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The Halloween Tree
The Halloween Tree
The Halloween Tree
Audiobook3 hours

The Halloween Tree

Written by Ray Bradbury

Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT, eight trick-or-treaters gather at the haunted house by the edge of town, ready for adventure. But when Something whisks their friend Pip away, only one man, the sinister Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, can help the boys find him. "If you want to know what Halloween is, or if you simply want an eerie adventure, take this mystery history trip. You couldn't ask for better than master fantasizer Ray Bradbury," raves The Boston Globe.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 15, 2017
ISBN9781501966170
The Halloween Tree
Author

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury (22 August 1920 – 5 June 2012) published some 500 short stories, novels, plays and poems since his first story appeared in Weird Tales when he was twenty years old. Among his many famous works are 'Fahrenheit 451,' 'The Illustrated Man,' and 'The Martian Chronicles.'

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Reviews for The Halloween Tree

Rating: 3.899637303022975 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was a fun read to get in the Halloween mood m. But it was not something I loved or want to read again. It was a story about a group of boys who travel through time to discover a fictional history of Halloween.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I generally like Ray Bradbury, but this was definitely a children's title, and not his strongest work for me. As long as you know that going into it, you may enjoy it more than I did.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Like a Halloween fever dream. Loved it and perfect length.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    História fantástica com várias interpretações possíveis do que se passou! O narrador é óptimo e interpreta as personagens de forma fantástica;
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Almost like A Christmas Carol but got Halloween. A groom of kids travel to different historical Halloween to rescue a friend.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you were a scout leader and you had a several day camping trip with a group of, say, 10-12 year old boys, you might read this book aloud to them in dramatic fashion. This might work better if you were doing this in the 1950's-70's, because more modern kids are probably the type to either not connect with the characters well enough to insert themselves in the story, or would find this schlocky because of the sophisticated nature of most of the entertainment currently peddled to them. It might be a good experiment, though.The narration is dramatic, and dynamic (maybe with some updating and good special effects it could be a Hulu Original Content Holiday Special [I wonder who owns the rights, hm). The ostensible purpose of the book is to educate these young boys about the "history of Halloween" , though the factualness of the information imparted is disputable, and they're using harvest festival/start of winter celebration as a substitute in several cases. It was a fun read around fall time for me and it's nice to revisit the old masters. I enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I like Bradbury and there is a reason he is a master, but I think what he was trying with this story fell flat.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    4.5 starsFor the Tree was hung with a variety of pumpkins of every shape and size and a number of tints and hues of smoky yellow or bright orange. “A pumpkin tree,” someone said. “No,” said Tom. The wind blew among the high branches and tossed their bright burdens, softly. “A Halloween Tree,” said Tom.I ended up really loving this! It was a fast paced flight of fancy with just the right amount of light spookiness. The story starts off with eight boys, dressed in different costumes, skeleton, witch, gargoyle, etc. Although we do get all the boys' names, their pov is mostly led by Tom Skelton. The exuberance of the boys is felt as they set off to go trick or treating. The house beckoned with its towers, invited with its gummed-shut doors. Pirate ships are a tonic. Ancient forts are a boon. But a house, a haunted house, on All Hallows’ Eve? Eight small hearts beat up an absolute storm of glory and approbation.Their Halloween night was planned with a haunted house visit when they realize their fun leader, Pipkin is missing. They stop at his house and he comes out holding his side, looking pale, and obviously not feeling well. They're worried but also thirteen year old boys and when Pipkin says he's fine, they take off running to start their night as Pipkin says he'll catch up. For coming up out of the pile of leaves was a bony white hand, all by itself. And following it, all smiles, hidden one moment but now revealed as it slid upward, was a white skull.At the house, the door is answered by a creepy man who says trick instead of treat and their attention gets drawn to the tree in the yard. It has hundreds of pumpkins that seem to come alive and a Halloween song is sung that I wish was on Amazon music so I could play it on Halloween. There are a couple other songs in this and the writing style overall has a musical beat to it that I thought held the fast pace really well. After the song, a skeleton being rises out of a pile leaves (very Jake Skellington-ish sounding) and when a Dark Something steals away Pipkin who finally makes an appearance, asks them if the boys want to go on an adventure to save Pipkin and learn what Halloween means. Who could say no??