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The Halloween Tree

Ray Bradbury,

Bronson Pinchot (Narrator)

3.84 · Rating details · 18,557 ratings · 2,155 reviews

On a Halloween night, eight boys are led on an incredible journey into the past by the mysterious "spirit" Moundshroud. Riding a dark autumn wind from ancient Egypt to the land of the Celtic druids, from Mexico to a cathedral in Paris, they will witness the haunting beginnings of the holiday called Halloween. Ray Bradbury's evocative prose and imagery will send shivers of ...more

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Audio CD, Unabridged, 3 pages

Published August 1st 2011 by Blackstone Audiobooks (first published 1972)

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Oct 12, 2013 Kenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, classics, fantasy, young-adult

They thought of All Hallows' Night and the billion ghosts awandering the lonely lanes in cold winds and strange smokes.
The Halloween Tree ~~ Ray Bradbury

cover

I've a tradition of reading Charles Dickens every December. It may be a short story or a full length novel, but December is meant for Dickens. After having read The Halloween Tree, I have decided that I will now read Ray Bradbury every October. October is meant for Bradbury .

There is so much to love about this book ~~ The Halloween Tree is the ...more

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Oct 26, 2016 Dan Schwent rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, 2016-books

When their friend Pipkin is snatched away, his eight friends, with the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud, go looking for him, crossing time and space and learning all about Halloween.

Apart from some of his short stories, I've never ready any Bradbury. Since we're on the cusp of Halloween, I gave this a shot.

This is a cute, fun story. Mr. Moundshroud teaches the boys about Halloween across the ages while they look for their missing friend Pipkin. There aren't a lot of childrens' books that reference ...more

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Oct 10, 2018 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, horror-etc, classics, paperback, halloween-reads

Welllll, that was different!

Happy Reading!

Mel ...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Lyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury is a short novel by the grandmaster that uses as a premise a group of trick or treating boys traveling through time chasing a mysteriously missing friends to create a vehicle for examining the roots and sources of Halloween.

Probably written for a juvenile or young adult audience, Bradbury demonstrates his range and imagination to craft a story that is as entertaining as any of his more recognized works.

The character Moundshroud, most likely as a ...more

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Oct 08, 2014 Maciek rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, october-country, read-in-2014

This book and I have a history, and one which I wasn't even aware of until I have actually read it. Years and years ago, I saw an opening snippet of a Halloween movie on Cartoon Network - it was October and they had Halloween-themed cartoons running all day long, from the Addams Family to special episodes of Scooby Doo...but this one caught my attention: it was a full length animation, and the opening scene featured a bird's eye view on a small town, where dusk had just began to fall, and the This book and I have a history, and one which I wasn't even aware of until I have actually read it. Years and years ago, I saw an opening snippet of a Halloween movie on Cartoon Network - it was October and they had Halloween-themed cartoons running all day long, from the Addams Family to special episodes of Scooby Doo...but this one caught my attention: it was a full length animation, and the opening scene featured a bird's eye view on a small town, where dusk had just began to fall, and the skies were fiery red. For some reason I didn't get to watch the rest of it, and for years remembered just this image of burning red sky and a sense of autumnal mystery - I couldn't find the title of this film as all this happened when the internet was still in its infancy. But this image had never completely left my mind, and after reading this book something in the back of my head urged me to see if it was ever adapted for the screen - and lo and behold, I learned that in 1993 Hanna-Barbera has turned it into a feature-length animated film, written and narrated by Bradbury himself, and it was since often shown on Cartoon Network during Halloween. I even saw the opening on YouTube, and it matches what I remember almost to the letter.
Can you believe? After so many years I've finally found my long forgotten cartoon, which as a boy I thought I'd never see again (for some reason it didn't occur to me to just look for it a year later - perhaps because after October and Winter arrived Summer, which at this age was like beginning to live in a completely new world). I'm older now, but that boy is still there somewhere within me, and he is very happy. Special thanks go to Ziba for introducing me to this book and urging me to read it - thank you! :)

The Halloween Tree is another of Ray Bradbury's ode to youth and boyhood - and a true Halloween special. Bradbury wrote in simple but elegant language, and his words are filled with nostalgia for the earlier, simpler time of youth and childhood, and the sense of mystery and adventure which were all around when the days turned shorter and colder, leaves fell from the trees and whispers of ghosts began to circulate. Eight friends dress up in Halloween costumes - there's the skeleton, a mummy, a witch, even Mr. Death himself - but they're missing the group favorite and their leader, Pipkin; he looks unwell, but has never missed a Halloween and tells them that he will meet up with them as they go on. The group arrives at a mysterious Gothic mansion with a gigantic tree hung with Jack-O-Lanterns; they discover that the house is inhabited by an equally mysterious man named Moundshroud. Just then Pipkin appears, but is snatched away from them by unknown forces and dragged into the dark, unknown space; Mr. Moundshroud invites the group on a strange journey through time and across the world, the only chance to save their friend.

