Jason Foster, a very wealthy old man, is dying. Cranky and candid, Jason is not cheered by a visit from his daughter Emily and her family?husband Wilfred, son Wilfred Jr., and daughter Paula. All four have various, terrible traits. Emily is a cowardly, self-centered hypochondriac who whines and complains about the most trivial things. Wilfred, a successful businessman, is introverted and greedy, thinking of everything in monetary terms. Paula is extremely vain, constantly checking her appearance in the mirror in fact, she is looking in one when she offers a greeting to her grandfather. Wilfred Jr., meanwhile, is an oafish, sadistic bully, and enjoys causing pain and suffering to other people and animals. Jason is not shy about his opinions of his family, and openly insults each of them. In an act of apology, he claims to have a special Mardi Gras party planned for the little group that night. After dinner, the family gathers in Jason's study, where he offers special, one-of-a-kind masks. These masks, "crafted by an old Cajun", are rather ugly creations. Jason informs his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren that a Mardi Gras custom is to wear masks that are the exact opposite of a person's true personality. Thereupon, he sarcastically offers the mask of a sniveling coward to Emily, a miserable miser to Wilfred, a twisted buffoon to Wilfred Jr., and a self-obsessed narcissist to Paula. He himself dons a skull, claiming that the opposite of life is death. The family is reluctant to wear the ugly masks-but Jason reveals that his will states that unless the four wear their masks until midnight, they will receive nothing from his vast estate. The four then don the faces. As the hours tick by, they beg to be allowed to take off the masks. At five minutes to midnight, they all claim that they are uncomfortable and even unbearable. Jason delivers his final tirade as he dies, explaining that "even without your masks, you're all caricatures!" He then dies. The foursome rejoices in the fact that they are now rich-until they remove their disguises and find, to their horror, that their faces have conformed to the hideous shapes of the masks.
Closing narration
References
Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
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