Short Story Guide
These are stories from Ray Bradbury's anthologies, summarized and reviewed.
I Sing the Body Electric (partial)
The October Country/ Dark Carnival
* = Not that good
** = Good
*** = Really Good
****= Awesome
published 1960. New version includes both original 'Melancholy' stories and S is for Space stories.
IN A SEASON OF COLD WEATHER
published: 1956 in Playboy
synopsis: A man on the beach meets his idol, Picasso... sort of.
review:* Never really takes off.
A MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY (or: The Sovereign Remedy Revealed!)
published: 1960
synopsis: A family desperately searches for a cure for their daughter's unknown ailment.
review:** An interesting read, but you have to wonder what kind of mood Bradbury was in when he wrote this.
THE WONDERFUL ICE-CREAM SUIT
published: 1958, originally "The Magic White Suit" in The Saturday Evening Post
synopsis: Six poor Mexican-American men put their money together to buy a snow white suit and hat, that gives them all a heightened feeling of life.
review:*** Beautiful story, it's funny to imagine these six men running clumsily up and down the city streets.
FEVER DREAM
published: 1959
synopsis: A sick boy feels his illness slowly taking over and controlling his body...
review:** Sort of scary story, especially when the adults all ignore his pleadings.
THE MARRIAGE MENDER
published: 1959
synopsis: A young married couple have different opinions on the value of their bed. The husband loves its itricately carved posts and headboard, where his wife fells like she sleeps in a calliope. But then, both have a change of heart, and realize what's most important at the end.
review:*** Although you might not get a good idea from my synopsis, it's a sweet story.
THE TOWN WHERE NO ONE GOT OFF
published: 1958, in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
synopsis: Two men observe how no gets off at the small, seemingly insignificant towns along the long train routes. Until one of the two men actually does, and meets a mysterious old man in a rocking chair at the train stop.
review:*** Very creepy story, especially with the old man... I'd love to see this made into a short film. It also makes you wish people still travelled in trains more often.
A SCENT OF SASPARILLA
published: ? in Star Science Fiction Stories #1
synopsis: An old man spends too much time musing over old memories in the attic, much to the annoyance and fear of his wife.
review:** I like these "Crazy old man not understood by his wife" stories. Good ending.
THE HEADPIECE
published: ? in Lilliput
synopsis: An aging man hopes his new toupee will help him win the heart of a woman down the hall.
review:** Sympathetic, pitiful character here. Very much a character-driven story, if you can understand that.
THE FIRST NIGHT OF LENT
published: 1956 in Playboy
synopsis: Giving up the drink drastically changes a kindly Irish cab driver.
review:*** A story with a lot of heart. One of the better anecdotes from Bradbury's later Green Shadows, White Whale
THE TIME OF GOING AWAY
published: 1959
synopsis: An old man wielding a premonition of death packs his bags and decides to just walk off.
review:*** Don't go on my incoherent synopsis; read this story. One of Bradbury's saddest.
ALL SUMMER IN A DAY
published: ? in Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine
synopsis: On Venus, the sun only shines for an hour every seven years; it rains the rest of the time. A group of Venusian schoolchildren anxiously await their first view of the sun, except for one outcast girl who still remembers it...
review:**** Very original story, plus a cool ending. Remember this from Malkin's class, guys?
THE GIFT
published: 1959
synopsis: A young boy and his parents take his first Mars rocket ride on Christmas Eve. Sadly, the crew won't let them take his tree or present with them, until his father finds a truly better gift to give his son...
review:*** Could this be the first futuristic Christmas story? Wait, no, the Jetsons...
THE GREAT COLLISION OF MONDAY LAST
published: ? in Argosy (London) as "Collision of Monday"
synopsis: A collision takes place outside an Irish pub; but an American bystander finds that collisions in Ireland are a bit more unusual...
review:** If this is all totally factual, than Ireland must be the weirdest place in the world.
THE LITTLE MICE
published:? in Escapade as "The Mice".
synopsis: A man and a woman ponder the obscurities of a shy Mexican couple who lives next door.
review:* Not much to say about this one.
THE SHORELINE AT SUNSET
published: 1959
synopsis: A couple of greedy men find a mermaid washed ashore on the beach.
review:** Certainly a different take on traditional mermaid stories.
