Nightmare

Originally Aired: September 1, 1949

Suspense #348, "Nightmare," stars Gregory Peck as Ben, a family man whose tranquil Fourth of July fishing trip turns into a harrowing tragedy. After a near-miss with children playing baseball the previous evening leaves him shaken, Ben drives his wife Elsa, who is recovering from a nervous breakdown, and their young son Stevie into the trout country. When the car runs out of gas on a winding mountain road, Ben walks to find fuel, leaving Elsa and Stevie behind. A local gas station attendant warns him about reckless drivers heading to a roadhouse called the Royal Coachman, and Ben witnesses a speeding car tearing dangerously up the road.

When Ben returns to his family, he finds his fishing rod broken in the road and discovers that Stevie has been killed by a hit-and-run driver. Elsa, traumatized and barely able to speak, describes how a speeding car came around the bend and struck their son while he practiced casting. As Ben tries to comfort his wife and process the devastating loss, Elsa reveals a chilling detail about the driver who killed their child and then returned to the scene.