first read this collection when I was, Ive lost count how many times Ive returned to it over the years, Some books lend themselves to seasonal rereading, like Dickens Christmas Carol, The October Country is one of those books, When the wind blows and the days chill, when the leaves rustle and fall and night creeps in ever closer, its time to read it yet again.
The October Country was Ray Bradburys first collection of tales, Its the equivalent of a first pitch home run, Some of these stories are lyrically terrifying, others whimsical and funny, All delve deep into the human psyche, touching something essential,
. The Dwarf
A sad, lonely, little man with a Big dream, a cruel, dullwitted carney, and his warmhearted girl a nasty joke leads to retribution in the distorted maze of mirrors.
stars
. The Next In Line
A crumbling marriage is strained strained to the breaking point on a Mexican vacation by a the wifes terror of the towns famous mummies, and all that they imply.
Subtle, slow burning terror.
stars
. The Watchful Poker Chip of H, Matisse
George Garvey was dull, a monumental bore with a “talent for mummifying people instantaneously, ” His utter ordinariness landed him at the center of ironic veneration from the jazzy, hipster set so square he was hip! As his newfound star turn began to dim, George desperately grasped for gimmicks to keep his new friends interest.
stars
. Skeleton
Mr. Harris, a hypochondriac, has aches in his bones, and is obsessed with his own skeleton:
“A skeleton, One of those jointed, snowy, hard things, one of those foul, dry, brittle, gougeeyed, skullfaced, shake fingered, rattling things that sway from neckchains in abandoned webbed closets, one of those things found on the desert all long and scattered like dice!”
Despite the best advise from his doctor and his wife, Mr.
Harris could not leave it alone until he found the strange, little M, Munigant and his terrible cure,
stars
. The Jar
“It was just one of those things they keep in a jar in the tent of a sideshow on the outskirts of a little, drowsy town.
One of those pale things drifting in alcohol plasma, forever dreaming and circling, with its peeled dead eyes staring out at you and never seeing you”
Charlie bought the jar from the carney and took it back to his farm.
It transformed him into a Somebody country folks came to wonder and jaw about what it might be, But his wife was cold and evil she couldnt abide Charlies new found fame, and she couldnt leave well enough alone.
Absolutely chilling!
stars
, The Lake
“It was September, In the last days when things are getting sad for no reasonAll the hotdog stands were boarded upsealing in all the mustard, onion meat odors of the long, joyful summer.
It was like nailing summer into a series of coffins, ”
Summers end. Childhood ends. Life ends. A loss atis particularly profound, Ten years later, it all comes back
This one never fails to set my hairs on end,
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. The Emissary
“Martin knew it was Autumn again, for Dog ran into the house bringing wind and frost and a smell of apples turned to cider under treesDog fetched goldenrod, dust of farewellsummer, sawdust from freshcut cordwoodNo doubt, no doubt of it at all, this incredible beast was October!”
Dog brings the outside world to Martin.
Sometimes he brings friends home to visit with the sick boy, And sometimes Dog likes to dig, But Dog stayed out too long, Dog dug too deep, and one night he brought home
How can anything be simultaneously as beautiful and as terrifying as this story
.
Touched With Fire
This oppressively hot tale of summer heat, and frayed, homicidal nerves is excellent, but feels out of season in this October collection.
stars
. The Small Assassin
A new mother almost dies in Caesarian childbirth and is convinced her baby is trying to kill her.
What if shes not wrong Terrifying!
stars
, The Crowd
“Where the crowd came from he didnt know, He struggled to remain aware and then faces hemmed in upon him like the large glowing leaves of downbent treesHow swiftly the crowd comes, he thought, like the iris of an eye compressing in out of nowhere.
”
How does a crowd gather so fast after an accident Where do they all come from And why do certain faces reappear in every gathering crowd Do they sense the results, or cause them
A chillingly sinister tale.
stars
. JackInTheBox
Edwin is a strange child in a strange house with a strange mother, The large house is his world his mother will not permit him to venture out beyond, where the great beasts killed Edwins father before he was born.
Edwin knows only the house, knows only mother and teacher, and he never sees them together, Then one day, it all changed, terrifyingly and wondrous,
An eerie, disquieting tale,
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. The Scythe
Drew and his family came to the farmhouse out of gas, out of food, out of hope.
He found the old mans body and the old mans note, His family moved in, and Drew took up the scythe he found by the body, the scythe with “WHO WIELDS ME WIELDS THE WORLD!” scratched onto its blade he took it up, and began to work.