The structure is similar to Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, where Ebenezer Scrooge is taken by various ghost to experience the Past, the Present, and the Yet To Come - but AChristmas Carol is a story of another season and another man, focused solely on Scrooge and his relationship with others. The Halloween Tree, while giving plenty of attention to Pipkin, is focused much more on Halloween and its origins - from the ancient traditions of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, through the Celts and the medieval times in Britain and France, to the Mexican Día de Muertos. Civilizations which created these customs have long since disappeared, but their tradition survived and influenced the holiday and its celebration, and are all elements of this story.

Joe Mugnaini illustrations are delightful and I wish there were more of them. Still, I think that The Halloween Tree is a story which would shine when listened to - as told by someone who understands autumn and Halloween and cares about both deeply, and delights in telling stories to an engaged audience of young and old children. It's a short novella which can be read in one sitting, but paints a great tribute to the season - the warmth of summer and its lush green disappeared, but in their place arrived mystery and the multitude of sensations which you can't experience at any other time of the year. I don't think anyone can dislike this book, but I think plenty of us autumn people will end enjoying it greatly. ...more

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Oct 15, 2017 Trish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It's big, it's broad ...
It's broad, it's bright ...
It fills the sky of All Hallow's Night ...
The strangest sight you've ever seen.
The monster Tree on Halloween.

The leaves have burned to gold and red
The grass is brown, the old year dead,
But hang the harvest high, Oh see!
The candle constellations on the Halloween Tree!

The stars they turn, the candles burn
And the mouse-leaves scurry on the cold wind bourne,
And a mob of smiles shine down on thee
From the gourds hung high on the Halloween Tree.

The

It's big, it's broad ...
It's broad, it's bright ...
It fills the sky of All Hallow's Night ...
The strangest sight you've ever seen.
The monster Tree on Halloween.

The leaves have burned to gold and red
The grass is brown, the old year dead,
But hang the harvest high, Oh see!
The candle constellations on the Halloween Tree!

The stars they turn, the candles burn
And the mouse-leaves scurry on the cold wind bourne,
And a mob of smiles shine down on thee
From the gourds hung high on the Halloween Tree.

The smile of the Witch, and the smile of the Cat,
The smile of the Beast, the smile of the Bat,
The smile of the Reaper taking his fee
All cut and glimmer on the Halloween Tree..."

October has always been my favourite time of year. The autumn colours, the usually sunny but fresh air - it all looks and feels so cozy. At some point I also heard about Halloween or All Hallow's Eve (it wasn't celebrated here for a long time) and it has quickly become my favourite "holiday" of the year. Carving pumpkins, using hundreds of candles, watching and reading spooky movies and stories ... there is just a special atmosphere about it.

Nevertheless, despite what many cynics say, this is not a holiday invented by the sugar industry. All Hallows Eve has had many names throughout the centuries and was (still is, in fact) celebrated all over the world and always for the same reason: the fear of darkness and hope for the light (sun) to come back. In fact, many years ago, November 1st used to be New Year's!

This book is full of the energy of children running around, playing in heaps of leaves, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins and laughing all the while. Bradbury seems to have many different voices, depending on what kind of story he's telling, and this is one of pure joy. The book tells of Halloween, its history throughout time and space, and of hope and friendship through the children that need to save their friend with the help of the mysterious Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud (his identity is in the name). He takes them on a journey to learn about human history, the history of darkness vs light, fear vs hope, to make them see ... well, find out for yourselves.

This book has so many great messages. From what witches really are, to the fate of any form of belief (even if it has become one of the biggest religions in all the world), to cultural differences that still tell of the commonalities, to the value of a human life. And all with this incredible charm and vitality, perfectly capturing the spirit of Halloween!

Accompanying this great tale are wonderful black-and-white illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini.

