-They stone her, Fred.
-You reading one of Shirley's stories?
-The whole town, even her own children.
They all stone her.
-That's creepy.
-It's terrific.
-♪ I'm in town
♪ Can't you hear me, honey?
♪ I'm in town
♪ Hanging 'round
♪ Just waiting for you
♪ Can't you see
♪ You're the one and only one for me ♪
♪ I confess
♪ I just can't live without your kisses ♪
♪ But I'm gonna say
♪ Ain't nobody gonna bring me down ♪
-Oh!
Moving target, bonus points!
-That looks delicious. -Oh, thank you.
-Oh!
Welcome to our hallow end of the Earth, my boy!
Welcome to Bennington!
-Good to see you, Professor.
-Oh, look at this! Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya.
And, oh, who is this lovely dove?
-Rose Nemser. You must be Professor Hyman.
-Oh, Stanley. Stanley.
I profess nothing.
Come, come, come, come.
Let's get you watered down.
I'll bring him back in one piece, Rosie.
-Okay.
-I'm trudging back up the hill,
and I'm cursing my back.
I'm cursing my feet.
I'm cursing all of goddamn humanity,
and then it hit me.
The whole thing.
So I sat down at my desk, and two hours later...
the most reviled story "The New Yorker" has ever printed.
-I read it as an anti-Semitic parable
in the tradition of Isaac Babel.
-Calling my wife an Anti-Semite, are we?
Well, to be fair, she never hated a single Jew
until she married me.
We had a wonderful courtship.
Didn't we, dear?
-He asked me out for cheeseburgers.
Who could refuse such a...
such a romance?
Next thing I know, he's ripping apart a story of mine.
Then he has the gall to tell me that he has lost his wallet.
That wallet's been lost for over 20 years.
-Now, mind you, that story...
was the most remarkable story I'd ever read.
I knew I was going to marry the woman who wrote it.
I was going to hunt her down and make her marry me.
To our suffering, my dear.
-There's not enough Scotch in the world for that one.
-So, Shirley, what are you writing now?
A little novella I'm calling "None of Your Goddamn Business."
-Excuse me, I'm Rose. Rose Nemser.
-Betty, Debbie, Kathy...
You're all the same to me.
-No, no. I'm Fred's wife. Fred Nemser.
He's helping Professor Hyman with this semester.
We were invited to stay here for a few days
until we could find a place.
-No one said you were pregnant.
-W-We weren't telling anybody yet.
I-I-I read your story.
-There have been several.
-"The Lottery."
When I read it, it made me feel...
...thrillingly horrible.
-♪ Father, did you bring me the silver? ♪
♪ Father, did you bring me the gold? ♪
-That was Lead Belly.
Huddie Ledbetter.
This is Myth and Folklore.
I am Professor Stanley Hyman,
your fearless leader for the next 12 weeks
as we ascend to the heights of the gods
and stoop to the very depths of human depravity.
-Oh. -Hello.
-Hi. Isn't he great?
-Oh, terrific. I wish my Chaucer class
that I'm auditing wasn't at the same time.
-Oh, well, there will be other semesters.
-Sure.
-Might I burden you with a favor?
-Hmm. What's that?
-Shirley has these bouts...
and just can't, uh...
can't keep up...
with the household, shopping,
and our last housekeeper just quit.
-Oh.
-Bad back or lungs.
I don't recall. Maybe gout?
But it would be such a titanic help
if you would just tidy up a bit. -Excuse me?
-Maybe chip in with the laundry...
-Yes? -...the cooking?
-Oh... -Well, no, no, no.
That's too much.
Don't think I confuse you for a scullery maid.
It's just, we are in a bit of a bind.
-Well, perhaps I could --
I could help out in between classes?
-Well, obviously, room and board on us.
-Oh, no, no, no. We couldn't. -No, no, no. Of course.
-We couldn't. -Of course. I insist.
Might you stay, hmm?
Just until we're...
settled in, hmm?
-How's your rump roast?
I love hot food in hot weather.
He really seems in a bind.
It could be sort of fun, hmm?
Or we say no.
-♪ I like your walk
♪ Your simple ways
♪ A million things about you, honey ♪
♪ I could praise
♪ 'Cause everything about you ♪
♪ Appeals to me
-I'm counting down from three.
3...2...1.
