The faces are an unnamed extradimensional species capable of possessing Humans, whose dimension intersects Earth in the walls of structures.
Biology[]
Little is known of the biology of the faces, but they appear to not be conventional lifeforms, possibly not comprised of tangible matter. Faces appear to have humanoid bodies, with few discernable features, but features visible on their faces include a nose, eyes, and mouth. They appear to only be able to exist in our dimension if viewed by certain people in a certain way: if a select person sees a face-like shape in a pattern on a wall or other surface, the faces can manifest from it. This only works with certain Humans, for reasons unknown, and if such a Human looks away from the pattern before the faces can fully manifest, they will be cast back to their dimension. When fully manifested, they can remain on Earth even after the Human has looked away, and are able to start protruding out of the patterns, but it is unknown if they physically warp the substance they protrude from, or if their shapes are just illusions. They are able to move through the surface of the patterns as if they are swimming or sliding, not needing to use any visible means of locomotion, and can carve glowing messages into said surfaces. Notably, faces are able to possess Humans, and trap Human souls in the very patterns the faces manifested from. They are sapient, and capable of speech.
History[]
The faces are an ancient species, native to a dimension that intersects Earth at certain points, enabling them to manifest through patterns. In the late 1980s, faces appeared to a Human woman named Sharon Miles, who noticed face-like patterns on the walls of her home, enabling the faces to manifest. First, only one appeared, and Sharon managed to make it vanish by looking away. However, more faces appeared some time later, trying to push their way out of the wall and yelling at her to not resist. The faces then swarmed to the room of Sharon's baby son, and carved a warning into the wall to tell no one. Sharon sent her son to go live with family, and then committed herself to Crest Ridge Sanitarium, where she was able to continuously paint the walls of her cell white, preventing patterns from forming, as the faces continued to follow her. As they could form from any pattern, Sharon would only wear plain clothing and sleep with single-color bedsheets. After a few months, there was a storm that caused water to leak from the ceiling of Sharon's room, creating a pattern. A face used this pattern to leave the ceiling and possess Sharon, trapping Sharon's soul within the same pattern. As Sharon, the face checked out of the asylum the next day, now wearing patterned clothing. Dr. Craig, a doctor who attended Sharon, tries to question the face, but the face tells him that the fears of patterns was irrational. The face soon leaves, leaving Sharon trapped in the pattern, unseen and unheard by Dr. Craig.
Appearances[]
- The Twilight Zone, s03e54, "Something in the Walls" (1989)