“All the more reason for you to come along, lads. If we fly fast, maybe we can catch Pipkin. Grab his sweet Halloween corn-candy soul. Bring him back, pop him in bed, toast him warm, save his breath. What say, lads? Would you solve two-mysteries-in-one? Search and seek for lost Pipkin, and solve Halloween, all in one fell dark blow?”Is there a harder hitting line for the month of October than “Grab his sweet Halloween corn-candy soul.”?? NO. The boys are game and fly off with the being calling himself Mr. Moundshroud. This is probably where the story loses some readers, the boys fly back in history to the time of the Egyptian pyramids. Pipkin is the mummy being put into the sarcophagus! This trend continues as the boys are flown by Mr. Moundshroud to Greece, Italy, England, France, and Mexico. Pipkin is at turns a mummy, dog, and knocker, each time the boys learning about the origins of Halloween and how it has morphed and been shaped by the time period and culture celebrating it. It was a little lesson on hows and whys of humans creating their own mythos. I also liked how each of the boys' costumes was a small representation of the different periods and cultural tie-ins; the gargoyle fit with Notre Dame, the witch for the Druid ceremony. There was also a line when Mr. Moundshroud was talking about prehistoric humans and how in their understanding “ghosts” came about, Memories, that’s what ghosts are, that I thought was touching.“But, stop and think. What does the word ‘witch’ truly mean?”“Why—” said Tom, and was stymied. “Wits,” said Moundshroud. “Intelligence. That’s all it means. Knowledge. So any man , or woman, with half a brain and with inclinations toward learning had his wits about him, eh? And so, anyone too smart, who didn’t watch out, was called—”“A witch!” said everyone.When they got to their last destination, Mexico, around 60% I did think the loose, somewhat chaotic dancing style and pace was starting to need more structure but the adding in of more emotion to talking about and having the boys discover El Dia de los Muertos made up for some of the wildness. This is where their journey to save Pipkin comes to ahead as he's trapped in a catacomb and the little darkness that was emitting from Mr. Moundshroud rears its head. As with many a journey, friendships are tested, prices are paid, and we are given an ending that fit the learning, fun, spooky, and at times dark tone. “Well,” asks Moundshroud at journey’s end, “which was it? A Trick or a Treat?”“Both!” all agree.This is a story I could see myself reading every October, it's short, fast paced, fun, and brings some spooky vibes. The sing-song writing style and chaotic structure won't be for some but I'm wanting to add the Halloween Tree song to my playlist.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Every year for October my Book Club tries to read a book that leans toward the scary Halloweenish type book so we thought that this book would be perfect.Well, I didn't like it. I think it would have been fine as a short story stopping right where the Halloween Tree lights up with all the different Jack O-lanterns and having the kids run home. Instead it took these kids traveling through time trying to tell the history of Halloween or the day of the dead or whatever. I just didn't get it. I don't know if it's because I'm not particularly enamored of Halloween or Sci Fi but I definitely did not enjoy this book. It rambled too much, IMO.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There is much to love about this story written by Ray Bradbury and illustrated by Joseph Mugnanini. From the contagious sense of adventure to the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud, the celebration of Samhain/All Hallows/Halloween/El Día de Los Muertes to the magical Halloween tree filled with jack-o-lanterns, and the charming illustrations, it is the perfect story for Halloween enthusiasts. Kids and adults will fall under its spell and will want to make reading it a yearly October tradition.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In this middle grade, Halloween story a group of 12 year old boys set out to trick-or-treat and end up at a haunted house. They meet a mysterious man named Mr. Moundshroud who takes them on a adventure in discovering the origins of Halloween.A true classic and timeless story that echoes books like The Nightmare Before Christmas and A Christmas Carol. Well told with great characters and action. Perfect for the Halloween holiday.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I listened to this story so as to participate in the Literary Horror Group's October read. I have long been planning to read more of Ray Bradbury's work, so I jumped on this opportunity. (Mostly thanks to Edward Lorn through whose contest I won the audiobook version. Thanks again, Ed!)

    I enjoyed this fanciful tale even though it wasn't a bit scary. In fact, I would categorize this as more of a dark fantasy, though labels are just labels, in the end. As was true of the 2 other Bradbury stories I've read, the prose was flat out amazing. The man knew how to string words together in the most fantastic of ways.

    That being said, I wasn't that impressed with the tale itself. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but I felt that it was written more for pre-teens or teenagers than adults. It seemed to have a purpose behind it that would have made it a perfect read for junior high school. I know that Mr. Moundshroud would have fascinated me as a teenager. He fascinated me, even now.

    Bronson Pinchot's narration did the story justice, I believe, especially where Moundshroud's voice was concerned.