Dust Bowl creepy dark,
stars
. Uncle Einar
A vampire flys through the night with cords full of his wifes wet laundry to dry it.
This should tell you all you need to know about this whimsical, fun little tale,
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. The Wind
A man believes he is pursued by the Wind for discovering its secrets in the Himalayas.
His phone conversations with a friend relate his fear, and his epic struggle with an intelligent element, Uncanny and spooky.
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. The Man Upstairs
Something is odd, odd and wrong, Douglas thinks, with his grandmas new boarder, He carried no silver change, and eats his meals with wooden fork and knife, But
Douglas is just a boy, and no one is listening, So Douglas must take action himself,
stars
. There Was An Old Woman
Aunt Tildy refused to believe in Death, even when he came for her.
But when he made off with her body anyhow, she set out to get it back, and woe to anyone who got in her way!
stars
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The Cistern
Two colorless sisters living alone together, One of the sisters dreams passionately morose dreams of dead romance beneath the city, When the dream becomes more real than the reality
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, Homecoming
Another whimsical vampire story, Whole extended family of vampires gathers for a family reunion,
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. The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone
“Stone, on the brink of his greatest work, turned one day and went off to live in a town we shall call Obscurity by the sea best named The Past.
”
Promising, genius writer, Dudley Stone, mysteriously gave up writing and moved out of the public eye at, Years later, fans who still remember his promise debate why, and one sets out to find an answer,
En este tercer libro de cuentos me encuentro con un Ray Bradbury distinto, Completamente alejado de la ciencia ficción, las historias que narra son oscuras, por momento ominosas, bordeando un subrepticio terror.
Construye los relatos rodeándolos de cierta oscuridad y jugando con el inconsciente del lector,
Algunos cuentos están muy bien logrados, y los trabaja a partir de la obsesión del personaje principal, tal es el caso del señor Harris en el cuento "Esqueleto", en donde el personaje se obsesiona en una batalla en contra de su propio esqueleto con un final digno de "El extraño caso del señor Valdemar" de Edgar Allan Poe.
En otros, un hombre compra en una feria una jarra que contiene una horrorosa criatura que de algún modo hechiza a cada uno que la ve.
El cuento se llama precisamente "La jarra",
"El enano" es otro cuento narrado alrededor de la misteriosa y nuevamente debo utilizar ese término ominosa figura de un enano cuyo costado diabólico inquieta a una mujer en un extraño parque de diversiones.
Yendo a lo tradicional, "El lago" es una historia de fantasmas, adornada con un poco de sentimentalismo adolescente,
"El pequeño asesino" es un cuento macabro y retorcido en el que una madre y posteriormente el esposo creen que su bebé de pocos meses intenta matarlos.
Realmente escabroso, especialmente su final, El mejor del libro para mí
"La multitud" es otro cuento siniestro, En tan solo diez páginas, Bradbury nos cuenta acerca de un grupo de personas que aparece espontáneamente cada que vez que hay un accidente automovilístico.
Al parecer, desde el más allá, Espeluznante.
El relato "Caja de sorpresas" pareciera haber sido un guión con el que M, Night Shyamalan desarrolló la película "La aldea", La trama es casi idéntica y está narrado de manera majestuosa, Quien haya visto la película la asociará a este cuento instantáneamente,
Otro gran cuento del libro se llama "La guadaña", en el que un hombre y su familia arriban a una cabaña escapando del hambre.
Allí encuentran que un viejo ha muerto y les ha cedido todas su posesiones y una portentosa guadaña con una inscripción que dice 'Quien me maneja, Maneja el mundo!' Podrán darse cuenta hacia dónde se orienta la narración.
. .
Un hombre sugestionado cree que el viento es una presencia sobrenatural que desea matarlo en el cuento "El viento".
Muy tenebroso es el cuento de vampiros "El hombre del primer piso", En él, Bradbury nos sorprende con una adaptación muy bien lograda de este tipo de leyendas,
La tía Tildy, recién muerta se va a la morgue a reclamar su propio cadáver, armando un lío fenomenal en el desopilante cuento "Había una vez una vieja".
Qué cuento tan original
En las Vísperas de todos los Santos, se produce una "Reunión de familia", que es un tierno cuento sobre el reencuentro de más de cien familiares.
Obviamente, están todos muertos,
El cuento que cierra el libro, "La maravillosa muerte de Dudley Stone", no narra la muerte física de ese personaje, sino de su muerte literaria y de cómo esta, paradójicamente lo mantuvo vivo el resto de sus días.
