Twilight Zone: Classic 1960s episode eerily shows how not to act in lockdown

Outing, written by Rod Serling, holds mirror to quarantine life

An old episode of The Twilight Zone has resurfaced because it eerily captures what life could be like in isolation.

Rod Serling’s classic sci-fi series was comprised of standalone episodes designed to examine how people react when paranoia rears its head.

This particular instalment – titled “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” – serves as a public service announcement on how people should not react in coronavirus quarantine.

Broadcast in March 1960, the episode explores what happens when an invisible threat manifests in a suburban neighbourhood.

The most striking aspect of the outing, which was written by Serling himself, is how fast things get out of hand. Certain plot twists see the neighbours – who were friendly with one another just hours before – showing extremely different sides to themselves in the face of mass uncertainty.

It’s CNN that highlighted the episode, as well as the words of Nicholas Parsi from his book on Rod Serling, His Life, Work and Imagination: “One of the themes of the show was disorientation, the idea that the ground beneath our feet may not be as firm as we once thought.”

Many countries across the world are currently in a form of lockdown as the illness’s death toll continues to rise.

Several world leaders have urged citizens of their countries to remain indoors with parks being forced to close their gates after hundreds ignored pleas to remain indoors over the weekend.

Those who are staying in seem to be turning to pandemic-themed material, with 2011 film Contagion ranking as one of the most-streamed films of last month.

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Netflix series Pandemic was one of the streaming service’s most popular titles in March, also.

Others are pointing out the things they believe predicted the coronavirus outbreak, one of which is Korean show My Secret Terrius as well as The Simpsons.

Two books seemingly called the pandemic too: Dean Koontz’s Eyes of Darkness and one by controversial self-claimed psychic Sally Browne, which saw a spike in sales in the wake of the outbreak.

Find a full list here.