- Still Valley
Infobox Television episode
Title = Still Valley
Series = The Twilight Zone
Caption = Scene from "Still Valley"
Season = 3
Episode = 76
Airdate =November 24 ,1961
Production =4808
Writer =Rod Serling (short story byManley Wade Wellman )
Director =James Sheldon
Guests =Gary Merrill : Paradine
Vaughn Taylor : Teague
Ben Cooper : Dauger
Music =Wilbur Hatch
Episode list =List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev =The Midnight Sun
Next = The Jungle"Still Valley" is an episode of the
American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".Opening Narration
ynopsis
Set during the
American Civil War , it opens with two Confederate soldiers. 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 the cause 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 does not 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 to tell 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 than do either, Paradine 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.Closing Narration
Preview for Next Week's Story
References
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). "Trivia from The Twilight Zone". Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
*Grams, Martin. (2008). "The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic". Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090External links
*imdb title|id=0734624|title=Still Valley
* [http://www.tv.com/the-twilight-zone/still-valley/episode/12661/summary.html TV.com episode page]
* [http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_zone/video/video.php?cid=649562032&pid=5dpW2JBSJf8hwN6vr4mMgwhYE3WUq4kW&play=true&cc=2 Full video of the episode at CBS.com]Twilight Zone links
*
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
*Episode List
*Season 3
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