ABSTRACT
Children and childhood feature prominently in the eponymous fifth dimension of Rod Serling's landmark anthology series The Twilight Zone. Of the 156 episodes in the series, a total of nineteen feature either "Children/Child Protagonist[s]" or the theme of "Returning to Childhood." Besides Serling's appeal to imagination and wonder in the now-iconic opening title sequence, one may speculate that the presence of child-related themes and storylines was a further drawcard for the younger demographic. For the author, the most compelling of Serling's TV children are the ones constructed as lost and damaged: the victims of abuse, exploitation, separation, and/or neglect. The chapter shows how the series not only made capital out of the medical and media "rediscovery" of child physical abuse in the early 1960s but how it shone a light on other forms of maltreatment, with perspicacious foresight. Despite the fantastical and even esoteric orientation of the series, it hit upon some real-world concerns.