Get dressed for dinner, darling.
Please.
Try. -Go away.
-I really think the two of them are gonna work out.
Did you see our kitchen?
-A clean house is evidence of mental inferiority.
-Well, thank God for the simpletons.
How else would we ever have fresh linens?
-You hired spies, is that it?
-I'm trying to help you, Shirl.
Take some of the pressure off so you can get your work done.
-I don't want strangers here. I don't like them.
-We've already discussed it, dear.
Hmm?
Fred's going to lighten my class load
so that I can be around the house more.
Won't you like that?
You can't expect me to indulge this, can you?
Hmm?
Staying in bed all day?
-Well, the party was too much. It set me back.
-You have to get back to your desk.
You're putting an undue amount of pressure on me.
Fussing over you when I have work to do.
You don't want my work to suffer, too, do you?
-No.
-I'm going to get better.
I promise.
I will.
Starting tomorrow. -No, starting tonight.
You are putting on clean clothes
and sitting at the table for a proper meal.
-I can't. -You will.
Besides...
...it's cocktail hour.
-Up, up, up.
-It's going to be so dull.
-Well, I didn't ask you to behave at the table.
-Ooh, hoo, hoo, hoo.
Oh, a gorgeous slab of flesh.
-Oh, it was nothing.
Oh, go on, my boy. Shed a layer.
We aren't formal in this house.
I've often thought about participating
in the Native American ritual of the sweat lodge.
-Thank you. -Often?
-Why, yes, dear.
But then I learned you have to crawl through a dirt tunnel
under the ground
and sit naked buttocks to naked buttocks
with a dozen other men while some shaman
stokes a smoky fire, maintaining the 100-degree heat
and peddles some noxious root tea
that inspires hallucinations.
Ooh!
-So when's the baby due?
-The baby? -Oops.
Was it supposed to be a surprise?
You should have told me that, dear.
Well, I hope it's yours.
-Of course it's his.
-February. Hmm. Right, darling?
-I would really rather discuss something else,
if you don't mind. -February? Ha.
Did you tell him you were knocked up before the wedding?
-I fear, my love, stories of copulations
might leave the table without an appetite,
but that one does have a sixth sense about babies.
Calls it. Girl or a boy, she's never wrong.
Is poor Freddie here going to be disappointed?
-Okay. Shall I...?
-Stay put.
You promised to take care of that.
-As you wish, dear.
-So, Rose, you were telling us about your shotgun wedding.
-Excuse me.
-I should see if she's all right.
-I feel a bit like we're in the Scottish play.
I, the Thane of Cawdor,
with a murderous prophecy over my head.
And you, Lady M...
on the verge of madness.
What will happen?
-I have a title.
"Hangsaman."
It's about that girl.
The missing one.
The Welden girl?
-What do you think?
-Well, you haven't said much.
-Well, it's just an idea.
I can try something else. -Disappearing college girls.
Sounds trite and a bit trashy, but, you know, give it a go.
I'll read, of course, before you wade too far in.
-It's going to take some time.
-Well, give it to me in a couple of days.
-It's a novel.
-Oh, no, dear. That's...
You're not...
You're just not up to it.
-You're wrong.
-Darling, you haven't been out of the house in two months.
You're barely able to put on a pair of stockings.
Ease back. That's all I'm saying.
-If that phone rings...
one more time during dinner...
Stanley, so help me, I'm going to take care of it myself.
-I'm well within the bounds of our agreement.
-Ah. Hmm.
Our agreement didn't include sluts interrupting my dinner.
-I will talk to her
and tell you everything, as I always do.
-You're really scraping the barrel these days.
-♪ Yes, I wonder
♪ Who's boogie'n my woogie now ♪
♪ Hey, dog, hey, dog, hey, dog, hey, dog ♪
♪ I wonder who's boogie'n my woogie now ♪
♪ Hey, dog, hey, dog, hey, dog ♪
♪ I wonder who's boogie'n my woogie now ♪
♪ Hey, dog, hey, dog
♪ There's a little red rooster, a little white hen ♪
♪ Ain't had no lovin' since I don't know when ♪
♪ I wonder who's boogie'n my woogie now ♪
♪ Hey, dog, hey, dog, hey, dog ♪
♪ I wonder who's boogie'n my woogie now ♪
♪ Hey, dog, hey, dog
♪ Yeah, let it out
-No, nothing he said is --
-One week. That's enough time.
