Plot

The Munsters are invited to a masquerade dance party.

Marilyn's hanging out with Tom Daly, a young man from a good family. She's very happy with him, but he hasn't met Marilyn's family. So, Tom's family sends an invitation to Herman and Lily, for a masquerade dance party. But Grandpa hasn't been invited, and Lily intercedes and calls to Mrs. Daly, asking if Grandpa can go to the party too. Surprised, Mrs. Daly says that there's no problem if that Grandpa person assists to the party. Mrs. Daly tells her husband about the matter. They're suspecting about Munsters' good manners. Herman disguises himself as King Arthur, wearing a heavy armor. Lily disguises herself as a shepherdess (quoting Herman, she looks "positively awful") and Marilyn is a pilgrim. Grandpa disguises himself as Napoleon, mixing up the potions of Marlon Brando and Charles de Gaulle. At the party, things aren't going so good, because Mr. Daly hasn't talk with Herman. Besides, Grandpa is behaving in an eccentric way with Mrs. Daly. Marilyn encourages his uncle to talk with Mr. Daly, who has disguised himself as Frankenstein monster. Herman tells him that he reminds him to someone, adding that is curious that he isn't wearing a costume in his own masquerade party. Of course, Mr. Daly will get mad with Herman. The moment of award the best costume arrives. Herman gets the prize for the best King Arthur costume, and everybody asks him to take off the helmet. One man disguised as George Washington says that Herman is the best, because he's wearing a mask over another mask. Lily gets angry, and tells Herman that they're leaving, because they have been insulted. Herman's having fun, but after seeing himself at the mirror, concludes that he's been insulted. Marilyn is angry as well with Tom's family. Tom takes Marilyn home, where he finally meets Herman and Lily, but without their costumes. Tom runs away after seeing Herman, but Marilyn feels relieved about that. She didn't like Tom's family anyway.—Alejandro Frias

Beautiful blond (Beverley Owen) and her handsome young suitor Tom Daly (Linden Chiles) embrace in front of the dark entrance way to an ornate but dark and dilapidated mansion. Marilyn abruptly pulls away and asks Tom whether he'd like to come in for a minute and "meet her folks." Tom protests, and asks why it's necessary that he meet them. Marilyn states that she has been out with him a lot, and that her folks want to meet both him and his family. Tom puts his arm around Marilyn's waist and attempts to kiss her, but she backs away. She states that her folks are "sort-of- old-fashioned."

Tom then suggests that he'll have his parents invite her folks to the party to which Marilyn had already been invited the following week. "It is your Aunt and Uncle, isn't it?" he inquires. Tom had rested his hand on the window frame of the house as he spoke, and when he mentions Marilyn's family a sudden gust of wind blows the shutter slamming into his knuckles, and he gasps. Marilyn affirms that it is her Aunt and Uncle with whom she lives, and that they've had her since she was a baby. Tom makes another attempt to kiss Marilyn, and she smiles and lets him kiss only her neck.

The dingy curtains are pulled back from a window next to the door. Peeking out is (Fred Gwynne), an extremely tall man resembling the Universal Studio's Frankenstein Monster, complete with flat top head, a jagged scar running down his forehead, and bolts on each side of his neck. He grins broadly as he assesses the scene. Herman soon retreats to the interior of the gloomy mansion, and addresses a beautiful woman in a shroud, (Yvonne De Carlo), who's pale complexion and exaggerated make-up give her the look of a walking corpse. She sits calmly doing needlework in the image of a large black widow spider. Herman says that this is the forth date that Marilyn has had with this young man, and Lily replies how amazing it is that some boys will overlook a girl's appearance. Herman hears Marilyn's entrance into the house and shushes Lily.

Marilyn says that she had a good time with this young man, and that she thinks that both Herman and Lily are to be invited to a party being hosted by his parents. Lily and Herman appear pleased, and Herman says that "it's high time that we met this young man's parents. You can't be too careful these days. There are a lot of strange people in this world." Lily thinks the idea is wonderful since "we don't get out at night as much as we used to."

