Original subtitles

People ask, where do you get your ideas?

Right here.

All this is my magician's toy shop.

I'm Ray Bradbury, and this is...

Lavinia. Here I am, Lavinia.

Yes, and as always, just as I've poured myself a fresh lemonade.

I'm sorry I'm late.

I'll just lock up.

Don't you get lonely living in a big house like this all by yourself?

Old maids love to live alone, Francine.

Come on.

I want a night for a movie.

Where are you going, girls?

Oh, to the movies, of course. I'm going to see a thriller.

Real scary, I'm told.

Won't catch us out on no night like this.

Hey, Adeline.

Not with that lonely one around.

We're going to lock ourselves up real tight, aren't we, dear?

Mm -hmm. You do that.

Come on around, please.

Lavinia, you don't really believe all that stuff about the lonely one, do you?

Oh, of course not. Those ladies just love to blab. Besides, they're not much

risk.

Maybe we shouldn't go to... Francine, we're going to the movies.

Where do you think you're going?

The movies.

I'm not going down there. Yes, you are.

I hate it down there. I don't care.

It's still early, and the lonely one won't be out until later.

Besides, it's the best shortcut.

Come on.

So, Vinnie, you can laugh all you want, but as far as I'm concerned, there's

nothing funny about the ravine.

Hey, what do these steps remind you of?

I don't know. Come on, when you were a kid.

The story of the boogeyman coming into your house and you upstairs in the

bedroom.

Hattie McDollis was killed a month ago, you know. And Roberta Ferry a month

before that.

Must have been the boogeyman.

Vinnie, huh?

Now he's on the first step.

Moving slowly up to the second.

Elizabeth Ramsel hasn't been seen for two days.

Elizabeth ran away with a traveling salesman, I bet.

And of course, in the death step, coming up to the sixth. You know, they were

all found strangled with their tongues sticking out of their mouths.

Our boogeyman is now coming up to the 14th step.

Linnea, stop it.

And now he's under the bedroom.

And he's standing by the bed. I hate it down here.

And now he's got you.

Don't.

You ladies can go home now.

We'll call you tomorrow.

You get straight home now.

Thank you, Officer Kennedy.

Francine, look, it's almost 8 .30. We're going to go pick up Helen and go to the

show. The show?

We have to.

It's very important. We've got to forget all this.

If we went home, we'd remember everything. Now we'll just go to the

as though nothing happened.

That's Elizabeth there, our friend.

Not much we can do about it now.

I don't believe we should be able to call Elizabeth's mother and tell her

ourselves. I don't know if I can.

Leave it up to me.

Wow, another murder.

You boys out there, you go home!

Only an hour late, that's all.

Well, what happened?

We were... There was this commotion.

What kind of commotion?

They found Elizabeth Ramsel.

What do you mean they found her?

Well... In the ravine.

Dead.

Was she dead?

Yes. Oh, my God.

Well, who found her?

We don't know.

Do we, Francine?

Oh, poor Elizabeth.

I've got a mind to go back in there and lock the door. You do that.

Lock the door. We're going to the movies.

Finia. Come on, now.

Easy to be out of the time like this. Come on, they say there's safety in

numbers. And besides, it's too soon. The killings only come once a month.

Gotcha! Oh, jeez! I'm the lonely one.

Frank Dillon, don't you ever do that again.

Gee, I'm sorry. Didn't you hear what happened in the ravine? What's the

with you?

Now get out of the way.

Francine, he was only joking.

Why is she crying so hard?

I'll tell you later. Let's not be late for the movies.

Come on, Francine.

Come on, lighten up now.

We should be indoors like everybody else. That's just where we are going,

Francine.

Sure look nice tonight, ladies.

I'll have a quarter's worth of cups of juice, please.

You look real pretty this afternoon, Miss Lavinia, when you was in for your

chocolate soda.

So pretty.

Someone was asking after you.

Oh? Sure.

Man was sitting at that table right there.

Watched you walk out.

Said, say, who's that?

Why, Lavinia Nips.

Prettiest maiden lady in town, I said.

