Short Story Writing Project: Beware of the Twilight Zone Ending
February 19, 2008 by John Hewitt
Today I wanted to talk about one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to short stories — The Twilight Zone Ending. For the few of you out there who may not know, The Twilight Zone was a television show that originally aired in the early Sixties and was revived several times over the years with less and less success. The original show is considered a television classic and deservedly so. The mood and dark tone were certainly ahead of their time for television.
One of the staples of The Twilight Zone was the twist ending. One episode that I have remembered over the years was the tale of a group of people trapped in a cylindrical room with high walls but no ceiling. They try repeated to escape, and towards the end one of them makes it out, only to fall onto the snow below and be immobilized. At that moment, it is learned that they are actually dolls in a barrel, part of a Christmas toy drive. That’s the “twist”.
The twist ending wasn’t invented by The Twilight Zone. Writers O. Henry and Guy de Maupassant were both early practitioners of the twist ending. The Twilight Zone, however, thrived on this sort of writing and most of its episodes involved some sort of strange or ironic resolution. In more recent times, Screenwriter and Director M. Night Shyamalan has made twist endings his bread and butter with movies such as The Sixth Sense and The Village.
If done properly, a twist ending can be very effective. It provides the audience with a jolt at the end that gives them a reason to actually think about the story. The problem with the twist ending, however, is that it involves purposefully withholding key information from the audience in the hopes that the “twist” will make it worth it. This creates several potential issues:
- The ending can feel unearned or unimportant. Misleading your audience can cause them to question their investment in their experience. For example, the Twilight Zone episode I refer to had a great deal of personal conflict and interaction that seems to be rendered null and void by the ending.
- The ending can be illogical or cause people to question key story elements. For example, in Shyamalan’s The Village, I immediately wondered how these people managed to never encounter an airplane, a hot air balloon, a blimp or any other signs of the real world when they were really quite close to it. This was papered over with a rather glib explanation (from Shyamalan himself in the movie) that the entire preserve was a “no fly zone” due to a government bribe. The paper-thin explanation actually made the ending seem more illogical rather than less.
- The ending turns into the focus point of the story, causing people to concentrate only on the elements of your story that apply to the ending and forgetting any other character development or themes that may have been present.
- If your audience finds out about the twist before they read the story, the ending will no longer be interesting to them. You can’t rely on the rest of the world to keep your secrets.
For these reasons, I don’t write short stories with twist endings and I tend to avoid reading short stories that I know have twist endings. When I read a story, I don’t want to feel fooled or tricked. I want to feel as if the journey was at least as important as the destination.
How about the rest of you? Does anyone want to defend the Twilight Zone ending? Please give your thoughts in the comments.
I agree. Sometimes the “twist” ending just makes me think that the author is just practicing some trick learned in Creative Writing class. It does nothing to enhance the story. I prefer an ending that is more like life; not all resolved in one brief moment. I want to say, “OK, there is more to come, be patient.” That’s how you have to be in life.
What a fantastic and refreshing topic! I happen to love Shyamalan and twist endings, but they are tricky indeed, and if they’re not executed just right, they can destroy the entire story and harm a writer’s reputation too. So I say go for the twist, but do so with great caution!
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for the comment. For the record, I don’t dislike all of Shyamalan’s movies. I think the twist worked well in “The Sixth Sense”, and I don’t think the twist was a big deal in “Lady in the Water” (Though the movie had other problems). I do think that the twist did NOT work in “The Village” and “Signs”.
Fran,
I agree. short stories work best when they bring about minor changes rather than major, earth-shattering revelations.
It is like petting a dog. One goes
from the head to the tail, but the
tail must belong to the head where
your first began petting the dog.
You make a good point about the ending becoming the focus. I have seen and read other stories whose surprise endings were not good. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the endings in “Signs,” and “The Village.” The endings made me think about elements and themes in the whole story. As for illogical or hard-to-believe elements in a movie, I figure that’s why it’s called entertainment. As John Grisham as said when he gets criticized about legal inaccuracies in his books, “It’s all fiction, folks.”
Hi Rhonda,
You are right about the way the endings make you think about the story. I just found that the stories in those two movies did not stand up to the scrutiny. In MNS’s defense though, Unbreakable’s twist, was very well done and did not stretch the credibility of the movie. It simply gave deeper emphasis to the themes that already existed. So, I’ll put his hit to miss ratio at about 50%. In my opinion:
Good Twists:
The Sixth Sense
Unbreakable
Bad Twists:
The Village
Signs
So-So Twist (and movie):
The Lady in the Water
Hi! Thanks for the thought-provoking post! I think it depends on the story – some stories have to be written with twist endings (like Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” or “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”) and others shouldn’t be written with a twist ending (like the movie “The Mist” … it had the worst twist ending ever known to man and the book ended differently!).