Marilyn says she's about to go to bed and bids her Aunt Lily and Uncle Herman good night, but before she climbs the stairs to her room, she remembers, "Oh, by-the-way, Tom says it's going to be a masquerade party!" Herman and Lily both appear disappointed by this. Herman remarks that he wishes it wasn't a masquerade party since it disturbs him for grown people like us dressing up in costume and looking ridiculous. The scene fades to black.

An odd and upbeat Gothic instrumental now plays, incorporating both harpsichords and tubas.

The Opening Credits roll:

We fade in to Lily Munster standing before a cobweb laden staircase, coyly smiling as she twirls a lock of her long black hair between her fingers. Her face is deathly pale and she seems to be in a nightgown. The main title "The Munsters" fades in over Lily in wavy optical in typography resembling melted candle wax, and then fades out. The screen freezes for a moment and reads "Yvonne DeCarlo as Lily" in the same typography as the title.

(Al Lewis) enters the screen from the right, and Lily extends her hand to him. He is pale as a ghost and dressed in late 19th Century men's formal attire. Grandpa takes her hand and acts as if he is going to kiss the back of it, but quickly turns it over and attempts to bite the inside of her wrist. Lily quickly draws her hand away, frowns and sternly wags her finger at Grandpa, who then shrugs. The screen freezes for a moment and reads "Al Lewis as Grandpa." He exits.

Marilyn Muster immediately enters from the left, holding schoolbooks in her arms. Lily smiles to greet her and Marilyn give Lily a small kiss on her cheek. The screen freezes for a moment, and reads "Beverly Owen as Marilyn." Lily affectionately touches Marilyn's neck and Marilyn exits as Lily waves her goodbye.

Next (Butch Patrick), a small boy with pointed ears, a prominent widow's peak, and dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit comes bounding down the stairs behind Lily. She grabs some schoolbooks which are held together by a belt and hands them to the boy, and pats his cheeks with both her hands at once. Eddie rolls his eyes and grimaces as the screen freezes for a moment and reads "Butch Patrick as Eddie." He runs off.

Next, a trap door in the middle of the staircase raises up high over Lily's head, and Herman Munster strides out from under the stairs. Lily looks over her shoulder to him, and bends to grab a briefcase to hand him as he walks by. He takes it and continues, but Lily lightly taps him on his arm, and offers up her cheek for a kiss. Herman bends down and delivers a peck on her cheek and she smiles, and waves goodbye. Herman walks off with a huge grin on his face as the screen freezes for a moment and reads, "Fred Gwynne as Herman." He exits as Lily clutches her hands over her heart in a swoon.

Over a wide shot of the spooky mansion, the episode title "Munster Masquerade" appears in the same candle wax typography. The writing and technical credits roll over the same backdrop, which features the dilapidated mansion continually illuminated by lighting, and surrounding trees and shrubs that are tossed by heavy winds. The credits and the music end.

Fade in to a lavish interior which is the home of society matron Agnes Daly (Mabel Albertson) who sits wearing a smart black dress and pearls, as she inscribes names into her address book. Behind her is her son Tom in a light-toned dinner jacket and tie, and her husband, Albert Daly () in a tie and shirtsleeves. Agnes says that she is glad to invite Tom's "little girlfriend Marilyn" to their party, but inviting her "whole family" seems a little too much to her. Agnes inquires as to "just who are the Munsters?" Tom assures her that Marilyn's Aunt and Uncle are "lovely, charming people" like Marilyn. But she worries that the society columns in the newspaper will misspell The Munsters name and she'd "hate to have my friends read that we'd entertained a couple of monsters!" She haughtily exits leaving the two men alone, and Tom approaches his father and thanks him for putting in a good work with his mother. Tom says that it will help him stay in good favor with Marilyn. "You know how it is," he tells his father. Albert confesses that he hasn't known how it is for years. Albert exits, leaving Tom with a worried expression on his face.