I cannot even adequately put in words what this little book means to me. I think I shall read it every October from now on. It's THAT GOOD, invoking the spirit of autumn in general and Halloween especially. Just the right amount of childish joy for all things spooky (because make no mistake: there is enough spookiness in this) as well as intelligent excursions into dark and deep topics. Trick and treat indeed! ...more

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Oct 14, 2013 Candi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, horror-creepy, young-adult

This was a fun and quirky read for Halloween. Ray Bradbury has a great way of painting a myriad of images in his writing. I adored the illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini! When I started this book, I was hooked immediately and thought this was going to be my 5 star Halloween book for the year. "The wind outside nested in each tree, prowled the sidewalks in invisible treads like unseen cats. Tom Skelton shivered. Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on ...more

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Oct 17, 2017 Bradley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, fantasy, 2017-shelf

Mr. Moundshroud proves to be a delightfully light (read leaves on the wind) Virgil as he takes a group of kids on a roaring fast ride through time on Hallow's Eve to give us the "real" rundown on mummies, witches, druids, and all the creepy crawlies of history, summing things up with a quintessential Bradburian moral *and* prosaic reveal.

It's perfect for what it is: a totally fast YA ride that might get even better justice as a full production Spielberg production with a gazillion dollars behind ...more

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Oct 29, 2017 Darwin8u rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017

“Suddenly the day was gone,
night came out from under each tree and spread.”
― Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

description

It was nice to read this and remember that before Stranger Things and before Neil Gaiman there was Ray Bradbury. Not one of his great novels, but still seasonally important. The plot seemed a bit too contrived. But how can you not adore a book that transports you from Egypt, to Greece, to Rome, to Druid England, to the top of Notre Dame, to Mexico celebrating Día De Los Muertos? The ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Paul O'Neill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'll be reading more Bradbury!

The writing in this is phenomenal, it's delight to read. I'm not sure why, but the images in my head when reading this were very Tim Burton-esque.

What are some of his other works that I should check out? Besides Fahreinheit 451 that is...

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Oct 20, 2019 Gabrielle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, fantasy, speculative-fiction, young-adult, reviewed, own-a-copy, spooktober-books, read-in-2019

Spooktober read #7!

I don’t mind that I didn’t get Dr. Seuss books when I was a kid: I would have probably disliked them. But I am vaguely upset that no one thought to read me “The Halloween Tree”: I already loved that holiday more than Christmas by the time I was six, and I know I would have been equally terrified and thrilled by this lovely story.

I had been meaning to get a copy for a while when I found this amazing edition, illustrated by the great Gris Grimly (who gave me the best “ ...more

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Nov 02, 2019 Lori rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, reviewed

"This is Halloween Halloween Halloween
This is Halloween
Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween"

Okay, wrong reference, sort of, because surely Ray Bradbury's Tom Skelton of "The Halloween Tree" influenced Tim Burton's Jack Skellington, star of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." What I know is both are brilliant. What I didn't know is Bradbury first wrote The Halloween Tree as a script for an animated screenplay that was never made, then he had it published as a book and ultimately wrote a "This is Halloween Halloween Halloween
This is Halloween
Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween"

Okay, wrong reference, sort of, because surely Ray Bradbury's Tom Skelton of "The Halloween Tree" influenced Tim Burton's Jack Skellington, star of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." What I know is both are brilliant. What I didn't know is Bradbury first wrote The Halloween Tree as a script for an animated screenplay that was never made, then he had it published as a book and ultimately wrote a different script for a feature-length animated version that was produced in 1993 which I only just learned exists. And there's candy left to eat while watching!

It's a charming book suitable for tweens or younger (only you know your children's abilities and maturity levels) and older kids, say, in their nineties. This is a classic, a must-read for everyone who loves Halloween, a great adventure and/or lovely writing. At times Bradbury's prose is beautifully poetic. That's hard to sustain for an entire book and he can't, but it makes the best passages that much more special and surprising and they're throughout the story so you don't have to wait long.

Eight boys set out on their annual trick or treating trek but missing their beloved leader, Pipkin. They go towards the town's very haunted-looking house which Pipkin scoped out and pass The Halloween Tree, lit with a bounty of carved pumpkin faces and somehow sings a song to greet them. From there it's on to the creepy old house with its gargoyles and parapets where once inside theymeet the very tall, bony man named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud.

"'A fine name,'" said Mr. Moundshroud. "'Lads, look at yourselves. Why are you, boy, wearing that Skull face? And you, boy, carrying a scythe, and you, lad, made up like a Witch? And you, you, you!'" He thrust his bony finger at each mask. "'You don't know, do you?'"

