BotM 2016 - [October] The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury - Part 1 (Before Starting)

[J]

The winner of the October Book of the Month is The Halloween Tree!

Discussion of the book will begin on October 1, except for in this thread which is a ‘prior to starting the read’ discussion. After this thread, there will be a new topic for each third of the book, with these further sections posted at the beginning of the month, allowing members to read at their own pace and enter the different threads as they progress. Unlike previous months, I have broken the sections into chapters rather than percentages.

This month, I volunteered to pre-read the book and come up with the initial questions that will drive our discussion. I pose 4 questions below, if you post an answer to these questions then please post your own question at the end. Then the person after you answers your question and posts their own. This will create a chain of questions and answers, much like the style of "Person Below Me".

For more information about the book of the month, see the Introduction post.

Part 1: 0% (before starting the book)
Part 2: Chapters 1 - 7
Part 3: Chapters 8 - 16
Part 4: Chapters 17 - 19

Part 1 Questions:

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you!

[Rachel]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
I didn't know Ray Bradbury had written any TV shows or films, so I don't think I've seen any. Skimming through the list, I don't see anything that I'm really interested in seeing. I read Fahrenheit 451 for the first time this year, and I really enjoyed it.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Yes and no. I live in Canada, so it is celebrated here and it was actually one of my favourite holidays. My family is also Jewish (although I consider myself more agnostic), and people who are more observant of the Jewish religion do not celebrate Halloween at all. I work at quite a religious organization, and we don't really even acknowledge it.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
I went out trick or treating as many years as I could possibly get away with it. One of the benefits of looking younger than I am! My best friends and I even went out when we were in our early teens, and got a bit of a lecture by his neighbour about "aren't you guys a bit old for this?"

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
I was never the type to really invest in costumes or makeup, so I tend to re-use the same one over and over. I had a homemade cat costume when I was really young, and through most of elementary school, I had a black robe that was some kind of vampire/witch hybrid. Literally at one house, the person would ask if I was a witch, and the next would ask if I was a vampire (unless I had the witch hat). I never bothered to correct them.

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you!
I'm first, unless someone's posted at the same time as me. So my question is -- do you find it strange that we tell children not to talk to strangers or take anything from them, and then have one day each year where it is actively encouraged?

[Veronica]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
Sadly, i have not read or seen anything by him. I do want to read Fahrenheit 451 at some point.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Yesalthough its not a particular favorite of mine.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
I don't realky have a memorable one, but like Rachel I look younger and could still go out trick or treating in high school.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
I don't remember my costumes though I do recall being a ballerina a few times and a cat.

5. do you find it strange that we tell children not to talk to strangers or take anything from them, and then have one day each year where it is actively encouraged?
I never thought about it like that! Thast is strange to think about. Msybe its because our parents are with us?

My question: do you enjoy going to haunted hauses ( or similar spooky places)? Why or why not?

[Sophie]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
- I've read (and really liked) Fahrenheit 451, but it's the only one from him.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
- We didn't used to celebrate Halloween in Switzerland when I was a kid, it arrived maybe 10 or 15 years ago, mostly as a commercial thing. I know some kids are going trick-or-treating, but no one has actually ever rang my bell. I think here it is more a excuse to organize dress-up parties ;)

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
- I remember being able to flirt with a guy I liked at a Halloween party just because he didn't recognize me. For some reason I was very shy around him otherwise ;)

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
- We actually celebrate Carnival in February, where all the kids (and the adults going to parties) dress in costumes. I was more of a tomboy growing up, and I remember one year my grandmother sewed me a beautiful princess costume, but I didn't want to wear it and used a sheet to turn myself into a ghost instead haha

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you!
- Not really, I'm kind of a wuss ;) There is a very old and spooky house in my town, but I never dared entered it ;)

My question : What do you think about the slow spread of Halloween in countries that don't traditionally celebrate it?

[Zaz]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
I read Fahrenheit 451 last year. I enjoyed the story but not so much the characterization so I'm curious to try another book by him. I don't think I saw a movie.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Halloween arrived in France around 2001, so now some people celebrate it. We have a day off on November 1st (which is "for the dead") and we have a carnival in February-March which is a costumed day for kids and celebrated at school.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
No particular memory (costuming isn’t my thing, I spent most of my time not being myself, so what’s the point?) but I remember that I enjoyed a lot the make-up part, I had a book at home with photos and loved looking at it :)

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
I celebrated the 1st Halloween in France (so in my 20ies) and was costumed as The Crow. We didn't go trick or treat.

