'The Ray Bradbury Theater' Retro Recap: 'The Screaming Woman'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

When it comes to creativity, there is really nothing that can compare with the imagination of a child, since when their mind begins to wander, there is no limit as to where it can go or what it can do. It allows kids to spin some tall tales and leave us in awe...but often times it is never taken seriously.

After all, kids will be kids and when they start to tell us their wild stories we listen with glee and let them share the wonders of their minds, because hey, it's just their imagination. But for some kids, their creativity helps them communicate in ways we simply cannot understand, making it important that we pay attention to what they have to say once we learn that's how they get through to us and sometimes, the tall tales they spin actually have some truth to them, they are just slightly embellished on their part, meaning we should also take those moments seriously as well, because what they are saying could be extremely important as the was the case in The Ray Bradbury Theater episode, 'The Screaming Woman'.

Heather Leary is a little girl who is lost in her own world and couldn't be happier for it. Her imagination keeps her busy day and night as she pours over wild ideas in her own mind or from the page in a comic book and thankfully, her parents love and support their little girl, but often give her wild stories little credence. But suddenly, it would seem that Heather's overactive imagination is starting to cause a few issues, since while out and about on one of her many adventures, she is certain she heard a woman screaming from beneath the ground in the woods and is anxious to tell her parents because...she firmly believes that a scream like that could only come from someone buried in the ground. Her father indulges her, but hears nothing when he arrives at the site, but Heather must know if the screams were real or not and she will stop at nothing to prove to everyone that she indeed heard a screaming woman. But her quest for knowledge is a dangerous one, because young Heather has inadvertently stumbled upon a terrible secret...

First and foremost, I have to admit, I'm really not enjoying these quirky intros with Ray Bradbury that are suddenly popping up. We already get a big one for the opening credits, so to see him stumble about awkwardly, looking for 'inspiration' is just kinda weird. But, rant over on that little issue, because once we get past that weird little moment, we're on to one big time murder mystery, which is the last thing that I expected to see from this episode. It really felt like it was going to be another ambiguous tale where we were left questioning whether or not events that were about to transpire were all in Heather's head, but once she hears that first scream, we realize something strange is up and just like that...she's Nancy Drew hot on the trail and searching for important clues.  

Thankfully, Heather is played by the ultra talented Drew Barrymore, so there's a sincerity that Drew lends to the role that allows for us to root for Heather to figure this whole thing out and once we come to realize that she's actually on to something, well the story goes from lighthearted tale about a curious and imaginative young girl to a straight up tale of terror since Mister Nesbitt makes a play to hurt the young girl for putting together his scheme to bury his wife alive. Either way, while this episode isn't nearly as cerebral as everything that has come before it, it's still a lot of fun and let's be honest, there's nothing with a good old fashioned murder mystery, and reliving the more colorful moments of our childhood when it comes to our imagination. Until next time. 

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