    All in all, I would recommend this story-most especially to younger readers and to readers that are still young at heart. There is a message here to be learned, but even if you don't "get" the moral, you still have a wildly imaginative tale to enjoy.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed the audio play I borrowed through Hoopla. Short and sweet. Gave me some fun ideas for a surreal D&D adventure. Definitely something a ten year old might enjoy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When I was younger I remember watching a cartoon about a group of kids who go on this wild adventure one Halloween night to find their friend drifting through space and time. It was only until I became an adult that I finally figured out the cartoon was called "The Halloween Tree" based on the book by Ray Bradbury. Since then I had listened to the book twice, once as a radio play and the other as an audiobook and I think this is probably the most appropriate way to enjoy it. Having a narrator other than yourself can add an extra element of suspense and creepiness to the story. The book is about a group of boys in some midwestern town ready to go out on Halloween night. However, they can't go out without their friend Pipkin. The boy embodies the Halloween spirit, it just wouldn't be right to go without him. When they finally arrive at his house, they find him being carried away in an ambulance. Then they see what appears to be his spirit running across the fields, following it they come upon the house of Mr. Monshroud and his tree full of jack-o-lanterns. What ensues is a subtle history lesson about the origins of Halloween and what makes us scared. Watching the cartoon as a child, the story was indeed creepy but I was enraptured. I too wanted to know more about Halloween and why we as humans like to be scared. Coming back to it as an adult, I still had that same feeling. Bradbury does such a great job of creating familiar places and imbues them with a sinister air. The one passage where I can recall that is when he describes the route to boys take in following Pipkins spirit. It's valleys and ditches that any child would play in during the daytime but in the dark on Halloween night they are something much much more. They are hideouts for things that go bump in the night and exist on the periphery of every child's imagination. I would say read this book but also listen to this book and have it read to you. It's such a completely different experience.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a quick read. It was ok, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I'm happy I finally read it but won't read it again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a fun book with a rhythm of language that adds to the haunting quality of the story, building tension upon what at first seemed somewhat harmless becomes more and more striking, more and more lasting in its effects and fear. Bradbury's style lends itself to making the story feel as if it ought to be read aloud, night after night by a campfire or a fireplace--near to Halloween and after dark--and while that style makes it in the beginning feel almost dated, almost old fashioned, it also allows the story to become something more, sort of timeless in intensity and theme.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Some books I kill by analysis. With The Halloween Tree I applied a tourniquet.The Undiscovered Country. Out there. Look long, look deep, make a feast. The Past, boys, the Past. Oh, it's dark, yes, and full of nightmare. Everything that Halloween ever was lies buried there. Will you dig for bones, boys? Do you have the stuff? [32]Bradbury's voice is singular, stilted and yet perfectly realised. It's recognisably his but modulated for this story, so not identical to The Martian Chronicles. At times almost as though it were blocking for an Elizabethan play, or recitative. But that tone conflicted with the gee-whiz Americana dialogue and un-ironic Our Town setting. The initial reading experience didn't work for me. Suddenly the day was gone. Night came out from under each tree and spread. [3]There's great material here, and a convenient summing up of our Hallowe'en mythology, in recent years mostly gobbled up for marketing and costume parties. The idea is inspired: to parallel our myths of death (of the sun: cyclical seasonal death; of people: left with memory ghosts), with the search for the boy Pip, his return after illness, his friends giving up a year of their life against Pip's return. But there were too many instances where Bradbury undermines that mythopeia, bursting the bubble with his knowing skepticism ("witches can't do anything, but they thought they could!"), even as ghosts and spirits propel the story forward. The prose by turns is elegant and evocative, then clunky and juvenile. Yet for all that, I didn't stop thinking about the story after I finished. I'm taken by the idea of using story to capture cultural history, despite the story Bradbury settled upon not living up to his premise. Just so many Frankenstein parts and the stitches altogether too apparent.In the end, a book I appreciate better for its parts than the whole. I'll take The Halloween Tree's incantatory history, leave the rest.