[...] Short Story Writing Project: Beware of the Twilight Zone Ending [...]
well admittedly i am a sucker for a good twist but it has to be executed perfectly for the effect to be good. perfect case in point Fight Club which in my opinion was executed brilliantly. others such as the sixth sense were good as well. the tv series twilight zone or the outer limits were supposed to have cheezy unbelievable endings it was part of their charm. bottom line is it’s all based on individual preference. I like cheezy b-flicks with the man in the lizard suits with the visible seams in the costumes or the giant mutated monster with the visible marionette strings and the more the utter ridiculousness of plot line the better. but that is movies vs. writing and writing has to be more believable cause it can’t rely on the editing goofs and sight gags of cinema
side note night of the lepus RULES!
It is perfectly all right to like a movie because it is bad, as long as you recognize that it IS bad.
Great advice…thanks.
I love twist ends. Has anyone seen Don: The Chase Begins. Who would have known? Who would have suspected? Who would have thought of it? I did.
I think your topic is a duality: A well written story with a twist ending vs. a poorly written story with a twist ending. I don’t believe a not so effective twist ending could ever negate a well written story. There is no better ending to stir emotions and thoughts than a twist ending. One does not need to cheat the audience by “purposefully withholding key information from the audience in the hopes that the “twist” will make it worth it”. A great twist ending is an adjunct to a well devised story. If one believes it must hold back critical parts of a story for the twist to be effective, then the twist is not right for the story or the storyteller does not have a firm grasp of storytelling; neither of which is the fault of the twist ending. I get the impression from your article that you are a bit hostile towards The Twilight Zone. Two facts are unarguable concerning The Twilight Zone – 1. Rod Serling was one of the most original creative minds ever to pen a story. He was not some sort of hack turning out sub par stories with the singular goal of trying to trick people with his twist endings 2. The Twilight Zone stories are so much more than “stories with twist endings”. These stories are highly polished dramas that explore every facet of the human condition, the dialog is masterful, the tone and pace is exacting, and the twists at the end were usually unforgettable in their brilliance. As proof, I ask anyone to view a Rod Serling written Twilight Zone and make a list of what they think Rod held back in his story to make the twist ending work. The Twilight Zone stories were true dramatic masterpieces, the likes of which are non-existent in todays anemic television world, and most of them just happen to carry a nice surprise at the end.
@ Al
I appreciate your passionate defense of the Twist ending, but I do not agree. I enjoy the Twilight Zone, not every episode was spectacular, but there were plenty of good ones. In the hands of a masterful writer, a twist ending can be great. I say that in my article:
“If done properly, a twist ending can be very effective. It provides the audience with a jolt at the end that gives them a reason to actually think about the story.”
My point is that there are many pitfalls to writing a twist ending, and that is why I steer away from them. In the hands of a master, a twist ending can be great, but the people who make up my audience are mostly beginners, and the twist ending is not a tool for beginners.
Think of it this way. A few weeks of training can teach a dexterous person to juggle well, but only a master juggler who is confident in their skills should attempt to juggle knives. Watching the master juggler juggle knives is great because you know the risk involved. A master can take those risks, while an amateur is taking too big a risk. That’s how I feel about the twist ending. A great writer can pull it off, but even then, there is risk. An amateur should work on the basics and have them solidly within their control before they attempt such a thing.
I don’t understand how you can begin your article with the focus on The Twilight Zone and end with examples of M. Night Shyamalan to prove your point. Your article would have been more honest and cohesive if you used clear examples from The Twilight Zone to support the title and subject of your article “Short Story Writing Project: Beware of the Twilight Zone Ending”.
@ Al
Thank you for the feedback.
come home twilight zone
briliant programme
Gina
So what if the twist is not to a short story, but rather a novel? Shutter island was originally a novel, and from what I read about it it had a definite twist to it, that was quite unexpected….. So, they aren’t always bad things, right?
I ask this because I’m working on a story that’s going to have a twist ending that (hopefully) no one will see coming, and I want to make sure that if I do it right the Audience won’t hate me for it (too much anyway. I expect them to hate me a little, but not enough to boycott any other stories that might come.) But that it’ll leave them thinking and wondering.
Good luck with your twist, Kiane. Just remember, the story is what matters. if the twist is your big selling point, then you’re in trouble.
So… I need to:
1. Have a lot more to the story than just the twist.
2. Have little hints along the way so that the reader doesn’t feel (too) cheated.
3. Try not to make it too obvious.
Do you think that if I had a story that could stand on it’s own that people would find the twist ending more satisfying? I mean I love a good twist ending when it’s done right. What’s the difference between a good twist ending, and a “Twilight Zone ending” ?
Hi Kiane,
There really isn’t a difference. Most Twilight Zone endings were good twists. The problem comes when people try to emulate that. It isn’t easy.