Which episode of The Twilight Zone is based on a short story by Jerome Bixby?

The Twilight Zone episode based on a short story by Jerome Bixby is “It’s a Good Life.” Bixby’s story was written in 1953 and first published in Star Science Fiction Stories No. 2.

The television adaptation aired on November 3, 1961, as the eighth episode of season 3. Rod Serling wrote the teleplay, adapting Bixby’s premise into a story about six-year-old Anthony Fremont, a boy with nearly limitless mental powers. Anthony has isolated the town of Peaksville, Ohio, and its frightened residents constantly reassure him that everything he does is “good.”

Billy Mumy played Anthony, whose childish impulses become terrifying because he can read minds, alter reality, and banish people to the cornfield. The episode’s horror comes from the contrast between Anthony’s ordinary childhood behavior and his godlike ability to punish anyone who displeases him.

The story was later reimagined in the 1983 film Twilight Zone: The Movie, and the original episode also inspired a sequel in the 2002 revival series. These later versions are related adaptations, but the canonical original episode is “It’s a Good Life.”