A large hand with a black thumbnail holds a letter addressed to Mr. & Mrs Herman Munster, 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Glennwood. The handwriting has a distinct back slant. Herman and Lily are revealed standing in their foyer, and Herman posits that if the Daly's are anything like their handwriting, they must "fall over backward a lot." Lily thinks that going to the party is a good idea, since it will give them a chance to look over Tom's family, whom she has never heard of. Grandpa enters and peruses the invitation. "After all," Lily says, "we Munsters are from a very old family."

Herman agrees with, "You're right, Lily. It's not like someone just dug us up yesterday." Then Grandpa becomes agitated since he realizes that he hasn't been invited to the masquerade. He says that he's never "been so insulted since the day I died." And he thinks that as Marilyn's grandfather, he should be there. Herman says that they don't know the Daly's, and they cannot extend an invitation to Grandpa, who threatens that if he's not invited he will turn himself into chopped liver and show up in the apetitizers. Lily attempts to calm Grandpa who sits on the stairs and continues to insist on going to the party. Grandpa says that if he's not taken along to the party he'll "sit here and hold my breath until the color comes back to my cheeks." Lily relents, and agrees to call the Dalys and wangle an invitation for Grandpa.

Agnes Daly speaks on the telephone to Lily, and graciously extends and invitation to Grandpa. Albert Daly enters the room as she hangs up the telephone, and Agnes tells him that she thinks that the Munsters are "frightful pushers," since Lily "wheedled an invitation for some old Grand-papa they've got kicking around the house." She says that the only worse thing that could happen would be if it were to rain on the night of the party.

The rain is pouring down on the Munster home, and thunder grumbles and the lightning flashes. Eddie Munster looks out the window and expresses that he thinks the lightning is cool and he hopes that it hits their house. Marilyn Munster enters, dressed in a colonial pilgrim dress. She asks Eddie what he thinks of her costume as Priscilla. Eddie tells her it's corny, and she'd be better off dressed as something pretty, like a lady gorilla. Eddie asks Marilyn who will be his babysitter, and she tells him that it will be Mrs. Morton, the mother of one of her girlfriends.

Herman Munster enters, dressed in a full suit of armour, with his face covered by the metal flap on the helmet. Marilyn tells him that he makes a wonderful King Arthur, and Eddie jumps up on the furniture to check if Herman is inside the suit of armour. He lifts up the flap on the helmet, and Herman smiles and says "Hello, there." Marilyn inquires as to what Aunt Lily is coming as, and Herman states that Lily hasn't let him see her costume, since she's being coy.

Lily's offstage voice is heard saying "Yoo hoo." Her hand flutters out from around a corner, and her fingers wave in the air.

"Lily?" Herman inquires.

"Guess who," says Lily.

She steps out from around the corner, and says "Little Bo Peep." She wears a huge blond wig of sausage curls, and an elaborate gown with frills and ruffles, and carries an ornate shepherd's staff. Herman is startled and taken aback and the metal flap on his helmet slams down. Lily twirls around to display her costume and asks, "How do I look?"

"Awful," says Herman.

"Thank you," replies Lily.

Lily gives Eddie instructions to feed Spottie, and not to forget to wash behind his points, and then sends him off to bed. The Munsters all bid Eddie a good night. The door in the cuckoo clock on the wall opens and a raven sticks his head out and states the time as 8:09, and continues to follow that up with the repeated line "Nevermore." Eddie rushes over and reaches up and closes the door on the raven, telling him to "Pipe down."

Loud banging can be heard from the front door, and Marilyn rushes to answer it. She opens the door and Tom Daly enters the house in a swirl of wind and dry leaves. He is dressed as a Mayflower pilgrim, wearing a wig and holding a hat. He tells Marilyn that the weather is crazy since it is only raining on their block of the street. Marilyn tells Tom she'd like him to meet her Aunt and Uncle. Marilyn first introduces Tom to Lily, and he gently shakes her hand. Tom tells Lily that she has quite a house, and he turns around to see Herman standing stiffly in his full suit of armour with the metal flap on the helmet closed, concealing his face. Tom looks at the armor and says, "This is quite a relic," and bangs on the helmet with his knuckles. Marilyn calls out Tom's name, and tells him that her Uncle is in there. Tom apologizes to Herman, who says "Gad Zooks, that smarts." Tom decides that Marilyn and he should head off to the party, and before he goes he apologizes once again to Herman who assures him that it was quite all right, and after Tom exits Herman mumbles that it was nice bumping into him.