Please?
-Maybe she'll even out when she gets better.
-No, no. She's a fucking monster.
-Shh. Shh. Hey, hey.
Hey.
Look at me.
Don't upset yourself.
It's a big opportunity for us.
-Do you like your students?
-I like you.
-Are they smarter, do you think...
-Smarter? No. -...than my class?
-No.
Just richer.
-"Always wore a red coat.
Last seen at the trailhead.
Paula was 17 and already disappointed.
The dread of going to college..."
No.
"She was 17, an age that brought with it
the possibility of her whole life ahead..."
Fuck. "...that brought with it
the stabbing nervousness that at any moment
her life would go horribly..."
Fuck!
-I found that article that links the tonality
of the Druid dirges
to the Appalachian mourning ballads
in the second volume of Francis Child's collection.
-Well, that's grand. Just grand.
-Yes. Yes. That's what I was cross-referencing...
-Milk?
-...in chapter 7 of my dissertation.
I'm not sure if you had the opportunity to read that yet.
-Good god, son.
Might I have a cup of coffee in peace?
Mm.
Well...
Keep an eye on the missus for me, won't you, dear?
Mwah.
-Of course, Professor.
-Stop that this instant.
Mrs. Nemser, Stanley.
Stanley, hmm?
Don't make me tell you again.
-Okay.
-You want to see what a writer does?
Absolutely nothing.
Come here. Come here!
Look for anything with fertility,
maternity or full moon in the title.
-Alright.
-I'm a witch. Didn't anyone tell you?
Happy, healthy baby.
That's the spell we need.
Unless you want a spell for the other thing.
-How -- How could you even say that?
-Motherhood comes with a price, you know.
Here.
Cut them.
Go on.
They won't bite.
Sit.
-What did you see?
-"Paula.
Paula preferred to keep her expectations
of people meager at best.
Why should she be constantly taken in?
Why should she be constantly disappointed?
Yet she couldn't help but wonder, what was she missing?
This...This...
This doubt was intensified by the girl with the sweater set
sitting across from her at dinner."
-Shirley?
-What are you doing in here?
-I'm sorry. I thought I'd bring you coffee. I'm sorry.
-Get out!
Get out!
-I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
-Don't touch my writing. Don't touch anything!
Get out!
-You're drunk.
I thought you were meant to be advising
the Shakespeare Society.
I didn't know they served booze at that.
-They don't. Don't be stupid.
I just stopped for a few drinks at the men's club, that's all.
-Oh.
-Who's the jealous housewife?
Oh! -Mm.
-Ahh. Mnh-mnh. Mnh-mnh.
Bedtime.
-Is it because...?
-No. No. You're beautiful.
-I had a crazy dream.
There was mud oozing from the fridge.
Big worms coming out of the...
coming out of the crisper,
just fat as fingers.
Freud would've had a field day.
-I haven't read any. -Do you regret it?
-Not reading Freud?
-And dropping out.
-I'm keeping up, reading what I can.
After the baby, Fred says I can go back to school.
-He's allowing you. Wow.
Was he at the Shakespeare Society tonight?
-Fred's a good man.
-So you've said.
-His parents cut him off when we eloped.
And he knew they would...
but he married me anyway.
-And you have to prove that you're worth it.
Yeah.
It sounds exhausting.
I'm lost, Rosie.
I'm lost.
Do you know what it's like to have a secret?
I can't write worth a damn.
-You're a terrific writer.
Everyone loves your work.
-They talk...
...about me...
in town.
I see things on people's faces.
They're afraid to brush up against me.
My dark, my thoughts are going to infect them.
This book, it's...
It might kill me.
I can't figure out this girl.
-Maybe disappearing was the only way
anyone would notice her.
-I need you to run an errand for me.
-Christ.
Oh, so the writing's going well then?
-Please don't ever ask me that again.
I need you to run up to campus.
-Okay, I can send Fred.
-No. No, this is between us.
-Stanley doesn't really want you being alone right now.
-Forget it. -No.
-Forget I ever asked.
I just thought you would like a little adventure.
-I'm simply saying that I would go with you
if you wanted an outing.
-Like a picnic?
Do you want to make up some egg salad sandwiches?