5. What do you think about the slow spread of Halloween in countries that don't traditionally celebrate it?
I find interesting to have a spooky celebration, it's a nice change (not the "collect kg of candies"). But the cultural side seems well behind the commercial one...

My question: Were you frightened by something paranormal when you were a kid?

[Silvia]

I love that this "before reading the book" section has been included :)
1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen? I have read only Fahrenheit 451 when I was in the school and loved it!

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?Not when I was a child, but the celebration has gained pupularity over time due the influence of Hollywood :), however it's much more popular a celebration "for the dead" on November 2nd . It's not like the mexican Dia de los Muertos, although is called the same and, probably, share the same origin.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday. When I was a child, I really wanted to celebrate Halloween because in the movies looked so funny! So, my friends and I agree to celebrate even if nobody else did, so we disguise ourselves as ghosts (not any other costume available that our own bedsheets with a couple of holes that with cut ourselves) and went to the streets to ask for candies... the only people who gave us candies was the lady of the store (mom of one of the children) because nobody else was ready for a group of ghost visiting their houses :D ... so, we didn't get many candies, but it was fun :)

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?I guess the bedsheet with the holes.

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you! Were you frightened by something paranormal when you were a kid? Oh, Yes! Too many scary movies and the stories that my grandpa used to tell during blackouts caused that I jumped because shadows or light effects .... or maybe there were ghosts and I, as an adult, don't want to believe :)

My question: There are some movements who say that Halloween should be banned. Why do you think is that and what do you think about it?

[Maple]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?

I've read The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes. I really enjoyed both of these books, and would consider both of them favorites. I plan on reading Fahrenheit 451 as soon as I finish Outlander.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Halloween is huge here! Though in Alaska we some trick or treating a month earlier so the kids can be outside in their costumes without worrying about freezing.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
I first thing that comes to mind is the year I was told I could no longer go trick or treating. It wasn't because I was too old; I was still in primary school. It was because my dad was going to live in Russia for work for the next couple of years and could no longer take me. He told me it was not my responsibility to stay home with my mom and give treats out to the kids that came to our house. He gave me a Tomogachi in substitution of a Halloween costume that year.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
It was the year I wanted to be a vampire. I think I was in first grade. When dad and I were out trick or treating I remember a lot of boys making fun of me saying I couldn't be a vampire because I was a girl, and I just retorted that I could be whatever I wanted, and they couldn't tell me otherwise.

5. There are some movements who say that Halloween should be banned. Why do you think is that and what do you think about it?
I say hogwash! It's a fun holiday that kids get to dress up in fun costumes, run around, and beg for candy. It's also fun for adults, but for other reasons. Plus, all the great movies and haunted houses. Usually the people who want to ban Halloween are citing religious reasons, but in my 20-some years on this earth, I have yet to be at a Halloween gathering where devil worshiping/summoning have been a thing. And if debauchery is the reason for banning the holiday, well that's going to happen with or without Halloween.

My question: What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

[Anastasia]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
I read The Illustrated Man for this challenge earlier in the year. It is a book of short stories and I gave it 3 stars. Some of the stories were very freaky. They sent chills up my spine. Others were not that interesting to me. The ones involving children were the best.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Yes to both. I live in Canada so many different cultures have celebrations here.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
Going door to door as a child was so much fun. We would scare each other with stories about each neighbour and speculate about who handed out the best candies. One of my friends did get an apple with a razor blade in it, so we knew to avoid that persons house the next year. We also knew who had the rotten eggs hidden in their costumes and quickly ran to hide when they came near.


4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
Dressing up as a grease monkey in a pair of old mechanic overalls with a tail sewn on.

5. What is your favourite Halloween tradition?
Making our house into a haunted house and handing out candy. My children are older now so we do not really trick or treat anymore.

My question: Do you watch scary movies, or read scary books more this time of year?

[Rachel]

Wow, the razor blades in the apples actually happened? I'm Canadian also, and we always heard stories about that but no one ever really thought they were true...