Herman rushes over near a wall and pull back part of the rug. He stomps on a trap door in the floor, causing the entire house to shake. He calls out to Grandpa and tells him to hurry up. Downstairs in Grandpa's laboratory, the cobweb covered vials and glass containers shake on the shelves. Grandpa says he's still working on his costume. He selects a vial labeled "Mr. Hyde," and says it will be perfect especially since it got Fredric March "his first Academy Award." He opens the jar and waves it beneath his nose, smelling the contents. He mixes it in a beer stein with a large white pill and some seltzer water, says "Cheers" and drinks the potion. He holds up a hand mirror and looks at his face, and urges the potion to take effect. Suddenly he grimaces, and grabs his neck with both hands. He wails and falls onto the floor beside the counter. He moans and gasps for air as he pulls himself back up to the counter, revealing only his back. He grabs the mirror and looks into it, and sees his face exactly as it was before taking the potion. He disgustedly picks up the vial containing the potion, looks upward and says that "somebody up there has been cutting this stuff again." He smells the jar, and puts it on on the counter.

Upstairs Lily primps and adjusts her curls in the parlor. She advises Herman that no matter what the Dalys are like, he is to be gracious and polite. Herman assures her that he will be a gentleman, and Lily cuddles up against Herman's suit of metal. She coos and tells him that he "feels so nice and cold."

At the Daly residence, Agnes fusses over her table settings. She is dressed elaborately as Shakespeare's Juliet. She calls out for Albert and asks if he's ready, since the guest will be arriving shortly. As she walks to the next room she reminds Albert not to do or say anything to offend the Munsters, if only for the sake of their son Tom. Albert is seen looking into a mirror and fixing his make-up. He turns around to reveal that he is dresses as the Frankenstein monster, and looks almost exactly like Herman. Albert assures Agnes that he has no intention of offending the Munsters at all.

Back at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Lily is taking the coat of Mrs. Morton (Lurene Tuttle), telling her that her son Eddie is playing in his room. Both women agree that Eddie will be no trouble at all, with Mrs. Morton telling Lily that she's been a babysitter for twenty years, and nothing fazes her anymore. She walks down the few steps into the parlor, and stops in front of a giant cobweb.

In the other room, Herman waits near the trapdoor in the floor, and it opens and Grandpa emerges from his lab. He is dressed to look like Napoleon Bonaparte. Herman tells Grandpa that "he really looks like Napoleon."

"It was easy," says Grandpa, "I just combined the bottles marked Charles Boyer, General De Gaulle and Marlon Brando."

Herman adjusts Grandpa's hat and exits to join Lily in the foyer. He tells Lily that they should be going, and Lily introduces Herman to a startled Mrs. Morton who stares at Herman as he greets her. Next Lily introduces Grandpa to the babysitter, who smiles sweetly at Grandpa. He takes her hand and bends down to kiss it, but instead starts to bare his teeth until Lily chides him and he releases her hand and waves it off.

Before Herman and Grandpa walk out, Herman expressed disappointment in that it stopped raining. Grandpa tells him to try and not let that spoil his evening. After they exit, Lily turn to Mrs. Morton and tells her to make herself at home, and warns her that if Eddie's pet Spottie comes scratching at the back door, don't let him in. "Last time he ate the sofa," she says. Mrs. Morton smiles and agrees for a moment, and then looks very confused and befuddled. She turns and walks to the parlor.

Herman, Lily and Grandpa approach the front entrance of the Daly house. Herman warns Grandpa not to "get silly after having two drinks and start telling those shaggy wolf stories again." Lily insists that they make a good impression. Grandpa assures them that he will act with dignity. Agnes Daly opens the door and greets the Munsters. She is dressed as "Juliet" from the Shakespeare tragedy.

