Still Valley

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The Twilight Zone original series Season three (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5) Fall 1961 – Summer 1962 List of The Twilight Zone episodes
Episodes: Two The Arrival The Shelter The Passersby A Game of Pool The Mirror The Grave It's a Good Life Deaths-Head Revisited The Midnight Sun Still Valley The Jungle Once Upon a Time Five Characters in Search of an Exit A Quality of Mercy Nothing in the Dark One More Pallbearer Dead Man's Shoes The Hunt Showdown With Rance McGrew Kick the Can A Piano in the House The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank To Serve Man The Fugitive Little Girl Lost Person or Persons Unknown The Little People Four O'Clock Hocus-Pocus and Frisby The Trade-Ins The Gift The Dummy Young Man's Fancy I Sing the Body Electric Cavender Is Coming The Changing of the Guard

“Still Valley” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

[edit] Details

Episode number: 76
Season: 3
Original air date: November 24, 1961
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: James Sheldon

[edit] Cast

Paradine: Gary Merrill
Teague: Vaughn Taylor

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Set during the American Civil War, it opens with two Confederate soliders. They have been assigned to scout on the Union army that is marching into the valley below. Sergeant Joseph Paradine hears the army approaching but suddenly the sound stops. He decides to descend into the valley to see for himself. His companion refuses to come.

When Paradine gets into town he finds the army there but all of them are motionless, as if frozen in time. He tries unsuccessfully to wake them. Finally he comes across an old man named Teague who is unaffected by the strange phenomenon. Teague claims to be a "witchman" and says he used a magic spell to freeze the soldiers. Paradine does not believe him, so Teague casts the spell on him, causing Paradine to also be frozen. When Teague lifts the spell on Paradine he brags that he could stop the entire army in this manner, ensuring the success of the Confederacy. Paradine asks why he doesn't go ahead and do it and Teague replies that he is dying. He gives his book of spells to Paradine, encouraging him to use it, but when Paradine looks in it, he realizes that using this magic requires one to align themself with Satan.

Teague dies and Paradine returns to camp. He tells his superior about what happened. The superior doesn't believe him and encourages him to get some rest. When another scout returns with the same story, the superior realizes Paradine is telling the truth. Paradine relates the story about the old man, the spell book, and making a deal with the devil. The superior officer decides that the devil is the only one who can help them and encourages Paradine to read from the book.

Paradine discovers that, not only must he praise the name of the devil, but he must renounce the name of God. Rather, he throws the book into the fire, saying that if the Confederacy is to die, let it be buried in hallowed ground. The next day, Paradine receives orders that the army is going to march to Gettysburg.