Fly a kite while we're at it?
Please?
Do this for me.
"Paula normally hated socializing at school,
but she forced herself to do it."
-Hi, Caroline. -Good day, Mrs. Nemser.
My, you are a voracious reader.
You know, you and Fred should come to the house.
The Dean and I would love to have you.
Plus, it must be rather dull for young folks like you
to spend all your time with...
with that woman, I mean.
I hear she never leaves the house.
Or her bed, for that matter.
She's gone sick in the head.
-No, she's...
she's working quite hard.
Every hour, every day.
-I only get my information from Stanley.
-"She was relieved to spot someone lurking
near the punchbowl,
looking as miserable as she felt,
but his was a face that she'd never seen before on campus.
And men were always easily spotted."
-Hyman house, huh? -Yes, sir.
-I can't get my carriers to deliver up there anymore.
She writes stories with cannibalism in it.
That's what I've heard.
-Mr. Fisher, do you...
do you, um, often give young girls rides
in your postal truck?
-I'm not sure I like your question.
-Well, I just mean,
is it a habit of yours to shuttle college girls
along your route?
-"Paula was proud of the way she contradicted him,
how she stayed ahead of the conversation.
This is what it's like to be a grown woman talking to a man."
-I never seen Paula before that day in my life.
Giving her a ride was the Samaritan thing to do.
The girl was half frozen, nothing but thin sneakers on.
Said she was going for a hike,
and I wasn't going to get any further into her business.
But I didn't like that, seeing it was almost sundown.
She had no knapsack. She had no provisions.
I assumed she must've been meeting someone.
-"When they were at the party, he had barely looked at her.
His voice had a lightness.
'Let's go somewhere quieter,' he said.
A hand on her back.
But now...
But now, away from everyone...
his voice was muted, floating above her.
And she couldn't..."
"...she couldn't contradict him.
-Are you all right?
-Oh, you little thief.
Severe menstrual cramps, last week of November.
Yeah.
Doesn't go home for the holiday.
Meaning?
-A miscarriage.
-And a week later, she goes missing.
That's good work, Rosie.
And the post office?
-Randy Fisher said that he thought she was meeting someone.
-The timing is perfect.
She gets pregnant.
She won't go home for Thanksgiving.
A week later, there's a rendezvous in the woods.
-Why there?
-Because she's ashamed to have someone meet her at campus
or he doesn't want to be seen there.
-Because other people might recognize him.
-Someone recognizable from campus.
-Yes. -Yes.
Someone with authority.
"Meet me at the trail," and she does.
-A professor.
Why would she go?
-If you were her...
...and an accomplished, confident, smart man...
paid attention to you...
You'd never really been in love.
Would you go?
-Shirley? Are you all right?
Are you okay in there?
-Did I startle you, Rosie?
-I-I thought -- I thought you were...
-It's just we three for dinner.
Oh, wait. Two. Shirley doesn't want to eat.
Fred's up on campus tonight
advising the Shakespeare Society.
-I'll make her a plate.
-Mm. Mnh-mnh.
If she wants to eat, she needs to come to the table.
-Sure.
Oh, no, thank you.
-Mm.
-Well, she's not a child, Stanley.
-Who's saying she is?
We just have to get her back to her desk, back to her work.
-She's working constantly.
She barely has time for lunch.
-Poor thing.
She must really be having a time of it.
I haven't seen anything yet.
-Well, there are pages and pages of a manuscript
just sitting right on her desk.
-You've read it?
-No. No, of course not.
-But...
you can differentiate a stack of pages from a manuscript?
Such a bright girl.
-Is there any of our pie left?
-Rosie says you've got half a manuscript already.
-I wonder why she would say that.
-Just inquiring, darling.
You're not...
halfway through a novel you haven't shown me?
-No.
No, I don't.
It's mostly grocery lists.
-Well, in that case,
I'll just pop over to the Dean's before dinner.
-You do that.
Say hello to Caroline.
-Shirley?
Shirley?
Hey, let's go home.
Come on.
-The death cap mushroom.
Fatal to anyone who ingests it.
Don't you find it exhilarating?
Oh, most young women are fascinated by their mortality.
-They shouldn't be.
And the truth is, nobody really cares if you live or if you die.
-Do you want to taste it? -No.
-Split it with me.