Herman introduces himself and the others, and Agnes presents her hand to Grandpa. He takes it and turns it over as he bares his teeth as if to sink them into Agnes' wrist. Lily strikes him with her Bo Peep staff as Herman tells him to knock it off. Grandpa then sweetly kisses Agnes' hand, giving Herman and Lily a disappointed look.

Back on Mockingbird Lane, Mrs. Morton is perusing the place when she sees black "Kitty" reclining on the back of the sofa. Delighted, Mrs. Morton bends and speaks to the cat in a loving motherly voice in an attempt to befriend it. Kitty lets loose a loud lion's roar into Mrs. Morton's surprised face, and then glances about casually. The intercom buzzes and Mrs. Morton picks up the receiver to hear Eddie ask to skip his bath tonight because they're all out of scalding water. She agrees and tells him to get ready for bed. The Raven and Kitty create a ruckus as Mrs. Morton exits the room.

Over at the Daly's party, costumed guests are dancing to a swinging instrumental melody. Herman in his full armor, is trying to drink a martini through the face plate. Grandpa comes to assist him, but gets distracted by a pretty girl and accidentally dumps the drink down into Herman's suit of armor. Grandpa gets annoyed by Herman and closes his helmet. Marilyn finds Grandpa and persuades him to go dance with Agnes Daly. Herman tries to shake the liquid out of his suit of armor.

Grandpa compliments Agnes as they dance a minuet, telling her she reminds him of one of his one-hundred-and-sixty-seven wives, all of whom now dead. Grandpa doesn't miss them, because he visits them often. Agnes breaks off the dance, and storms away. Grandpa shrugs. Agnes rushes over to her son Tom, and chastises him for making her invite "those horrible people." She wants Grandpa cut off from having any more alcohol.

Lily dances with an admirer, who compliments her on how light on her feet she is. He tells her that it seems like she's dancing on air, and she giggles and replies that it's funny he should say that. Lily's feet are six inches off the floor as they gracefully dance. Marilyn approaches Herman, and encourages him to introduce himself to Mr. Daly. Herman agrees and without lifting up the face plate on his helmet, walks over to an area where a group of costumed people are sitting, he meets Mr. Daly, who is in a Universal Studio's Frankenstein's Monster costume, which is not unlike how Herman looks. Herman tells Mr. Daly that he reminds him of someone he knows. Herman tells Mr. Daly that it's a shame that he couldn't get a costume for his own masquerade party and walks away. Mr Daly takes offense and tells Mrs. Daly of his displeasure in meeting The Munsters.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Morton has fallen asleep in a chair, when she is awakened by a loud wolf's howl. She suspiciously eyes Kitty, who sits innocently on a large open book. As she gets up, Mrs Morton realizes that her arms and hands have been covered in cobwebs. She rushes to the staircase and calls for Eddie, who reassures her that it was he who made the howling, as it's something he always does when the moon comes up. Eddie then calls out for Spot, and Mrs. Morton doesn't see the shadow of a huge dragon apparently walking up the stairs to Eddie's room.

Tom Daly makes his way through dancing masqueraders to find Marilyn. He asks her to leave with him to someplace more private. Marilyn express concern that their two families are not getting along. Tom says he'll take care of it, and walks to Grandpa, takes his arm and leads him over to Agnes Daly at the buffet table. Tom puts a plate in Grandpa's hand, and Agnes tells Grandpa that he will find something to his liking at the buffet. Grandpa says he will and he spoons some fire from a dish warmer, and swallows it. Smoke leaks from his lips. He then spoons some fire onto Agnes's plate, who looks agast.

Mrs. Morton takes a glass of milk to Eddie's room. He asks her to put it under the door. She bends down and puts the glass though a dog door at the bottom of Eddie's bedroom door. She tells him to go to bed, and he agrees. As Mrs. Morton walks away she hear the loud creaking of a large door slowly being closed. She nervously laughs and hurries away, as she fiddles with a lace handkercheif.