[Anastasia]

Yep, it was an old man who did not like kids. Everyone avoided his house after that year.

[Michelle]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
I know these questions were supposed to be answered prior to reading but I pre-read before October to help moderate. The Halloween Tree was my first Ray Bradbury read (though I have Fahrenheit 451 on my list to finish before the year's end). I know there is a TV show adaptation to this book (which I bet is brilliant also) but I haven't seen it. So far, I like his style. He seems imaginative.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Yes, Halloween is celebrated here in the U.S. Since the U.S. is the great melting pot, I'm sure many communities celebrate Dia de los Muertos also but it isn't as prevalent as Halloween, though it seems to be growing in popularity even among those without Mexican heritage.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
I think what I loved the most about Halloween growing up was that feeling of freedom you got as a kid. Halloween was different when I was growing up than it is now. Trick or Treat lasted as long as people still had candy to give. There were no time brackets. Whether or not it was a school night, you trick-or-treated on Halloween. You didn't need a parent or guardian with you, you could roam your neighborhood alone and feel safe. And although it was essentially begging for food at your neighbor's doors, it felt like you earned your haul. I was always so proud of mine. Then all us kids would sit around and barter our goods with each other until we were satisfied.

On the note about the razor blades, this was always something that we heard growing up so our parents always checked everything before we were allowed to eat any of it. My mom would throw away anything that looked suspect like torn wrappers, smooshed chocolate bars, etc., even if it was accidental, but I don't recall her ever finding anything nefarious.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
One of the other memories I have of Halloween is my aunt sewing all our costumes (mine, my siblings, my cousins - it was quite a project). Our costumes were made with time and love, never store-bought and they were always fantastic! Since I'm also into sewing, I hope this is something I can do for my own little jelly bean.

We all went as the characters from the Wizard of Oz one year. I had a really cool Garfield costume one year. Probably the most memorable, though, was a Little Bo Peep costume. I was like the cutest toddler ever in that thing. ;)

5. Do you watch scary movies or read scary books more this time of year?
The violence/gore aspect of Halloween (that seems more prevalent nowadays) is my least favorite part of this time of year. I like more of the spooky scares than the gross-out stuff. I don't typically watch horror movies at all (my favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus and I'm 31-years-old). This year, though, I did try to save my more spooky reads for October. I'm planning to read Coraline, A Monster Calls, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Monstrumologist, and Frankenstein in October. Maybe The Last Star too if I can squeeze it in.

My question is ... (along the lines of Question 3) How do you feel Halloween (or similar holiday) has changed since you were a kid?

[Sophie]

Anastasia wrote: "Yep, it was an old man who did not like kids. Everyone avoided his house after that year."

I hope nobody got hurt, but it is definitely an efficient way of being left alone O_o

[Anna]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
I read Fahrenheit 451 this year for the challenge. I liked it so much I bought a copy.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Halloween wasn’t celebrated in Hungary, it seems like it got here around the time it arrived in Switzerland and France according to Sophie and Zaz.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
We have the Day of the Dead (All Souls' Day, according to Google translate) on the 1st of November, when one visits the graves of loved ones.
We also have a Carnival, in February, when kids dress up.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
I made cats’ costumes for my daughters when they were in kindergarden. It was very rudimentary.

5. How do you feel Halloween (or similar holiday) has changed since you were a kid?
As I said, Halloween wasn’t celebrated in Hungary when I was kid, but now one can buy huge pumpkins to carve at every store in October.

My question: What books have you read that take place at Halloween?

It's a great idea J to have these warm-up questions at the beginning, and I think it was fantastic of you to volunteer to moderate this BotM read.

[Molly]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?

I have read Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and A Pleasure to Burn. I have seen the movie adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 and loved it!

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?

Oh yes. My friends still dress up and go to bars and parties on Halloween weekend. We decorate our house every year. We watch scary movies and read scary books throughout the entire month.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.

My neighbor growing up decorated his entire house (inside and out) every Halloween. It was soooo much fun going trick-or-treating and stopping at his house to see all the scary props and gimmicks he would set up. And he was the nicest guy ever so it made it that much more fun.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?