It could stop our hearts from beating.
-Shirley! Spit it out!
Spit it out right now! Spit it out!
-No. -I'm going to go get help.
-What? Why are you laughing?
It's not poisonous.
-But you said it was the...
-It's not going to kill me. -...the death cap.
-These are the death cap mushrooms.
These are oyster mushrooms.
You had them in your omelet yesterday.
I like you, Rosie.
Why would I want to harm you?
You could run...
run fast away from me, but you don't.
Why don't you?
-Why do you stay?
Can I trust you, Rosie?
Do you want to betray me?
"Paula felt that no one really cared if she lived
or if she died.
Not that she was afraid of death.
She thought about it all the time.
It was the way she might die that frightened her.
Ingloriously...
face down in the soup."
-I stopped by the Dean's office today.
Just a formality.
Welcoming new faculty and all that.
He hinted there might be an opening
in the English Department next fall.
-Oh, that would be nice. -Yes.
I just keep waiting for Stanley to loosen the reins a bit.
I am not a lackey, after all.
I have lectures prepared of my own.
Don't want to sit on the bench all season.
Ow! What the fuck is this? -What?
Oh, no, no, no. -There's a nest under the bed.
-No, it's nettle. It's nettle.
-I'm getting a broom. -It's a fertility offering.
-What? -It's a fertility offering.
-No. No.
You are not getting into that bullshit.
-I'm not getting into anything. Just leave it be.
-No. -I'm sorry.
-She did this.
What is this, some sort of hex?
-No, I don't believe that.
-You don't believe in it?
Hmm? Hmm?
Rosie? -No.
-Not one bit?
Not at all?
Not...
one...
Not even a little bit?
-Stop it. I'm tired.
-Can we stay on a little longer?
I need to keep working on Stanley.
Would you mind?
-Don't get any ideas.
-Not even a little idea?
Five-minute idea?
-Wake me early.
-Mm. Mm.
-Stop it. I'm sleeping.
-You want to replace my Mourning Ballads lecture with your own?
-Of course I'm not going to touch
any of the Delta spirituals.
-Freddie, Freddie.
Let things settle, shall we?
-There's one other thing.
-Oh, joy. There's more.
I would like you to read my dissertation.
-Son, easy.
You're under a lot of pressure with the baby.
-No, no. This has nothing to do with the baby.
I would like you to recommend my work to your editor.
-Of course I've read your dissertation.
Of course I have.
Well, how did you think you got this job?
Alright, good talk.
Now run out that steam, hmm?
Vigors of youth!
Wasted on the young.
Shirl!
That boy who's had everything handed to him --
Ivy education, perfect teeth.
We would never behave like that.
-Alka-Seltzer. -We were always the outsiders.
Everywhere we went, we fought for every
last crumb that was accidentally dropped in our path,
but these entitled pricks
just expect the world to be handed to them
like it's their divine right.
-Why don't you just give him a lecture?
What's the harm? -I built that class.
I built that department. Year upon year, I did that,
and he dashes off some mediocre dissertation.
-Which you didn't read. -I didn't need to!
-Just tell him no.
No.
He's played the system.
Over my dead body will that boy be getting tenure.
-Give him enough rope, and he will hang himself.
-Good point. -Mm-hmm.
-You're getting on well with the wifey.
-She has her moments.
-I might say you are smitten with her.
-I don't smote.
-♪ Well met, well met, said an old true love ♪
♪ Well met, well met, said he ♪
♪ I'm just returning from the salt, salt sea ♪
♪ And it's all for the love of thee ♪
♪ Come in, come in, my old true love ♪
♪ And have a seat by me
♪ It's been three-fourths of a long, long year ♪
♪ Since together we have been
♪ Well, I can't come in
♪ Or I can't sit down
♪ For I haven't but a moment's time ♪
♪ They say you're married --
So, my name is Professor Nemser.
Fred.
Fred Nemser, stepping in for Professor Hyman...today.
So, okay. Well...
Uh, yes. Yes, let's start with this one.
Can anyone tell me...
Can anyone identify that musical excerpt?
No.
Do we need to hear it again?
-Use the good china! -I'm looking.
-And the silver.
-Professor Nemser is home, ladies!
Ladies... -Hi.
-...fetch the good professor a cocktail.
-So it went well? -Oh, he was a triumph!