//Mugnaini's stylised illustrations paint their own vision of the story yet fit Bradbury's prose perfectly.//I picked up Zelazny's A Night In The Lonesome October at the same time as Bradbury's The Halloween Tree, wondering which of these two books would best fit my impulse for a Hallowe'en read. Intriguingly, I'd not heard of either title before and then they were mentioned almost together. Though clearly different novels, each was warmly recommended in its own way. I was somewhat surprised Zelazny's impressed me more. An oddly poignant reminder that a text will offer an individual experience to each new reader, no matter how similar or sympathetic the interests or backgrounds those readers may share.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Hands down the greatest Halloween book ever. It always holds up, ALWAYS. Nothing gets me in the Halloween mood more than this classic. It's written with such imagination, prose, and imagery that it sucks the reader right in and takes them on the same incredible journey that 8 young boys go on one Hallows Eve. The creepy and mysterious Moundshroud takes the young boys on a journey back in time to relive Halloween in all it's variations, celebrations and changes. To Egypt, Ireland, England, France, AND Mexico; they journey on the scariest night of the year to save their missing friend Pip and to discover the true meaning of Halloween. No one can weave a tale like Ray Bradbury can and make you feel the breeze in the trees, see the jack o lanterns swaying, and smell the pies cooking. Even the movie adaptation is a classic. I can't wait to share this book with my future children (as of yet unborn and unplanned).
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I remember reading this in junior high, had to experience it again. Ray Bradbury is the master.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fun little Halloween romp. A group of boys go on a fantastical and allegorical journey where they find out the history of Halloween and how it developed through the ages.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A wild escapade for Halloween Eve. A gang of young boys set out in their costumes to celebrate Halloween as only young boys could in the years before stranger danger and poison scares. They become confused when their celebrated leader does not join them; but soon meet up with a grim and scary stranger who promises to help them find him. He takes them on an adventure through time showing in a dark and macabre way how each of their costumes came to be and how they all revolve around the theme of death, and appeasing death. Or something like that. I confess I only listened with one ear because the rhythms of the words are like poetry and soothed me rather than gripped me. The narrator, Bronson Pinchot, is very fine, and this would be a great story for educating older children about various cultures views on death.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Eight boys go to Pipkin's house to pick him up. It's Halloween and they're dressed in costumes and ready to go, but Pipkin doesn't feel well, so tells them to go to the big scary house in town and he'll catch up. The boys go to the house and find an enormous tree with jack o' lanterns hanging from each branch, and a strange man who offers to show them what Halloween is about. He whisks them through time, back to the Ancient Egyptians and Romans, to the Dark Ages and modern Mexico, explaining the truths behind the skeleton and mummy costumes they wear.I don't know how much interest this story would hold for a kid, either now or when it was first published in 1972. It's meant to explain all the different cultural aspects that make up an American Halloween, but it's written by Bradbury, who I really like, so you have a lot of sorta explanations mixed in with florid language that would likely confuse a child. And he's still using all the 'golly's and 'shucks' of a story set in the 30's. As in Something Wicked This Way Comes, a great book, you have one character who is described as the best, most loved boy, the sweetest of boyhood. Bradbury romanticized boyhood to a weird degree, even to the point where he couldn't include a single girl, not even for the character dressed as a witch. Even the witch was a boy.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Nine boys are planning on going out for Halloween.... Eight go out to pick-up their friend Pipkin, but Pipkin isn't feeling well. Normally the fastest, most engaging of the group, Pipkin urges everyone to go on to the ravine without him... saying he'll catch up. When they get to the ravine, the boys enter the darkness & come to a spooky house and a Halloween Tree.... When Pipkin arrives, he slowly disappears and in order to save him the boys must travel back in time and learn the teachings of the history of Halloween, Day of the Dead, & other rituals of Death.