My mom made all of our costumes. She made me a Mrs. Potato-Head costume one year made out of felt and velcro so you could move the pieces of her face. As adults, my family dressed up as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Uncle Scrooge to Disney World's Halloween party and got a lot of love from Daisy and Donald Duck. It was one of the best experiences I ever had for Halloween.

5. What books have you read that take place at Halloween?

I have read Something Wicked This Way Comes that takes place on Halloween. I can't think of any others that actually take place on Halloween. I have mostly read horror loves that take place at different times of the year.

My question: What is your favorite Halloween/horror movie?

Mine are Hocus Pocus and Under Wraps.

[SamZ]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?
I have read Fahrenheit 451, and for some reason I remember watching it, but no specifics, so it may have been a dream. I have also read parts of The Illustrated Man. I always like Bradbury's writing, so I don't know why I never seem to pick more up.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?
Yes! I live in Idaho, USA and we love Halloween. We trick or treat, dress up in costumes, and decorate our homes. We also have a church "Trunk or Treat" one of the nights prior to Halloween where we decorate our cars and the kids go car to car getting candy and/or treats.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.
My grandparents would come out late on Halloween night to see our costumes. My grandpa would ask to see our candy hauls and then proceed to eat 50 or 60 pieces of candy! He always started with the Butterfingers and chocolate, so if you wanted any you had to hurry and hide it before Grandpa got there. He passed away 4 years ago this month and I'd happily buy him all the candy in the world if I could sit and watch football with him again.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?
My mom sewed all of our costumes, so they were pretty amazing. My sister always wanted to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast, so her costume could be reused each year, but I always wanted to be something crazy. My mom would figure out how to make it work (even though she worked full time). My favorite was the year I wanted to be Wonder Woman. This wasn't popular 20 years ago so there was no pattern. Also, my mom had to figure out how to make the costume appropriate for a 9 year old who would likely be trick or treating in the snow! I think she rocked it!


What is your favorite Halloween/horror movie?
I like the funny and suspenseful ones, not the scary, horror ones. I really like Wait Until Dark, Charade, and Arsenic and Old Lace. I also love Toy Story of Terror with my daughter and the old Disney Silly Symphony with the dancing skeletons.

New question: Do you do any fun activities in Halloween besides Trick or Treat/costumes?
We always go to a local farm and pet animals, ride small fair-type rides, and pick pumpkins.

[Brandy]

1. Have you previously read any books by Ray Bradbury or seen TV shows or films written by him? If yes: what did you think of them, any favorites? If no: any you wish you had read/seen?

I've read Fahrenheit 451 and Martian Chronicles in school. Loved the both.

2. Is Halloween, or a similar holiday, celebrated in your culture?

I'm American so yes we do Halloween. Love it.

3. Share with us a particularly memorable childhood experience associated with the Halloween (or similar) holiday.

And the first year after my parents split up I was going to be staying with my dad. My mom always made my costume or sourced bits of it from cool places, but my dad wasn't crafty like that so I just bought something from the store because I didn't want to be a bother. I picked an Elvira costume because it came with a bone necklace and a wig that I thought was cool even though I'd never heard of Elvira

It also came with a makeup kit. I didn't know anything about makeup and am not arty so I was like I'll just skip that part, it is dark and I have the necklace and the wig so I'm cool. So I go to leave and my dad has the makeup kit and he's like come on then, let me do it. And I was like, this is not going to turn out well. Turns out he did great! Way better than my mom would have done. Matched exactly the picture on the front of the costume packet. Turns out my dad could draw.

He'd always drawn woody woodpecker to make me laugh when I was little but it is the only thing I'd ever seen him draw so I thought he just had this one bizarre drawing talent. Apparently? Not so much. Turns out he used to be a sickly kid and used to draw all the time.

4. What was your best or most memorable costume?

One year I went as Amelia Earhart and we bought some of my costume at an army surplus store and I thought that was really super cool.


5. Answer the question posed by the person above you!

I love to carve pumpkins. LOVE IT. And I always do a couple but a couple of years ago I carved 4 on Halloween day and by the time the trick or treaters came I could barely lift my arm.

Would have been great if I'd dressed as a zombie.

New Question:
Do you have a favorite Halloween (or other holiday decoration)?

[Sophie]

If anyone is interested, there's a deal on amazon for this book, it's just $2!
I knew I had to wait before buying it ;)