A triumph, I tell you!
Had all the gals eating out of the palm of his hand.
-Oh. -I did all right.
-Shirley, get out here!
The boy wonder is home.
-Would you like a drink? -I'd love a drink.
-♪ Well met, well met, said my own true love ♪
♪ Well met, well met -Whoa.
-♪ Well met, said she
♪ I just returned from the salt, salt sea ♪
♪ And it's all for the love of thee ♪
-What is all this hollering about?
We're very busy, Stanley. -♪ Come in, come in
♪ My own true love -I have to get the pasta on.
-Should I go check? -Alright.
-♪ Come in and sit with me -Stanley, please stop it!
-♪ It's been three... -Come on. We have to -- Alright.
Alright. -It's not my turn.
-I have to get the pasta. Bolognese waits for no man.
-Stanley, look...
-♪ For I haven't but a moment's time ♪
-...I'm a very delicate woman.
-♪ They say you're married to a house carpenter ♪
-Fred.
-♪ And your heart will never be mine ♪
-Oh. There we go.
You're not drinking alone.
-Thank you.
Cheers.
-I was reading my way through your dissertation last night.
I've actually read it twice.
Both times, last night. You were right.
I only skimmed it before,
but it was sufficient to hire you.
-Oh, that's excellent.
-I'm trying to figure the word I'd use to sum it up.
-Well, you can use several.
-I thought it was very engaging for an academic --
-I've got it.
Let's see. It was...
...derivative.
-I-In -- In what ways is it derivative?
-Oh, in the ways that it was all derived from others' work.
-I spent years and years and hundreds of hours of research...
read everything. -Yes.
I'm sure. But you didn't do any thinking.
Just the same old chattering on, no new ideas.
-No new ideas? I think you're oversimplifying.
-Darling, you're hardly the first person
to hear this lecture.
-Originality isn't something one can simply will to manifest.
Is that right, my dear? -If it were only true.
-No.
Originality is the brilliant alchemy
of critical thought and creativity.
-And your work is so original?
-Who am I to say?
But it has been said of me.
Have you ever thought about teaching
at the high school level?
Exceedingly rewarding.
-I'm going in the bedroom to refresh my...
Now you've done it.
Was it really that bad?
-You know how insulted I am by mediocrity.
If it was awful, it would've been exciting.
But terrifically competent...
...there's no excuse for that.
-I respect your opinion.
I really do, but it's not shared by the Dean.
Not at all.
Perhaps we can discuss this next Friday
at the faculty party?
-Splendid. -It's that time of year again.
The Dean's party.
-Oh, no need to bother, darling.
I know how you abhor the hoi polloi.
-Oh, I think I can make my annual appearance, darling.
It's the least I can do for you.
-I have a lead on an apartment.
We'll be out before semester break.
-If you get the job in the English Department,
we're going to have to see them all the time,
live in the same town, so just take the --
-I don't understand. You -- First, you want to go.
Now I want to, and you're -- and you're trying to --
-I don't like the way he talks to you
any more than you do.
-This is about Shirley.
-What?
-I can see how she relies on you.
The way she talks to you, your secret looks.
-You sound crazy. She's my friend.
-Women like Shirley don't have friends.
-If we are going to be treated to a scene,
I, for one, would love to be forewarned.
-I'm not one for dramatics.
-Yet your appearance.
You don't look up for it, my dear.
-I'm going to the party.
-Well, that would require you leaving the house.
Something that seems difficult for you
to manage at this point in time.
-I am going...
to that party.
-Shirley, do you need me to get you another size?
Here.
I found something that I think is going to look good on you.
You want to try it on? Hmm?
What do you think?
Hmm?
Here.
See?
Stunning.
-Do you think she killed herself?
Paula?
Do you think she went to the woods to kill herself?
Let's pray for a boy.
The world is too cruel to girls.
"Paula was seized with the desire to tell her friend
every single thought she had ever had.
And after she had done that,
Paula herself would cease to exist
because there would be no more thoughts,
no more words.
And then she would be free to do anything she pleased...
because she wasn't there anymore.
Come here.
You are hiding something.
-No, I'm not. -Hmm.
-And you find that every semester?
Darling, you're making a mess of your meal.
-Did you know your wife was such a good cook
before you married her?
