The Crowd

The Crowd: Short story by Ray BradburyIn this chilling story by Ray Bradbury, a man badly injured in a car accident senses something ominous about the onlookers in the crowd that gathered around him. Several weeks later, he notices these same individuals at another accident. He searches newspaper archives and discovers that they and similar groups had attended hundreds of accidents over the last decade. Their sinister purpose is revealed when he has another car crash and they decide to “make him more comfortable”. Themes include morbid curiosity, schadenfreude, anonymity and the possibility of evil in a crowd, the supernatural.

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Usher II

Usher II: Short story by Ray BradburyFirst published in 1950 as Carnival of Madness, this story by Ray Bradbury is also included in his anthologies The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man. A wealthy book-lover, angry about destruction of his extensive library because of fantasy and horror story censorship on Earth, builds a look-alike version of Edgar Allan Poe’s House of Usher on Mars. He invites prominent book-banners to a party at the house, where they meet different Poe-inspired ends. Themes include censorship vs. personal freedom, the importance of speculative fiction, the danger of excess political correctness, zealotry (in this case, taking a protest too far!)

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The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind

The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind: Short story by Ray BradburyThis Ray Bradbury story is thought to be an allegory of the nuclear arms race that took place during the “Cold War” between the United States and Russia. The “Mandarins” who began the Cold War were Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin. One wonders if the first Mandarin’s daughter alludes to Truman’s wife Bess, who he claims to have consulted before every important decision. Moreover, Bess is known to have made changes to his famous speech outlining the Truman Doctrine, which started it all. Themes include rivalry, paranoia, wisdom, the futility of confrontation and escalation vs. the benefits of cooperation.

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Heavy-Set

Heavy-Set: Short story by Ray BradburyRay Bradbury‘s character Lenny (Leonard) lives at home with his mother and has a lot going for him. He has a body-builder’s physique, secure job, nice car, and no shortage of girls wanting to go out with him. Unfortunately, he is also mentally and socially challenged. He doesn’t take disappointment or ridicule well, often barely able to control his temper. The story takes place over a Halloween night. Lenny is excited, but the party he was looking forward to is a flop, leading to a potentially explosive homecoming. Themes include alienation, repression, interdependence, arrested development, fitting in, fear, despair.

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All Summer in a Day

All Summer in a Day: Short story by Ray BradburySet on the planet Venus, the climate in this Ray Bradbury story features almost constant rain. The only break comes every seven years, when there are two hours of sunshine. The children of the Earth space travel families on the planet are all looking forward to playing outside during the short break. Only one of them has ever seen the sun, and she is having great trouble dealing with the constant rain. But when the sun finally does come out, she is nowhere to be seen. Themes include adaptability, envy, reaction to differences, and bullying..

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The Pedestrian

The Pedestrian: Short story by Ray BradburyThis is our second Ray Bradbury story that questions the social effects of television (the first being The Veldt). Set in 2053, almost everyone stays indoors all night watching TV. Leonard Mead doesn’t. He enjoys going out for a long walk every evening. This is so unusual that the only police car patrolling the empty streets arrests him for his “regressive tendencies”. Fortunately, Bradbury’s predictions about TV were wrong. However, something far more dangerous may be replacing it: social networking on mobile devices! Themes include social dysfunction, dehumanization through technology, conformity vs. individualism, surveillance and control, isolation, disconnection from nature.

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Zero Hour

Zero Hour: Short story by Ray BradburyThis chilling story by Ray Bradbury involves an inattentive mother, a feisty seven-year-old girl, and her imaginary friend Drill. Throughout most of the story, the girl leads her friends in a construction game following instructions she receives from Drill. Her mother later learns that groups of children across America are playing the same game. Its name is “Invasion”, and for her the climax comes in a single word: Peekaboo. The major theme of the story is complacency. The mother senses something is wrong, but doesn’t act until too late. Other themes include human smugness (We’re impregnable!), childhood innocence/impressionability, manipulation, fear.

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The Last Night of the World

Last Night of the World: Short story by Ray BradburyThis Ray Bradbury story opens with a question: What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world? A couple believe the world will end sometime during the coming night. The idea came in a dream shared by everyone they know. The couple decide the best thing to do is accept the fact and go through their evening routine as usual. They even manage to share a joke and go to bed laughing. What would you do? Themes include family, powerlessness, acceptance of the “inevitable”, comfort in routine, self-absorption and global awareness.

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