He promises to help them find Pipkin and show them "'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...'"

And so begins their journey through the history of Halloween from the discovery of fire to ancient Egypt, Druids, Witch hysteria, the building of Notre Dame (where we're treated to especially lovely language when the gargoyles are added) and more until, after joining a Day of the Dead feast, they're deposited back home. On every journey through time Pipkin proves elusive, can be heard or seen or in between, adding mystery to the history. In the end all is solved and sorted, none of them will ever be the same and Halloween will be even more special.

I've read this many times but it's been too long. The original illustrations are my sentimental favorite but Gus Grimley's here add a different take and they're fine folk art, some black and white and some in color. There is prose and proems and songs and chants and I'm never going to go so many years without reading it again because it tickles the memories, seduces the senses and while reminding us of its origins brings every past Halloween into the present with all its sweetness and joy. This is Halloween!

It's a day you can be anything you want and stuff yourself with candy till you're sick. Then on to flirty costumes and fun parties and maybe TP'ing the nasty neighbors' trees. One day some will have the fun of costuming and taking their own littlies trick or treating. And later on, when the sun is going down, if you're lucky you'll get to sit on the porch surrounded by carved pumpkins and delight in the kids coming up the steps to collect their candy corn and chocolates. This is Halloween! ...more

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Oct 14, 2017 Johann (jobis89) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"There must have been a thousand pumpkins on this tree, hung high and on every branch. A thousand smiles. A thousand grimaces."

Eight young boys learn about the origin stories of Halloween with the help of a mysterious character called Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. However, their friend, Pipkin, has been whisked away and the friends will have an important decision to make with regards to whether he lives or dies.

This is one of those children's books that can still be enjoyed as an adult. It's ...more

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Sep 30, 2014 Gregor Xane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014

I often find Ray Bradbury's writing a bit precious. At some point in his career it seems to me that he became more concerned with being a GREAT AUTHOR than simply telling a great story. And, yes, I felt that way sometimes while listening to The Halloween Tree.

BUT...

And that's a rather large 'BUT.'

But, with The Halloween Tree he did manage to pull off the gorgeous poetic prose, the grand imagery, while telling a wonderful story. I don't use the word 'wonderful' often in a serious manner, but ...more

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Oct 09, 2016 Mariah Roze rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: diversity-in-all-forms-book-club

I struggled a lot with how this book was written, because of that I had a hard time following alone with what was going on.

I plan on watching the movie though, and I hope I enjoy that wayyy more!

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Oct 10, 2019 MissBecka rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to MissBecka by: Alisha

Shelves: ctown-bookclub-choices, z2019-books-i-read

Update:
I watched the cartoon and if possible it now makes even less sense lol.
I did enjoy the fact that Ray Bradbury could totally be a voice double for Donald Sutherland and that Leonard Nimoy voiced Moundshroud.

Original Review
What the fuck did I just read?
This book made zero sense.

And yet...I enjoyed the adventure.

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Oct 29, 2017 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, ya, sci-fi-fantasy, spooktober, hoopla, read2017

This was a fun little Halloween read, about a three hour audiobook read by Bronson Pinchot. It starts with a bunch of 11-12 year old boys on Halloween night, assembling for trick-or-treating, and veers off into a boys adventure novel that also has elements of American Gods. I loved the Halloween tree and will look for one this year. :)

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Sep 26, 2019 ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪SomeBunny Reads (Phoenix)•*¨*•♫♪ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

And it was the afternoon of Halloween.
And all the houses shut against a cool wind.
And the town was full of cold sunlight.
But suddenly, the day was gone.
Night came out from under each tree and spread.

A Halloween Carol! Love the idea, I wonder why I never read this book when I was a kid!
When October approaches, I find that the best stories that put me in the "Halloween mood" are stories for kids; I mean, Halloween is a holiday we associate with our early years, so it's only natural that the ...more

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Nov 02, 2007 Alex Telander rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2007, books-read-in-2008, books-read-in-2009, books-read-in-2010, books-read-in-2011, books-read-in-2012, books-read-in-2013, books-read-in-2014, books-read-in-2015, books-read-in-2016

THE HALLOWEEN TREE BY RAY BRADBURY: I read this book every October because it’s the perfect Halloween book. It’s taken me a couple of readings, but I now finally realize that The Halloween Tree is the equivalent for Halloween what A Christmas Carol is for Christmas: an enchanting journey into the history of Halloween where one leans much and is changed by it.

