EastEnders delivers one of its most chilling instalments yet tonight (Wednesday, October 29), as Zoe Slater finds herself at the centre of a terrifying ordeal that leaves her bloodied, screaming, and convinced someone in Walford is out to get her.
In scenes already available on BBC iPlayer ahead of their BBC One broadcast, Zoe’s paranoia and fear reach breaking point when she is seemingly attacked in the Queen Vic cellar.
A return to horror
The episode opens with tension still simmering after the Slater family’s disastrous Halloween party. Zoe (Michelle Ryan) is left shaken after the disturbing discovery of a mysterious VHS tape and the resurfacing of haunting memories linked to her late uncle, Harry.
Things take a sinister turn when Zoe finds the smashed picture frame, which she’d thrown out earlier, back on her bed. Moments later, her bedroom door slams shut behind her, sending her into panic.
Believing the twins might be playing a prank, Zoe calls out to them, but they are nowhere to be found.
Kat is haunted by the past
Meanwhile, Kat (Jessie Wallace) is still reeling from watching the VHS tape that resurfaced earlier in the week. The home video, labelled Slater’s Halloween 1988, had unearthed painful memories of her childhood trauma, including the moment her abusive uncle Harry appears on screen.
Zoe overhears Alfie (Shane Richie) talking negatively about her mental state. Feeling increasingly isolated, Zoe confronts Kat and Alfie, insisting someone is tormenting her.
‘They were just upstairs!’, ‘Someone’s trying to scare me!’ she shouts, but Alfie brushes off her fears, reminding her that Mo is away and the twins are still out trick-or-treating.
At that moment, Anthony (Matthew Morrison) emerges from the bathroom, unaware of the tension or that the party has finished. Zoe immediately turns on him, accusing him of sneaking around the pub. Anthony, however, once again pulls Kat aside and warns her that Zoe’s mental health seems to be deteriorating fast.
The tape of secrets
Ignoring Kat’s pleas to rest, Zoe is determined to watch the VHS tape herself. Against Kat’s advice, young Tommy helps her set up the old player. But what begins as curiosity quickly spirals into confrontation when Tommy begins asking difficult questions about what he saw.
As the footage plays, Kat’s worst nightmare unfolds on screen, and Tommy realises the horrifying truth about his family. Kat admits that Uncle Harry was Zoe’s biological father.
The revelation leaves Tommy shaken, asking Kat if he could ever turn out like his great-uncle, given the names he’s been called for being friends with Joel. Kat reassures him that he is nothing like Harry, telling him, ‘You’re a good man, Tommy.’
Night terrors in the Vic
After the emotional confrontation, the Slaters turn in for the night, but Zoe, exhausted and restless, falls asleep downstairs on the sofa with a film playing in the background.
When she wakes suddenly, the Vic is shrouded in darkness. The power has gone out, and the eerie silence is broken only by faint noises from the cellar. Thinking it might be the cat, Zoe grabs her phone and uses its flashlight to investigate.
What follows is pure horror. As she steps cautiously into the barrel store, Zoe calls out for her beloved cat, but there is no response. As she turns a corner, she suddenly screams in terror, her cries echoing through the pub.
Upstairs, Kat and Alfie bolt awake to the sound of Zoe’s blood-curdling screams. Kat races downstairs, unlocking the cellar door.
Zoe bursts out, trembling and hysterical, her hands smeared with blood. ‘I thought I was going to die!’ she cries, insisting that someone had pushed her in the dark.
Alfie immediately checks the cellar but finds no one there.
Kat, visibly shaken, calls Tommy to get her phone; she’s calling the police.
The episode ends with Zoe still sobbing in Kat’s arms, terrified and confused, as Alfie stares down into the pitch-black cellar, clearly doubting that this was just another prank but nonetheless confused.
Who is tormenting Zoe? Was she really attacked, is someone trying to make her believe she’s losing her mind? Or is she actually, as Anthony suggested, having a psychotic break?