-She's a better cook than my mother.
-Oh, come now. That's not true.
-Such a rare thing...
to find someone who doesn't merely feed you,
but anticipates your needs day after day
to sate your hunger.
Who stokes your appetite and leaves you feeling...
filled.
It's truly rare.
Don't you think, Stanley?
-Hmm.
Rare, indeed.
-Stanley, would you refill our cook's glass?
She has been on her feet all day.
-No, I suddenly got very tired.
I think I'm going to have to...
-Oh. -...go up to bed.
-Well, you might have a fever or something.
Come here. Yes, you might.
You know, you're feeling a little flush.
-I don't have anything. I'm just tired.
-Yeah. -I swear, I'm just tired.
-Fred, you better go put your wife to bed
before she faints in the sauerkraut.
-What are you up to?
You're unusually cheerful.
You're going to finish your book?
So...
...what becomes of your dear heroine?
-What happens to all lost girls?
They go mad.
-The one, the only... Shirley Jackson.
-Dean Sands.
-Caroline! Shirley's here.
-Hello! What a lovely skirt you have.
-What a lovely insouciant tone you have.
Shirley, you're too much.
I never know what you're going to say.
-Neither do I.
-Rose, I'd love you meet some of the other faculty wives.
Come. Come, darling.
-Hello. -The Wood-Sprite.
-You terrify me.
Reading your stories...
the world doesn't feel the same.
The other night, I was alone in my office,
and I was petrified by the paperweight on my desk.
What if I simply lifted it up and bashed my skull in?
How do you do that?
-They're just stories.
-No. They are prophecies.
Delightful little entertainments
but prophecies nonetheless.
-Oh, here we go!
-♪ The stars were bright
♪ My heart was light
♪ As we went whirling through the night ♪
♪ And soon I learned to dance
♪ The dance of love
-Oh, ho, ho, ho!
-Want a Scotch?
What are you doing at this shindy?
-My husband, I'm looking for him.
-Yeah. Yeah.
We're all big fans of your husband.
-Oh, ho, ho, ho!
-Have you seen Fred?
-Maybe try out on the porch.
-It's the handkerchief dance.
-"Paula was long past their sophomoric treacle,
writhing nest of hairpin stockings and formal gowns.
The names they called her penetrated intact
through her closed door --
creepy, loner, disturbed.
It didn't concern her
because when she first came to the school, the bad --
the bad thing happened.
She was so frightened, and she didn't have any friends
and she never supposed she would want --
She never supposed she would need anyone.
But now that she had found...
that she had found a friend...
she felt the old fear leaching back."
-What -- What are you doing?!
Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.
What?
No, no, no! No.
Don't rub. Dab.
-You'd bore him to death in a week.
-I would comfort him.
-Well, he is an expert
at finding a willing pair of legs to open wide.
-You'd die without him, he says.
That's the only reason he stays.
-Shirley?
Shirley?
What happened? Are you all right?
-Take me home.
-Who do you see?
Who do you see?
You see tired mama.
Huh?
I know.
-I know.
-You're never here!
-Rosie. Rose. Stop. Please.
-Stanley!
-You rang, madam?
Uh!
-Out. -We're drinking Scotch
because you worked straight through dinner, dear,
as is your habit, apparently, these many, many weeks.
And I'm here to say, I'm sick of it.
I hate sitting at the table alone.
It makes me feel like a widower.
Or worse, a decrepit feudal lord.
You know, you've left me in a -- a vexing position.
And the children in bed by 9:00 with their little one.
Take pity.
-Hmm.
-Won't you let me read it, darling?
-No.
It's nothing yet.
The thing is, Stanley, I don't know if it ever will be.
I have no idea of an ending.
-Well, all the more reason for me to...
have a peek.
Has the little wifey read it?
-Yes, of course.
She's a regular William Shawn.
She comes in here, and we sit by the fire,
and she gives me line edits.
And then she scurries back into the kitchen
to make me supper.
Stanley, don't be mad at me.
-No.
It's the genre, darling, that's stymying you.
It's not your arena.
And frankly, it's beneath you.
-Keep your theories to yourself. -Well, you didn't know her.
-Don't tell me that I do not know this girl.
-Look, I might have walked by her a dozen times on campus.
There's nothing fascinating about this girl,
except that she's gone.
What has she done?