She's beautiful, he said.

Where does she live?

You didn't tell him, I hope, did you?

No, no, no. I just said something like on Park Street, you know, near the

ravine. Are you a fool?

Well, I'm sorry.

Look, I'm sure it was nothing.

Well, I know what I'm going to do.

I'm calling a taxi to get us home.

Maybe he's the lonely one.

Well, no taxis for me. If I'm meant to be the next victim, I will be the next.

Might be kind of exciting.

Listen, I made him tell me what the man looked like.

It was a stranger in a dark suit with a very long, pale face and very thin. I

hear this is really scary. Don't be so upset, Fancy.

Come on, calm down.

It's all right.

And besides, I'm not that beautiful.

Oh, but you are, Lavinia.

You are the loveliest lady in town now that Elizabeth... If you'd just learned

to relax, you would have been married years ago.

If you two want to take a taxi, then go, because I'm going to the movies and I'm

going to walk home alone.

Thanks very much.

No, no, no, we can't let you do that.

Hi,

I'll have two tickets for the scaredy cat and one ticket for me, please.

The police have asked us to cut the cartoon and the coming attraction so we

all be out at a decent hour.

Now, the main feature's going to be over by 1045.

Please, go straight home.

He means us.

Someone has to go down there, and it might as well be me.

Rick, you can.

I must.

I must destroy him before he destroys us all.

Rick!

Yes, darling?

I love you.

You come back?

I'm sorry.

The theater manager's brother from Racine.

I apologized.

We shouldn't have stopped for these sodas, you know. The police told us to

Oh, gosh, the police.

Come on, now. The Lonely One's probably a million miles away.

Closing up time, ladies.

Lavinia, maybe we should walk you home. I mean, after all, you're the pretty

one.

What, a ravine?

A Francine you'd have to go back through yourself.

And you know, if you stepped on a twig, you'd die of fright.

Well, maybe we could all stay at your house.

Sure, why not?

Come on, let's sing.

Row, row, row your boat.

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily. Thank you.

Well, made it home, Francie.

Good night.

Lavinia, Helen, why don't you stay here tonight? I mean, it's almost midnight.

You can sleep in the parlor and I'll make hot chocolate and... I don't think

But I don't want you to die, Lavinia.

Francine, I'll phone you as soon as I get home. You will?

Yes, and I'll tell you that I'm safe.

Tomorrow we'll have a picnic.

I'm going to live forever, you know.

Live. Yes. Okay.

Forever.

Okay.

Good night, Helen.

Good night.

Good night.

Good night, Francine.

Good night.

Well, Helen, I guess I'll be going on.

I don't suppose it's any use asking you to come back with me.

No use at all.

Night.

Lavinia.

You've been acting so odd tonight.

What's going on?

I'm just enjoying myself.

I'm having some fun.

Sometimes I think, well, that people want to die.

Don't be silly, Helen. I'm going to be home safe from my house in five minutes,

right?

Right, Lavinia.

Good night.

Good night, Helen.

I'll be damned.

Miss Nibs.

Officer Kennedy.

Who else?

Hey, it's late. You shouldn't be out here.

Let me walk you across the ravine. No.

No, thank you.

It'll be safer.

No trouble at all.

I wouldn't walk across the ravine with any man.

And how do I know you're not the lonely one?

Okay.

Get on.

Now stay right here. See you safe.

Okay.

Thank you.

Officer Kennedy.

Officer Kennedy?

Sixth. Seventh.

Getting closer.

He's coming up to the eighth.

And ninth and tenth.

My goodness, he's reaching the top of the landing.

Closer.

Closer. And he breathes in.

Because he's about to open the door.

And he comes, opens the door.

And he looks inside.

What are you doing?

Francine.

Yes, of course, it's me.

No.

I'm just out of breath because I couldn't find my key.

Oh, Francine, the ravine is as safe as it always was.

No, no, we'll be fine.

We're going to have a picnic tomorrow, right?

That's what we'll do.

Yes.

Bye -bye. I'll see you tomorrow.