The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street story
A power failure causes the residents of a suburban neighborhood to suspect one another of being monsters from outer space planning an invasion. Directed by: Ronald Winston. Story by: Rod Serling.
12 total · 3 choice · 5 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| mass hysteria | choice | The people of Maple Street gradually transformed into an hysterical mob when they thought an alien monster was masquerading amongst them. |
| mistrust | choice | The Maple Street community descended into violent anarchy when they thought an alien monster was masquerading amongst them. |
| the instinct for violence | choice | The end narration made it clear that this story was a commentary on how we humans rapidly turn on each other in times of trouble. |
| alien living secretly among us | major | The Maple Street inhabitants quickly became convinced that one family or another must be aliens masquerading as people. |
| attack from outer space | major | Aliens came to conquer Earth by clandestinely instigating us to attack each other. |
| fear of the unknown | major | Catastrophe ensued on Maple Street because people feared that which they could not explain and turned on each other for scapegoats. |
| neighbor and neighbor | major | The story follows a group of neighbors who must make sense of a mysterious power outage. |
| the stupidity of crowds | major | The Maple Street residents gradually transformed into an hysterical mob when they thought an alien monster was masquerading amongst them. |
| amateur radio | minor | Steve was incriminated by the ham radio set he had been ill-advisedly playing with in his basement. |
| extraterrestrial being | minor | Two aliens came to Earth to insight a riot on Maple Street. |