"El país de octubre" es un agradable libro lleno de historias extrañas, tenebrosas, atemorizantes y por qué no, también llenas de situaciones, personajes y ambientes muy originales.
Tan originales como este genio llamado Ray Bradbury, I've been dipping into this exquisite short story collection for quite some time now, and it is with great ambivalence that I have, at long last, finished reading it.
I have paced myself, savored each story, chewing thoroughly every delectable word, sentence, and paragraph, I have supped well and gained much nourishment from Mr, Bradbury's inimitable prose. Though I am happy that I have finally read all of the stories in The October Country, I only wish there were but one more left to consume.
But alas, the final page has come, and I must now return this book to its rightful place on the shelf with its brothers and sisters, knowing I will undoubtedly retrieve it for a reread many times in the years to come.
I give this collection the highest rating possible, and recommend it emphatically, Truly a sublime combination of stories from a true master working at peak performance, Solid writing with some great atmospheric tension! As always in collections, some stories stand out for me more than others.
I doubt that I will forget the lingering, oppressive feelings of "JackintheBox" anytime soon, Another that keeps coming to mind was The Dwarf, I can say that there are some stories that will "click" with almost everyone out theresomething to suit everyone's tastes.
Highly recommended! The October Country is Ray Bradbury's own netherworld of the soul, inhabited by the horrors and demons that lurk within all of us.
Renowned for his fivemillioncopy bestseller, Fahrenheit, and hailed by Harper's magazine as "the finest living writer of fantastic fiction," Ray Bradbury shows with each of these nineteen stories his brilliant knack for extracting the chilling essence of a world's insanities, disorders, and hangups.
Once again he proves himself to be America's master of the short story, This classic collection of stories includes:
The Emissary: The faithful dog was the sick boy's only connection with the world outside and beyond.
. .
The Small Assassin: A fine, healthy baby boy was the new mother's dream come true or her worst nightmare.
. .
The Scythe: Just when his luck had run out, Drew Erickson inherited a farm from a stranger! And with the bequest came deadly responsibilities.
. .
The Jar: A chilling story that combines love, death, and a matter of identity in a bottle of fear!
The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone: A most remarkable case of murder the deceased was delighted!
Plus fourteen more terrifying tales! I love the reading of Bradbury on a crisp, autumn morning sounds like October.
The October Country is a collection of short stories by the Grandmaster writer Ray Bradbury,
Eschewing any connection to science fiction, this group of purely fantasy tales resounds with Bradburys fascination with and brilliant creativity in the realms of the occult, macabre and the dark.
Bradbury begins the book with this explanation: “The October Country that country where it is always turning late in the year.
That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist where noons go quickly, dusks and twilight linger, and midnights stay.
That country composed in the main of cellars, subcellars, coal bins, closets, attics and pantries faced away from the sun.
That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts, Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain, ”
These are some of his best stories, told with imagination and his deft, descriptive virtuoso use of the language.
His is a poetic prose, matched well with the theme of October, M. Night Shyamalan must have been influenced by Bradburys “Jack in the Box”, and his influence on modern fiction can be seen throughout the pages.
From the odd “The Dwarf” to the creepy “The Jar” to the psychologically unsettling “The Cistern” Bradbury has woven a spiders web of fiction made for cool days under a cloudy sky, with the autumn smells of campfires and frost.
Brew a witchs mug of warm drink, breathe in the leafy chill, wrap up in an old woolen scarf and enjoy.
reread
Im a Ray Bradbury fan and this is one of my favorite collections from him.
This was first compiled infrom previously released stories and a couple of these stories would be used again in hisnovel From the Dust Returned.
Many of these have inspired other stories and episodes of the Twilight Zone and other shows,
Nineteen macabre and Octoberesque tales for our delight, Theyre all good but for me the most notable are:
“Skeleton” weird story where a mans own skeleton seems to have a separate consciousness.
Only a writer like RB could pull this off,
“The Jar” Creepy and psychologically unsettling and then ends with a touch of outright horror,
“The Small Assassin” Ray takes postpartum depression to another level,
“The Crowd” a motor vehicle accident survivor notices some strange things about a crowd that surrounds him and goes on a quest for discovery that does not end well.
“Jack in the Box” a story reminiscent of Shirly Jackson, a little boy being raised alone by his weird and psychopathic mother.
“Uncle Einar” and “Homecoming” are the two stories later used to put together From the Dust Returned, and describes an Addams Family like clan.
This is a must read for Bradbury fans and one any visitor to the October Country will enjoy.
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Fetch The October Country Drafted By Ray Bradbury Accessible In Document
Ray Bradbury