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Nightcrawlers (The Twilight Zone)
Encyclopedia
Nightcrawlers is the third and final segment of the fourth episode of the first season (1985-1986) of the television series The Twilight Zone. It is taken from a short story of the same name by Robert R. McCammon
, first published in the 1984 collection Masques.
veteran named Price comes into the diner. While Price is having coffee, he asks for a cold beer, but the cook, Bob, tells him that the diner does not have a liquor license. Price laments how a cold beer would taste good and a can of Budweiser appears in his hand.
After a confrontation with Wells, who says he "wishes he could have gone" to Vietnam, Price is compelled to describe how he fled and abandoned his unit during the war, condemning all of them to death in the jungles. He relays that he dreams one recurring nightmare in which his unit, "The Nightcrawlers", are hunting him down to exact revenge. Price explains that he and other soldiers were "sprayed with something" which relates to his mysterious condition.
He apparently was endowed with the power of mind over matter
(as were the others in his unit), which he demonstrates by materializing
a t-bone steak on the grill. The trooper, who believes Price is a dangerous troublemaker who may be responsible for the motel massacre, pulls his gun on Price, but Price melts it with his mind. The trooper knocks Price unconscious but it is too late. The diner begins to experience Price's nightmare: ghost-like soldiers materialize, destroy the diner and the surrounding parking lot and vehicles, and then force their way inside to kill Price and the trooper, before vanishing again. Bob is wounded but survives.
Bob realizes that Price's powers caused the massacre in the hotel as well as the events in the diner. As he is being taken away in an ambulance, he cries out a reminder to the others that Price said there were still four more soldiers with the same abilities.
Robert R. McCammon
Robert Rick McCammon is an American novelist from Birmingham, Alabama. His parents are Jack, a musician, and Barbara Bundy McCammon. After his parents' divorce, McCammon lived with his grandparents in Birmingham. He received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1974. McCammon...
, first published in the 1984 collection Masques.
Synopsis
Just prior to a number of various customers coming into a diner during a heavy rain, a state trooper, Dennis Wells, known to the workers, comes in and describes a massacre at a local motel. Then after a near-collision between two cars on the road just outside, a VietnamVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran named Price comes into the diner. While Price is having coffee, he asks for a cold beer, but the cook, Bob, tells him that the diner does not have a liquor license. Price laments how a cold beer would taste good and a can of Budweiser appears in his hand.
After a confrontation with Wells, who says he "wishes he could have gone" to Vietnam, Price is compelled to describe how he fled and abandoned his unit during the war, condemning all of them to death in the jungles. He relays that he dreams one recurring nightmare in which his unit, "The Nightcrawlers", are hunting him down to exact revenge. Price explains that he and other soldiers were "sprayed with something" which relates to his mysterious condition.
He apparently was endowed with the power of mind over matter
Reality warping
Reality warping is a superpower in superhero fiction. It is the ability to reshape matter and energy, create or alter life forms, turn a person's thoughts or desires into reality, simulate any and all other powers and abilities, bend time and space, and possibly even rewrite the laws of physics.All...
(as were the others in his unit), which he demonstrates by materializing
Materialization
Materialization is the name of several things:*Materialization — a concept, in parapsychology, is the creation or appearance of matter from unknown sources....
a t-bone steak on the grill. The trooper, who believes Price is a dangerous troublemaker who may be responsible for the motel massacre, pulls his gun on Price, but Price melts it with his mind. The trooper knocks Price unconscious but it is too late. The diner begins to experience Price's nightmare: ghost-like soldiers materialize, destroy the diner and the surrounding parking lot and vehicles, and then force their way inside to kill Price and the trooper, before vanishing again. Bob is wounded but survives.
Bob realizes that Price's powers caused the massacre in the hotel as well as the events in the diner. As he is being taken away in an ambulance, he cries out a reminder to the others that Price said there were still four more soldiers with the same abilities.
Production details
- Based on a short story by Robert R. McCammonRobert R. McCammonRobert Rick McCammon is an American novelist from Birmingham, Alabama. His parents are Jack, a musician, and Barbara Bundy McCammon. After his parents' divorce, McCammon lived with his grandparents in Birmingham. He received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1974. McCammon...
- Original score by Merl SaundersMerl SaundersMerl Saunders, was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.-Biography:...
and the Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, featuring Huey LewisHuey LewisHuey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
on harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Exene CervenkaExene CervenkaExene Cervenka is an American writer, musician and artist, most famous as the co-lead vocalist of the Los Angeles punk rock band X.-Career:...
of punk group X appears as a waitress.