A group of eight boys are on their way out to trick or treat on Halloween, all in different costumes – skeleton, mummy, gargoyle, etc. – THE HALLOWEEN TREE BY RAY BRADBURY: I read this book every October because it’s the perfect Halloween book. It’s taken me a couple of readings, but I now finally realize that The Halloween Tree is the equivalent for Halloween what A Christmas Carol is for Christmas: an enchanting journey into the history of Halloween where one leans much and is changed by it.

A group of eight boys are on their way out to trick or treat on Halloween, all in different costumes – skeleton, mummy, gargoyle, etc. – and head over to the final friend’s house, Pipkin. Pipkin is sick, doesn’t look well at all, but is essentially the leader of the group and has never missed a Halloween, so he tells them to go on ahead to a specific house and he will catch up with them.

The house turns out to be the quintessential Halloween mansion, with many rooms and black windows. Beside the mansion they find a great and ancient oak with many branches and hanging from those branches are many carved pumpkins, swinging in the breeze. This is the Halloween tree, and as the boys watch, each of the pumpkins light up. At the door they ask for trick or treat, and the man on the other side tells them not treat, but trick. Terrifyingly, he appears from a pile of leaves. He is tall. He is skeletal. He is Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud.

After the boys get over the initial terror, they are invited on a journey by Mr. Moundshroud. They see Pipkin being taken into the past, weakened by his sickness, and it is up to Moundshroud and the boys to rescue Pipkin from time. And so the boys begin their journey, forming the tail of a giant kite controlled by Moundshroud and they pass back through time and visit the Halloweens of history: Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, medieval Britain, Notre Dame, and El Dia de Los Muertos.

It is an incredible story where one learns the history of Halloween seen through the eyes of many different cultures, told in the unique style of Ray Bradbury. Afterwards you will feel as if you’ve actually experienced many different Halloweens and be all the more ready to experience your own on October 31st.

For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter. ...more

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Oct 31, 2015 Wayne Barrett rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, classics, fantasy, young-adult, 2016

At my age I can no longer climb trees like a monkey or sail through the air, leaping over hedges as I sprint down the street. At least, not physically. But because of writers like Ray Bradbury, I can still do these things in my mind. I can escape into the far reaches of my mind and become a boy again, leaping, running... and being able to lose myself in the innocence of fantasy and make-believe.
This is a great adventure and glimpse into the heart of All Hallows Eve. And it is done masterfully ...more

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Aug 17, 2018 Rachel Bea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: folk-horror, books-of-2018, tcf2018, tower-teams-vi, middle-grade, under-200-pages

Vivid
Imaginative
Fantastic
Dark

...I think I could quote this book forever...

Night and day. Summer and winter, boys. Seedtime and harvest. Life and death. That’s what Halloween is, all rolled up in one. Noon and midnight. Being born, boys. Rolling over, playing dead like dogs, lads. And getting up again, barking, racing through thousands of years of death each day and each night Halloween, boys, every night, every single night dark and fearful until at last you made it and hid in cities and towns ...more

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Sep 30, 2014 Char rated it really liked it

Shelves: dark-fantasy, audio-book

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 ...more

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Nov 01, 2016 Ron rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fantasy, horror

It was good, just not the Bradbury I’m accustomed to. Made me think about the origins of Halloween, which is the whole point. Best part by far came near the end – where meaningful Bradbury surfaced.

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Sep 03, 2007 James rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

this limited edition version of bradbury's halloween tree that was printed in 2004 is absolutely the version worth reading, entirely for the inclusion of his first submitted typescript.

see, knopf was interested in a straight-up juvenile book. bradbury wanted to write "a book for children of all ages." so, when the first knopf edition was published in 1972, there were a ton of cuts, largely to bradbury's wonderful descriptive passages.

also included are a ton of supplemental materials, including ...more

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Sep 30, 2017 Jess (Primrose) rated it it was amazing

This will most definitely be an October read for me around Halloween from this year forward. It's a read every year kind of book. Only Ray Bradbury, in the spirit of a traditional holiday tale, can weave the magic of Halloween into a tale with a dark meaningful moral at the end.

I was utterly enchanted moving through the ages of time with the boys and Mr. Moundshroud as the the group searched for the elusive, wisp like Pipkin. Tears sprang to my eyes as Tom briefly questions Mr. Moundshroud at ...more

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Mar 02, 2019 Aqsa (On Hiatus) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Aqsa (On Hiatus) by: Kristina

Shelves: favorites, adapted-books, recommended-to-me, buddy-reads-read-along

3.75

Read for March Reading Sprint-2019 in Buddy Reads.

