First 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: censorship vs. personal freedom, the importance of speculative fiction, the danger of excess political correctness, zealotry (in this case, taking a protest too far!)
Original Text / PDF / Audio (5,016 words)
Video Version
This film is an episode from Season 4 of the Ray Bradbury Theater TV series. It was first aired in August 1990, and includes a personal introduction by Bradbury himself. Although set on Earth rather than Mars, it is otherwise quite true to the original story. Watch and enjoy!