THE DAY IT RAINED FOREVER
published: 1959
synopsis: Old, lonely men at a lonely old hotel in the middle of the desert pray for rain. It comes, but in an unexpeted form...
review:*** Heartfelt story, good read.
published 1966
CHRYSALIS
published: 1946, in ‘Amazing Stories’
synopsis: A scientist contracts a strange disease, which causes him to evolve to a better human being while encased in a gooey "chrysalis", much to the puzzlement of his colleagues.
review: ** One of Bradbury’s early works of science fiction, it’s a little too predictable.
PILLAR OF FIRE
published: 1948
synopsis: William Lantry, a corpse, wakes from the grave in the year 2349 to find that the dead are no longer buried, but burned, and there is no longer any fear in the world.
Review:***Extremely far-fetched, but that make sit all the better. Gets weird when Lantry goes on a killing spree.
ZERO HOUR
published: 1947
synopsis: Neighborhood children play a game of alien invasion. The parents think it’s cute, until they realize it’s not just a game...
review:***Interesting read that summons a lot of 50’s Russian/Alien paranoia memories.
THE MAN
published: 1948, in ‘Thrilling Wonder Stories’ (great name, huh?)
synopsis: Space explorers travel from alien planet to planet. Instead of getting warm welcomes, however, they learn that everytime, they arrive just after a mysterious man who heals leaves.
Review: ****Thought-provoking, and you can’t wonder if there are some religious overtones to it.
TIME IN THY FLIGHT
published: 1953
synopsis: Schoolchildren in the future go back in time on a "field excursion" to a certain small Illinois town. There, they see all that they’ve been missing in the future: summer, freshly cut lawns, Halloween...
review: **** I really like this one, it’s chock full of nostalgia.
THE PEDESTRIAN
published: 1951
synopsis: In the future, a man is arrested for enjoying a stroll at night.
Review: ** Not as interesting as the concept, but it does make you wonder about the future. If you read carefully, there's even a reference to this story in Fahrenheit 451.
HAIL AND FAREWELL
published: 1953
synopsis: A boy who can’t seem to grow past 12 years old travels around the Midwest finding families who will adopt him.
Review: **
INVISIBLE BOY
published: 1945, in ‘Mademoiselle’
synopsis: A magical woman turns a boy ‘invisible’.
Review:* Not a great story, but some interesting dialogue.
COME INTO MY CELLAR
published: 1962
synopsis: Hugh Fortnum feels something’s amiss in the world, and
suspects it has something to do with his son’s mail-order mushroom
growing kit.
Review: *** Creep city.
THE MILLION-YEAR PICNIC
published: 1946 (also appeared in The Martian Chronicles)
synopsis: A man contemplates the destruction of the Martian race while
having a picnic on Mars.
Review: **** Very eerie, and provocative.
THE SCREAMING WOMAN
published: 1951
synopsis: Nobody believes a little girl who finds hears a woman buried
underground.
Review:*** (in the television version of ths story, Drew Barrymore plays the little girl).
THE SMILE
published: 1952, in 'Fantastic Magazine'
synopsis: In a destroyed future, a boy waits in line to spit on a painting of the Mona Lisa.
Review:** Cool idea, a wee out there.
DARK THEY WERE, AND GOLDEN-EYED
published: 1949, in 'Thrilling Wonder Stories' (originally titled "The Naming of Names")
synopsis: An Earth colony on Mars slowly begins to become the race they thought they destroyed.
review:*** Really cool paranoia science fiction story.
THE TROLLEY
published: 1955, in 'Good Housekeeping'
synopsis: The children of Green Town are disappointed to learn that their town's golden trolley car tracks will be torn up, until they are taken for one last ride.
review:**** Excellent story chock full of nostalgia.
THE FLYING MACHINE
published: 1953
synopsis: The ancient Emperor of China fails to see the miracle in one of his subject's new flying invention.
review:*** A classic, makes you appreciate the simple things in life.
ICARUS MONTGOLFIER WRIGHT
published: 1956
synopsis: An astronaut ponders the history of flying before his lift-off.
review:*** Nice metaphors, good language.
published 1971
THE KILIMANJARO DEVICE
published: 1950(?) in 'Life'
synopsis: This one actually has me stumped... I'm not really sure what it's about.
review: ? Though like most of his books, it's fun to read just for the words.
THE TERRIBLE CONFLAGARATION UP AT THE PLACE
published: ?
synopsis: A bunch of Irish drinking partners decide to burn down their opressor's mansion... but run into some comic trouble in true Irish Fashion.
review:** This is a silly but funny story... it eventually evolved into Green Shadows, White Whale (a novel), which I had a hard time with. I guess you have to be Irish.