Back at the party, guests move an endtable to enable Agnes to stand up on it and announce that she's giving a magnum of champage to the guest in the best costume. Party-goers gasp and applaud, and then begin to shout out the famous names of some of the incognito revelers. An inebriated guest standing next to Herman yells, "I vote for King Arthur. Come on, take your helmut off!" Herman's helmut is lifted off his head by bystanders, and, now exposed for the first time, he grins at everyone. A man loudly expresses surprise that Herman is wearing one mask actually under another mask. Everyone laughs. Agnes Daly quizically grimaces and looks around, then presents the large champagne bottle to Herman.

Herman graciously accepts the champagne, and makes a pun about King Arthur and a "night." The party-goers laugh and applaud. Lily rushes from across the room to Herman, and tells him that they're all leaving the party. Herman doesn't understand why Lily wants to leave when he has just won a prize. She reminds him that it was for wearing one mask under another. Herman follows Lily to the foyer, and Lily asks Herman if he knows when he's been insulted. She says those people tried to make a fool of him. Herman bends to look into the hallway mirror hanging on the wall. The mirror shatters.

Herman realizes that it is his own face that won the masquarade contest, and he becomes annoyed. Grandjpa, Lily and Herman exit. Marilyn approaches Tom Daly, and accuses his family of plotting against her Uncle Herman, and demands that Tom take her home. Tom doesn't understand why Herman would be upset, since he just won first prize in the costume contest. He says that Marilyn had told him that her family was a "fun family." Revelers including Albert Daly continue to twist to the swinging music.

Now at home, Herman stretches and audibly yawns, still in his full amour and helmut. He and Lily are escorting Mrs. Morton out of the house. Mrs. Morton makes a quick exit, after saying that Eddie was no problem, except for the howling -- which she got used to. After Mrs. Morton leaves Lily wonders why Mrs. Morton would have been disconcerted by Eddie's howling, since Lily believes that all children howl when the moon comes up. She shrugs.

Herman and Lily sit in their living room before the fire. Herman reads from a book and Lily sips from a steaming ceramic mug. They hear footfalls on the porch, and Lily states it's Tom bringing Marilyn home. Lily then worries that Marilyn and Tom's relationship is becoming too serious, fretting that she certainly doesn't want Tom's parents in the Munster family.

Tom Daly has escorted Marilyn to the front door of the Munster house. He sees that no lights are on inside, and infers that her family hasn't yet arrived home. He asks to be invited inside, to which Marilyn doesn't agree. He tells her that John Alden wouldn't let Priscilla go into that cold dark house alone. Marilyn uses a key to open the door and Tom pushes his way into the house behind her. Marilyn turns and pushes Tom back, and says that now she will make some coffee. She tells him to go into the living room and turn on a light. He tells her not to be long, as he turns to go into the living room. He switches on the lights which quickly illuminate the scene of Herman and Lily relaxing in the living room. Both have now removed their costumes, and are in their everyday attire. They both stand to greet Tom, and Herman tells him that they have just removed their masquarade costumes. Tom stares at Herman and Lily incredusously, and mutters some incoherent questions, his face twisted into fright, and soon the hair on the back of his head flies straight up into the air. Tom scrables out the front door of the Munster home and onto the street.

Herman, Lily and Marilyn look out the door after Tom, with Marilyn asking Herman what happend, and why is Tom running. Herman doesn't know why, but claims that it was rude of Tom to leave without saying goodbye. Lily agrees, but adds that considering Tom's family, one shouldn't expect him to have manners. Marilyn proposes that she herself has "scared another one away," but this time she's kind of glad. Herman pats Marilyn on the shoulder and admits that he thought there was something strange about Tom since he "had the weirdest hairdo" he's ever seen. Herman slowly closes the front door to the Munster house, revealing a large dragon-type door knocker covered in cobwebs with large round crystaline eyes. The scene disolves into the closing credits, where a reprise of the opening theme song plays with the spooky house at 1313 Mockingbird Lane as a backdrop.