You don't know your subject.
She's a nothing. Who is she to you?
-There are dozens and dozens of girls like this
littering campuses across the country.
Lonely girls who cannot make the world see them.
Do not tell me I do not know this girl.
Don't you dare!
-Oh.
So you think it might be that good.
-Oh, you... -Whoa, whoa, whoa.
-Get out! Out!
-Might it be time then to send the little children away?
-Oh, I didn't know you came home last night.
-Oh, I didn't want to wake you.
I slept on the sofa in Stanley's study.
We had a nightcap.
Mm. Is there coffee?
-You smell like a gin bath.
Oh, I ran out of eggs, so...
-By the way, Stanley found us a place.
-What?
-We get to move out in a week.
-Stanley's kicking us out.
-Don't we have anything sweet around here to eat?
-Okay.
Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.
Shirley?
-Shh.
-Can you get me that book?
Um...
The blue one on top.
-This one? -Yes.
Thank you.
This is, um, Stanley's syllabus,
and, uh...
the last name on the list before mine is Paula's...
...which means that she was taking his class maybe
at the time that she disappeared.
-I know who my husband is screwing.
Do you know who yours has?
-Fred hasn't.
-See, there's no such thing as the Shakespeare Society.
It's just how the girls pick...
which professors that they're going to fuck.
-Shirley.
Shirley!
Open the door!
-Shirley, please!
You knew this whole time?!
Why didn't you tell me six months ago?
-Shirley!
Shirley, open the door, please.
-I trusted you!
-♪ One, baby count one
♪ While you're having fun with someone else ♪
♪ Don't come around
♪ Two, baby count two
♪ But when you're all through... ♪
-Excuse me. -♪ ...with your romance
♪ Leave me alone
♪ Three and four, four and five, six ♪
♪ And tricks that you try -Fred!
-♪ To catch my eye never work out ♪
♪ I'm on to your game
♪ Seven, eight, nine, you'll find out ♪
♪ You'll never be mine
-What are you doing? -♪ Because I am a real gal
-Is everything all right? -♪ Tried true and blue gal
♪ Ten -How many times?
-♪ Baby, count ten
-How many times?
-♪ But when you've the yen to count me in ♪
-Let's talk about this at home.
-♪ Count me out
♪ One, baby count one
-I didn't wash Stanley's underwear for a year
so you could go off and... -Listen. Listen.
Rosie, stop. You're sick! -Stay away from me!
-Rosie...
-♪ Baby, count two
♪ But when you're all through with your romance ♪
-♪ Wah, hoo, wah, hoo
-I'm not going back.
-Get in the car. Get the baby inside.
-I don't want to go home.
-Where do you want to go, dear? I'll take you wherever you want.
-I want to go to the trailhead.
-Alright.
You've seen it. Let's go.
-Will you hold her for just a second?
-Rose!
Come.
Okay. Come here, baby.
Rose, come back!
-Rose!
Rose!
Step away, Rose.
-Step away!
-You were right.
It doesn't take any energy at all.
It's just a hop.
Just slide the right foot forward,
and it could all be over.
-You'll feel better again in no time.
-I feel fine now.
-You know what I mean.
A little rest, a little time away...
...everything will be back to normal.
-No, no, no, no, no.
I'm not going back to that.
Little wifey.
Little Rosie.
That was madness.
Your book is brilliant, darling.
Fucking gorgeous.
I don't know how you did it.
I have a few notes, of course.
-Of course.
-This is going to be the one.
Don't lose sight of that.
-It hurts.
This one.
It hurts more than the others.
-But you've done it.
My bride.
My horrifically talented bride.
-♪ Oh, won't you tell me
♪ Pretty papa
♪ What may be your name
-♪ If you just say the word, daddy ♪
♪ I'll be your lover gal
♪ Oh, I could love you
♪ Yes, I could love you
♪ Until it was a crying shame
♪ How you fascinate me, daddy ♪
♪ I can't find words to explain ♪
♪ Oh, won't you give me
♪ Your phone number
-♪ Let me call you up some night ♪
♪ If I get a chance, daddy
♪ I'll make everything alright ♪
♪ I know the people
♪ Are all wondering
♪ Why I look at you like I do
♪ I don't care if the whole world knows about it ♪
♪ Yes, I'm deep in love with you ♪