"There Was an Old Woman" is the forty-eighth episode and the thirteenth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

''. This episode follows the adventures of a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

author.

Plot

Hallie Parker is a disillusioned

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

s, believing that her stories do not appeal to the "

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

generation". Aside from writing, she is passionate in reading children her stories in the local library. However, since new forms of entertainment are overlapping the old her audience has dwindled. One day a woman named Nancy Harris requests Hallie

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

one of her books for her son Brian, who is sick. Hallie, overcome with sympathy, offers to visit him in person. When she arrives, Hallie shows Brian the autograph she wrote for him and reads to him from the book. Brian asks her if she will come back and read more but Hallie tells him she is moving to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. At her home, Hallie is woken by sounds of laughing children, and confronted by blowing drapes, moving

rocking chair A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant ...

s, and a window broken by a baseball. When her real estate agent visits with a young couple looking to buy her house, she persists in following them around and making awkward conversation during the tour. When one of the couple slips on a

roller skate Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad s ...

left on the stairs, they deem that the last straw and storm out. The real estate agent suggests that Hallie does not really want to sell the house. Hallie discovers the book she signed for Brian. Thinking it must have been stolen, she calls the Harris house. Nancy says that Brian died and the book was buried with him. Hallie hears voices upstairs, and goes to investigate. She finds ghosts of Brian and other children. They want Hallie to stay and read them stories. She is relieved when she realizes that she is now useful and has a reason to stay in her home.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:There Was An Old Woman (The Twilight Zone) 1988 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series season 3) episodes Television episodes about ghosts fr:Il était une fois (La Cinquième Dimension)