So obviously I didn’t know anything about Halloween other than what I saw in a couple of movies and I was excited to read this. I had already read his book Fahrenheit 451 last year and loved it, but this isn’t anything like it. It seemed like some other writer.

"Suddenly the day was gone, night came out from under each tree and spread."

We follow 8 boys as they leave their homes and go to various houses shouting Trick-or-Treat when they ...more

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Oct 24, 2017 ❄️✨ Kat ✨❄️ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-chapter-books, halloween, 2017, read-alouds, middle-grade

3.5

"O Mr. Moundshroud, will we EVER stop being afraid of nights and death?"
"When you reach the stars, boy, yes, and live there forever, all the fears will go, and Death himself will die."

On Halloween night, 8 boys go to their friend Pipkin's house so they can go trick-or-treating. When Pipkin comes out, he's not quite himself, and tells them to go to the house of Haunts at the end of the ravine. Skeptically, they head there, and knock on the Marley-esque knocker, where they meet Mr. Moundshroud. ...more

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Oct 22, 2013 Edward Lorn rated it it was amazing

The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury, is to Halloween what Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is to Christmas. If the novella is not required reading, it should be. This short book proves that Halloween is so much more than a holiday created by candy bar companies, and is most certainly not a satanic celebration. From the tombs of Egypt to the underworld of Mexico during Dia de Los Muertos, Bradbury whisks us away on an autumnal wind. The journey is poignant and purposeful. What exactly would ...more

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Nov 08, 2018 Cameron Chaney rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade, spooky, 2018

I read The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury a couple of Halloweens ago and it has been one of my favorite Halloween stories since. While it can be a bit wordy in usual Bradbury fashion, the story is beautiful and totally captures what the season is all about. I decided to listen to the full-cast audiobook this Halloween and really liked it as well. The added songs were a little cringey, but I thought it was a cute production overall. Recommended!

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Oct 29, 2017 Jessaka rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: halloween

What an amazing poetic writer, one that can weave a fantasy story that I can actually visualize. Eight boys get together to go trick or treating, and then they realize that one of them is missing. They feel it in their bones, they begin sniffing, he is not with them. So they go to his house, and he answers the door, and it is obvious that he is ill, so he tells them to meet him at an old spooky mansion that is just outside of town. He will be okay; he will be there.

The boys go trick or treating ...more

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Into the Forest: The Halloween Tree	28	48	Jan 14, 2018 09:32AM

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About Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury

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Ray Douglas Bradbury, American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a "student of life," selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at Ray Douglas Bradbury, American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a "student of life," selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter. He became a full-time writer in 1943, and contributed numerous short stories to periodicals before publishing a collection of them, Dark Carnival, in 1947.

His reputation as a writer of courage and vision was established with the publication of The Martian Chronicles in 1950, which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences. Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury's masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden. In an attempt to salvage their history and culture, a group of rebels memorize entire works of literature and philosophy as their books are burned by the totalitarian state. Other works include The October Country, Dandelion Wine, A Medicine for Melancholy, Something Wicked This Way Comes, I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. In all, Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays, and plays. His short stories have appeared in more than 1,000 school curriculum "recommended reading" anthologies.

Ray Bradbury's work has been included in four Best American Short Story collections. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. In November 2000, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was conferred upon Mr. Bradbury at the 2000 National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City.

Ray Bradbury has never confined his vision to the purely literary. He has been nominated for an Academy Award (for his animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright), and has won an Emmy Award (for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree). He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television's Ray Bradbury Theater. He was the creative consultant on the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. In 1982 he created the interior metaphors for the Spaceship Earth display at Epcot Center, Disney World, and later contributed to the conception of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney, France.

Married since 1947, Mr. Bradbury and his wife Maggie lived in Los Angeles with their numerous cats. Together, they raised four daughters and had eight grandchildren. Sadly, Maggie passed away in November of 2003.

On the occasion of his 80th birthday in August 2000, Bradbury said, "The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you'll come along." ...more

Books by Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes (Green Town, #2)

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Trivia About The Halloween Tree

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Quotes from The Halloween Tree

“The wind outside nested in each tree, prowled the sidewalks in invisible treads like unseen cats.
Tom Skelton shivered. Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallows' 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.” — 128 likes

“Suddenly the day was gone,
night came out from under each tree and spread.” — 82 likes

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