    The book travels through time beginning at the time of the Pyramids & Valley of the Kings, Samhain, Roman Gods, Notre Dame, and Dia de Los Muertos. There are spooks, witches, Druids, Egyptians, Mexicans, Romans, and Christians who all have a historical relation to the costume each boy is wearing. The honoring rituals of each time period is explained so well, I could actually visualize many of them.

    I REALLY Wanted to Like This More.... Nicole gave such a good review and I was so excited. But I ended up wanting more story & less literary style. The writing & prose was quite lyrical, poetic, conjuring, & evocative.....but it all proceeded at what I felt was break-neck speed. Had it been slower it might have even been spookier than it was. The version I picked up had a wonderful cover illustration, but inside the book were only pen & ink drawings. I would like this to be made into a movie, but I'm not sure who could do it justice (as in over use of hype would ruin it).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A group of thirteen-year-old boys are taken on an extraordinary time-travelling Halloween quest in this holiday fantasy from acclaimed science-fiction author Ray Bradbury, learning about some of the antecedents of Halloween, whilst also pursuing their missing friend Pipkin. Opening in an unnamed Midwestern locale, The Halloween Tree follows Tom Skelton - appropriately dressed as a skeleton - and his friends as they head to the haunted house on the outskirts of town. Here they encounter Mr. Moundshroud, who appears first as an evil smile, and then as a tall dark man with green light in his eyes. It is he who becomes their eerie but joyful shepherd on a magical journey through the 'Undiscovered Country' of the past, showing them the many diverse, but also similar observances tied to the day we now call Halloween. From ancient Egypt to medieval Europe, from the gargoyles of Notre Dame to the Mexican customs of Día de los Muertos, the human relationship to death - both cosmic and personal - is explored. And at every stop on the journey, the boys discover another manifestation of their missing friend Pipkin - kidnapped by dark forces, and dying in hospital back home, all at once - until finally they themselves must confront death, and make a decision that will save their friend, and impact their own lifespans as well...I have been meaning to read The Halloween Tree for many years. Specifically, I have been meaning to pick it up at Halloween. Somehow though, I always seem to forget, and feeling that it must be read at this time of year, find myself shelving the idea once again, until the next autumn. Finally, this season, finding it on a display at work, I actually managed to get to reading it. I'm not sure if the years of expectation somehow sabotaged the experience, but I just didn't find it as engrossing as I'd hoped. I have seen the prose described as beautiful, but while Bradbury does have an occasional turn of phrase that struck me, I found his style somehow overdone. It was choppy, and yet overlarded with self-consciously clever description and metaphor at the same time. I was intrigued by the idea of linking the many historical periods and cultural observances to the central idea of death and rebirth, darkness and light, but didn't feel that Bradbury was always successful in doing so. I felt that his use of the phrase 'the Undiscovered Country' in referring to the past - a clear reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which it refers to the future - was interesting, but not entirely clear. The most powerful moment of the book, for me, came at the end, when the boys are asked to make a sacrifice for Pipkin, but I thought even this could have been better developed, better connected to the themes Bradbury seemed to be trying to explore. In sum: there was much to interest in this brief Halloween tale, but I simply wasn't as impressed intellectually, or moved emotionally, as I'd thought to be. This was my first Bradbury, and while I wouldn't be opposed to trying another of his more famous works, it didn't create in me a burning desire to do so...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    On a race through history, 8 boys must learn the secrets and origins of Halloween night in order that they might save the life of their friend, who has been stricken ill on Halloween. Ray Bradbury weaves an imaginative story that creates a rather simplified but no less interesting history of Halloween night. With his usual imagery, Bradbury really creates a story with eerie and sometimes scary nature that is Halloween night.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "It was like sweet and and sour sauce in book form. Not too sweet and not too sour."

    That's a direct quote from my nine-year-old daughter.

    I've read this book every year since I was seven years old. It was, as far as I can remember, my first experience with "horror" in literature, even if it's not a scary book. It's one of the main reasons I love Halloween as much as I do: the tradition, a holiday even older than Christmas, a celebration of those we've lost. It also captures the reckless, carefree, adventurous nature of preteen boys.

    I say this every year when I review this book and I will say it again:

    The Halloween Tree is to Halloween as A Christmas Carol is to Christmas.

    Mr. Moundshroud is one of the greatest characters ever created. Period.