TOMORROW'S CHILD
published: ?
synopsis: A young couple gives birth to a child with a new form of futuristic birthing technology, which malfunctions, imprisoning the child in another dimension and giving it the appearance of a blue pyramid with tentacles.
review:** This one is pretty far-fetched also. A little unsettling, too... not for expectant mothers!
THE WOMEN
published: ? in Famous Fantastic Mysteries
synopsis: Two women fight over a man vacationing on the beach. One? His wife. The other? The Atlantic Ocean.
review:*** Very eerie, the stories without a tangible evil are the best.
THE INSPIRED CHICKEN MOTEL
published: ?
synopsis: A California-bound family take a stop at a strange motel where a chicken has layed something mysterious and prophetic.
review:* Silly story. Still, you have to wonder if this is based on past experience?...
DOWNWIND FROM GETTYSBURG
published: ? in Playboy
synopsis: A rebuilt Abraham Lincoln android repeats deadly history in the future.
review:*** I had to read this twice to take it all in...
YES, WE'LL GATHER AT THE RIVER
published: ?
synopsis: Small town folk reflect on the eve of a new highway opening, when the old highway that stood adjacent to their town will be put out of commission, hence killing their town.
review:**** When reading, I sort of got that feeling that I had when reading The Green Mile; that eerie feeling of waiting on the last night before your execution. I'm a sucker for these nostalgia stories, so it gets four stars in my book.
THE COLD WIND AND THE WARM
published: ?
synopsis: A party of free-spirited (gay?) foreigners noisily enter a hotel to the shock of the manager and a certain visiting writer.
review:* Based on a true story, I think, because you can never tell when fact ends and fiction begins with this guy. Another anectode later to appear in Green Shadows, White Whale.
NIGHT CALL, COLLECT
published: ?
synopsis: An old man, stranded in a ghost town on Mars, is haunted by phone call recordings he made forty years ago.
review:** It's a cool idea, although very hard to follow at the beginning.
THE HAUNTING OF THE NEW
published: ?
synopsis: A certain writer meets an old impulsive, reckless girlfriend who has had her grand house burned down and rebuilt to get rid of the bad memories.
review:** Good metaphors for life in here. Yet another story that would eventually make up Green Shadows, White Whale.
I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC!
published: ? originally titled "The Beautiful One is Here" in McCall's
synopsis: A family, distraught over their mother's death, buy a real mechanical grandmother who brings back joy and life to the grieving father and children.
review:*** Good grandmother story, I recommend it for anyone who has recently lost a loved one. I've seen TV-movie version of this, and it's pretty bad (my 6th grade class saw it a while back, everyone hated it), so stick with the story.
THE TOMBLING DAY
published: ? in Shenandoah
synopsis: An old woman eagerly has the remains of her 60 year-dead high school boyfriend, only to become disappointed and jealous once he is unearthed.
review:** A little far-fetched, but you don't notice it when you're reading. Interesting take on "death preserves youth" angle.
ANY FRIEND OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY'S IS A FRIEND OF MINE!
published: ? originally "Charlie is My Darling" in McCall's
synopsis: A failed writer assumes the personality and imagination of Charles Dickens, traveling through a town where a impresses a boy and upsets a local barber.
review:*** Bradbury has a fascination with dead authors living again, and although it's sometimes akward, this story works.
HEAVY-SET
published: ? in Playboy
synopsis: A thirty-year old depressed fat man lives with his mother while impressing local teenagers.
review:* When reading this, you really can't tell what this is about... is the man lying to his mother about his social status? Many questions unanswered.
THE MAN IN THE RORSCHACH SUIT
published: ? in Playboy
synopsis: A world-renowned psychiatrist retires and slips into obscurity where an old colleague discovers him helping people with his Rorschach shirts.
review:* Not that interesting. The endless rambling dialogue usually works in Bradbury's stories, but definitely not in this one.
HENRY IX
published: ? originally "A Final Sceptre, a Lasting Crown" in Fantasy and Science Fiction
synopsis: In the future, where all the cold climates of the world are being deserted for more tropical habitats, a man fights to be the last man in Great Britain.
review:** Go Britain.
More to come on I sing the Body Electric once I finish reading!
published 1955, I think
NOTE: Man, if you read just one Ray Bradbury book in your lifetime, read this one. Almost all of these are horror stories, a genre Bradbury rarely taps in to today.
