinda the reverse in the dynamic between Councelor and Student because this time it's the kid that is Helen's Councelor. Like any councelor Markie is really trying to get Helen to open up, help her remember her lost childhood. It's a little tense as the kid is constantly challenging Helen and Helen is still blocking or in a state of denial which makes the interplay a bit realistic because most victims of a certain trama in their lives have trouble opening up but most of all dealing with their internal issue.

It's really suspenseful because I honestly felt Helen had to remember not just to save her sanity but her life. Though it got even more suspenseful when the guy came into her loft. I honestly felt uncomfortable and concerned for Helen's life when he came in, I honestly didn't trust the guy because of three things: 1. It's a little too coincidental that he would suddenly see her on the street one day, those kinds of coincidences don't exist. 2. If he knew a lot about Helen's past why wouldn't he disclose all the details? 3. His smile didn't like the look of it, it's a crocodile smile.

Time for Helen is not on her side and her only way out is though the past.

Rating: 3 stars

Poorly done.

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 15 August 2019]

This show's too predictable at times, Nightmare as a Child is a glaring example of that. It's very likely the girl is her from the start and becomes certain not long after and that the man's her mother's killer and nothing happens other than getting to this understanding, so it's boring. The child acts well, though this isn't the way it would work. I do believe imagination can get people through hell and keep one's spirit though.

Talk about your past coming back to haunt you... literally!

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 21 February 2019]

Imagine having to face the shadows of the past that includes memories long suppressed and a tragic death has had an emotional impact on the psyche that carries on deep within the soul. That's what school teacher Janice Rule must face when she meets a little girl on her front door who seems to know everything about her. Then, a sudden knock on the door brings it all out into the open and Rule must face her worst nightmare coming from deep from within and fights for her life and her sanity if indeed her life is to be spared and justice is to be served.

The most Hitchcock like of The Twilight Zone episodes of the first season, where there is some obvious hints of what is going to happen but the way it is presented is ingenius. That's the young Morgan Brittany of "Dallas" fame as a little girl, seemingly reading her lines from Hugh cards but in the case of her performance, that works perfect. Veteran character actor Shepperd strudwick is also very good as the mysterious stranger. This is also one of the rare episodes that has a direct conclusion and wraps up neatly in just a short period of time.

The little and old Markie

[AvionPrince16 · 8/10 · 24 February 2023]

I really enjoyed the story. The need of that little girl who will be in fact herself but just want to reveal the truth of the night of the murder of her mother. I really predicted that part to be honest; the way she knew too much and stuff: that was the only explanations. I also predicted that the man was the murderer of her mother. So she recovered memory and there will be an accident. And that woman will realise that her own self wanted to find the truth and that little girl was just here to make things revealed and to understand more the story of course and to make also some mysteries and intriguing little girl. It was really believable and have some surprises, revelations and mysteries even if i predicted the most important part of the story; i found it pretty interesting and make the whole episode very pleasant to watch visually.

Suspenseful story

[kellielulu · 10/10 · 23 January 2023]

To be honest a number of my favorite episodes are the underrated or overlooked ones. Sometimes the badly review ones . I think this one is overlooked and underrated.

The story is simple enough . Two people enter Helen Foley's life at the same time or rather they re enter enter it . One is a particularly sinister man who is ready to do away with her before she can remember and tell what he did. So awful was the event she has blocked it out. He isn't taking chances. The other one that enters her life is ultimately her younger self and she ultimately saves herself. Helen is also saved from a final twist that could have actually been the start of a long term nightmare for her. The final scene though with a different little girl singing a familiar song is the a nice little moment that isn't the dreadful twist you fear it is . It's just a nice , happy little girl. Helen is relieved and so are we.

Child in Time

[Lejink · 9/10 · 5 December 2022]

I almost thought they had confused the title of this "Twilight Zone" episode with possibly "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" as this one certainly seemed to bear the Master's imprint.

A little girl turns up sat outside the apartment of a young female schoolteacher. Out of kindness she invites the little girl in but there's something about the little girl's manner and the things she says which unsettle her. She claims to know everything about her, right down to sharing a long-forgotten childhood nick-name and even a burn on her arm.

The little girl asks her if she saw a face earlier in the day of someone she remembered from long ago and she admits she did. Then the doorbell goes and a man is there who starts talking about the woman's troubled childhood when she had a memory black-out after witnessing as a little girl her own mother's murder.

What is this disquieting man's link to her past and why does the little girl run away when he comes to the door? The explanation is ingenious as the episode hurries towards its big reveal.

This excellent psychodrama is one of the best I've seen on Series One - unsurprisingly, it's one of Serling's own stories which I always remember as being the best of the series, sort of like when Hitchcock directed one of the shows from his own show.

Julie Andrews lookalike Janice Rule is convincing as the haunted teacher while the child actress playing little "Markie" certainly gave off that eerie "Village of the Damned" childhood vibe with Sheppperd Strudwick doing his best Joseph Cotten / Uncle Charlie as the villain.

A very good episode, it made made me wonder how good a Serling / Hitchcock collaboration might have turned out if someone had put them together.