    In summation: My highest possible recommendation. Read it. Read it to your kids. Read it to your parents. Read it every year. Just read it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A group of boys is ready to go out trick-or-treating, but one of their friends, Pipkin, is nowhere to be found. Pip suggests his friends meet him at a haunted house, and from there, the boys are taken on a voyage through place and time to learn about the history of Halloween at those various times and places, including Egypt when the pyramids were first built, Europe during the witch burnings, Mexico where they learn about Day of the Dead, and more.It was ok. I listened to the audio, narrated by Bronson Pinchot. I thought he did a good job as narrator, but for the first half of it, my mind wandered too much and I did miss quite a bit. I managed to pay better attention through the second half and enjoyed that more. It's a quick little story and a good choice for Halloween.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I finally got around to reading this for my All Hallows Read this year (yes, I'm getting in a little early). The use of language is frequently magnificent, if at times overly-lush (more so than I'm used to from his short stories, certainly), the imagery is stunning and will stay with me for some time, and there's some appropriate nastiness to the tale. Overall, it's a fun romp, and though the characterisation is paper-thin and the telling is a little dated, I think children in particular will still love it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Halloween TreeBy Ray BradburyPublisher: Alfred A. KnopfPublished In: New York City, NY, USA Date: 1972Pgs: 145REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSSummary:A trick or treat expedition sets out from the neighborhood on Halloween. When they discover one of their companions missing, they end up on a mission through time trying to find their friend. Along the way, they discover the origin of Halloween. The dead, the darkness, the ghostly, ghastly, ghoulies await in the dark of All Hallow’s Eve. Come one, come all to the Halloween Tree.Genre:fiction, young adult, HalloweenWhy this book:I’ve heard about this for years and never taken the time to read it. It has resided on my “to read” list for a long, long time. Recently, I saw a list of Neil Gaiman’s in which he named this one of his quintessential Halloween reads. I was looking for a Halloween read for this year and was going back and forth between rereads of The Graveyard Book by Gaiman or The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. But when I saw this on Gaiman’s list, it jumped to the top of mine.This Story is About:courage, working hard, doing the right thing, greed, friends, jealousy, love, caring, happiness, sadness, familyFavorite Character:Mr. Moundshroud. He’s magic. He is the night.Least Favorite Character: Pipkin, he’s the boy that everybody loves. I’ve always hated those guys. Not that I want bad things to happen to them. And I would have helped the rest of our friends to search him out.Character I Most Identified With:Tom. We’re all supposed to be Tom; afraid for our friend, swept along by dark and mysterious powers as we learn the origins of Halloween, filled with the wonder of childhood.The Feel:The run through the night streets on a Trick or Treat mission. Candy or bust. With an autumnal wind at your back. The wonder in the dark. The magic of the night.Favorite Scene:The lighting of the Halloween Tree when Moundshroud arises.The circus kite building and the flight through the night skies and through time.The appearance of Samhain and the scything of the autumnal wheat and the dead. The Fall of the Druids, the Rise of Rome, the Fall of Rome, the burning of the witches...the way these were pastiched together was very well envisioned. Settings:The neighborhood on Halloween night, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, old England, Europe, ParisPacing:The pace of the story is easily enclosed in the exposition and poetry without dragging. Well done. Master craft.Plot Holes/Out of Character:N/ALast Page Sound:N/AAuthor Assessment:It’s Ray Bradbury.Editorial Assessment:Well done.Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:The cover shows the boys at the beginning of their quest all dressed up in their Halloween best. Love the negative image/illusion of Mr. Moundshroud made into the image of the boys in costume. Illustrations:Yes. Illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini. My favorite is the image of Mr. Moundshroud from the epilogue where he seems to stand before the whirlpool of infinity with his cape being part cape and part a locust’s veiny wings.Hmm Moments:The exposition about ancient Grecian autumnal practices, re: Halloween, mirroring the passing over of the spirit of death during the 10 plagues of Egypt from the Moses story in the Bible. Specifically, the painting of the lintel with pitch to keep out/catch the ghosts and keep them from entering.Knee Jerk Reaction:real classicDisposition of Book:Irving Public Library, Irving, TXWhy isn’t there a screenplay?There was a Cartoon Network production with Leonard Nimoy voicing Mr. Moundshroud and with Ray Bradbury as The Narrator. Find it surprising that there haven’t been more adaptations.Casting call:Would love to see Brad Pitt or George Clooney as Mr. Moundshroud in a live action movie.Angus Scrimm should have been Mr. Moundshroud.Would recommend to:All who love Halloween, Ray Bradbury, and the things that go bump in the night
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This should be read every October, and the style really works well with being read aloud. Though I believe I'm basing that on my remembrance of the animated film of The Halloween Tree, I think it's probably true.

    A few quotes:

    P. 4 "...Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallow's Eve. Everything seemed cut from soft black velvet or gold or orange velvet. Smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys like the plumes of funeral parades. From kitchen windows drifted two pumpkin smells; gourds being cut, pies being baked."

    p. 18 "...Until they stood at last by a crumbling wall, looking up and up and still farther up at the great tombyard top of the old house. For that's what it seemed. The high mountain peak of the mansion was littered with what looked like black bones or iron rods, and enough chimneys to choke out smoke signals from three dozen fires on sooty hearths hidden far below in dim bowels of this monster place. With so many chimneys, the roof seemed a vast cemetery, each chimney signifying the burial place of some old god of fire or enchantress of steam, smoke, and firefly spark. Even as they watched, a kind of bleak exhalation of soot breathed up out of some four dozen flues, darkening the sky still more, and putting out some few stars."

    You could quibble with Bradbury being too fond of simile and metaphor, and that would be fair. Still I feel it gives a great adventure story take on why we still celebrate the holiday, with enough atmosphere to make it seasonal. And I'm probably biased since I have always enjoyed Day of the Dead.