The Dwarf
published: 1953
synopsis: A girl is curious about a mysterious dwarf who finds solace in the carnival's Mirror Maze each night.
review:*** The eeriest story of little people since The Wizard of Oz. Also, you learn something new: "A midget is in the cells, born that way. A dwarf is in the glands..."
Next in Line
published:?
synopsis: A couple visits the heart of Mexico during the Day of the Dead festival, and visits a still-used mass burial tomb. The wife is forever haunted by the image of the dead corpses all lined up side-by-side, and fears that she may be next in line...
review:**** This is one of the freakiest, most unsettling stories I have ever read, although several of my friends disagree with me. It touches upon a fear so intangible and primal, gave me nightmares for days when I read it in the 7th grade. If you liked The Halloween Tree, read this one, although it's ten times scarier. Read this story!
The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse
published: ?
synopsis: A painfully dull man struggles to become hip and interesting.
review:** Difficult to read, but shows what social life was like back in the 40/50's.
Skeleton
published: ?
synopsis: A paranois man fears that his skeleton is a whole different being trying to take over his body... ut is that really what it's trying to say?...
review:*** Creepy story, with a cracker-jack ending.
The Jar
published: ?
synopsis: A man acquires a jar filled with some mysterious disgusting thing, and charges the townfolk to see it.
review:*** An interesting concept, how people see what they want to see in The Jar.
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The Lake
published: ? |  |
THE EMISSARY
published: ?
synopsis: A bed-ridden boy, Martin, gets by using his pet dog as an emissary to the outside world, by which Martin can smell and sense nature on Dog after he has run about outside. Except for one day, when Martin tells him to bring back visitors to see him, he gets more than he bargaied for.
review:*** Freaky story, and quite original. Makes you think twice about teaching your dog how to fetch...
TOUCHED WITH FIRE
published: ?, originally "Shopping for Death"
synopsis: An idealist convinces his colleague that people go mad and sometimes murder when the brain reacts to 92- degree weather exactly. Then they set off to cure a dangerous, hot-head old woman before it's too late for her...
review: ** and a half. Ever wonder why people will just out of the blue kill each other? This story answers it, although you'll have to work to get through the words.
THE SMALL ASSASSIN
published: ?
synopsis: A couple realize that their newborn baby is a born killer.
review:*** Very freaky, as in the "Child's Play" kind of freaky. Don't read at night.
THE CROWD
published: ?
synopsis: A man comes to the realization too late that the crowd always gathered at an automobile accident are there for a reason...
review:**** this story gets better everytime I read it... remember it the next time you pause to look at an accident.
JACK-IN-THE-BOX
published: ?
synopsis: A boy and his mother live in seclusion in a sprawling, endless mansion that is the boy's very world, literally.
review:*** This isn't necessarily scary, just... unsettling.
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The Scythe
published: ? |  |
UNCLE EINAR
published: ?
synopsis: A man with real wings falls to earth, where his vision is impaired and he can no longer fly at night, when it is safe. Fortunately, he meets a sweet farm girl nearby, and they marry. Still, years later, Uncle Einar reflects on what he could be doing if he was still able to fly...
review:*** Charming story, fun to read. In real life, Bradbury actually did have an Uncle Einar, sans wings.
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THE MAN UPSTAIRS
published: 1947
synopsis: Little Douglas Spaulding realizes early that the man renting the room upstairs isn't like everyone else...
review:** Classic vampire story.
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN
published:?
synopsis: Aunt Tildy doesn't believe in death, until Death himself hoodwinks her out of her life. Now she's on a mission to get her body back...
review:** More comical than scary...
THE CISTERN
published: 1947, in Mademoiselle
synopsis: While sitting with her sister on a rainy day, Anna muses about a dead man and woman living in the cistern together, the cistern right down the street...
review:*** Good rainy day story. And a cistern is a gutter, for those of you in the dark.
HOMECOMING
published: 1946, in Mademoiselle
synopsis: Amidst a family reunion of vampires, werewolves, telepaths, and flying uncles, little Timothy wishes he too could be like the rest of his relatives: sleep in a coffin, wake up at dusk, drink blood...
review:*** Very charming story, it reminds me of the some of the books I used to read in elementary school, pre-Harry Potter stuff like James Howe and Bruce Coville.
THE WONDERFUL DEATH OF DUDLEY STONE
published: ?
synopsis: A renowned writer with cult status fakes his own death, until a handful of his fans discover him.
review:*** Because of this story, I'll be skeptical when Ray Bradbury dies.
Back to Greentown.