Ray Bradbury: A Sound of Thunder
A Sound of Thunder is a science fiction masterpiece by author Ray Bradbury. First published in Collier’s magazine on June 28, 1952, and later collected in the book The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), the story tells the story of a group of men who travel back in time to satisfy their desire to hunt a Tyrannosaurus rex. During the trip, something goes wrong, leading to unexpected consequences.
Ray Bradbury: All Summer in a Day
All Summer in a Day is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in March 1954 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The story is set on Venus, where it rains constantly, and the sun only appears for one hour every seven years. In an underground school, a group of children anxiously await that unique moment. However, not all of them will be able to experience the event similarly. A story in which Bradbury uses science fiction to capture the harsh reality of cruelty and bullying in childhood.
Ray Bradbury: April 2005: Usher II
In Ray Bradbury’s “Usher II,” Mr. William Stendahl has built an exact replica of Edgar Allan Poe’s The House of Usher on Mars as a protest against the censorship that has destroyed fantasy literature on Earth. In a society where all things imaginative are forbidden, Stendahl invites members of the Society for the Prevention of Fantasy to a macabre event at his newly built house, where they will experience a shocking experience.
Ray Bradbury: Bright Phoenix
Bright Phoenix is a story by Ray Bradbury, written in 1947 and published in 1963 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This story is considered the seed of Bradbury’s most famous novel, Fahrenheit 451. Set in Green Town, the story begins when the quiet library routine is interrupted by Jonathan Barnes, the Chief Censor, who arrives to confiscate and destroy books under the pretext of protecting society. Tom, the librarian, accompanied by a group of regular readers, responds with silent but firm resistance, transforming the library into a symbol of intellectual struggle against authoritarianism.
Ray Bradbury: The Dragon
“The Dragon” is a short story by Ray Bradbury published in Esquire in August 1955. It tells the story of two men waiting by a fire in a desolate nocturnal wasteland, fearful of the presence of a legendary dragon that devours solitary travelers. The darkness and the cold increase their anxiety as they talk about the terrifying beast, described as having eyes of fire and deadly breath. As the night progresses, the men prepare for an inevitable confrontation. When the dragon appears, they don their armor and mount their horses, marching towards an inevitable clash with their destiny.
Ray Bradbury: The Emissary
Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Emissary” tells the story of Martin Christie, a boy confined to his bed due to illness. Torry, his dog, becomes his connection to the outside world. Martin experiences the changing seasons and the experiences of the outside world through Torry, who also brings him visitors, thanks to a note Martin puts on his collar. One day, Torry disappears without a trace. When Martin has already lost all hope of recovering his friend, something unexpected happens.
Ray Bradbury: The Exiles
In Ray Bradbury’s The Exiles, Mars becomes a refuge for banned writers and literary characters. Exiled from an Earth where their works have been censored and destroyed, these beings survive on the red planet, conjuring spells and nightmares to protect themselves. When an Earth rocket approaches with a scientific and skeptical crew, the clash between … Read more
Ray Bradbury: The Gift
In ‘The Gift,’ a short story by Ray Bradbury published in Esquire in December 1952, a family embarks on their first space voyage on Christmas Eve. The boy is excited about the adventure, but his parents worry about celebrating the holiday in the middle of space, especially after the gift they had prepared was held up at customs. Now, the father must find a creative way to keep the magic of Christmas alive for his son, proving that the Christmas spirit can shine anywhere, even in the stars.
Ray Bradbury: The Handler
“The Handler,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published in 1947, tells the story of Mr. Benedict, a man who runs a funeral business, a church, and a cemetery, all in the exact location. Benedict feels a deep inferiority complex and spends his days enduring the scorn and insults of the town’s neighbors. In his … Read more
Ray Bradbury: The Man Upstairs
The Man Upstairs is a haunting short story by Ray Bradbury, published in March 1947 in Harper’s Magazine. The story follows Douglas, a curious boy who lives with his grandmother, a woman skilled in the kitchen whose culinary rituals fascinate him. One day, a stranger named Mr. Koberman arrives at the boarding house to rent a room upstairs. From the moment he arrives, the atmosphere in the home becomes uneasy and mysterious. Intrigued by the new tenant’s behavior, Douglas begins to suspect something very unusual about him, which defies all logic.
Ray Bradbury: The Other Foot
Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘The Other Foot,’ included in his collection ‘The Illustrated Man’ (1951), tells the story of a black community on Mars that tensely awaits the arrival of a rocket from Earth, the first in twenty years and with a white man on board. The inhabitants of Mars, who had fled a past of racial discrimination and violence on Earth, are confronted with their memories and the temptation to reverse the roles of oppression as they welcome this new visitor.
Ray Bradbury: The Pedestrian
“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury is a short story set in a futuristic city in the year 2053. The plot revolves around Leonard Mead, a man who enjoys walking alone through the city streets at night. In a world where television has replaced social interactions and people remain locked inside their homes, Mead’s walks stand … Read more
Ray Bradbury: The Playground
“The Playground,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published in The Illustrated Man in 1952, tells the story of Charles Underhill, a widowed man who lives with his son Jim and his sister Carol. Underhill had always ignored the playground near his house until Carol mentioned that she would take Jim there to play with other children. Intrigued and worried, Underhill visits the playground and is horrified by what he sees: children hurting each other in an environment that looks more like a battlefield than a place of fun. The smell of medication and the constant screams remind him of the brutalities of his childhood, filling him with terror. Despite her resistance, Carol insists that Jim needs to learn to be strong in the face of the harshness of life from an early age. Underhill, terrified of what might happen to his son, is willing to do anything to protect him.
Ray Bradbury: The Small Assassin
In “The Small Assassin,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published in 1946, a woman named Alice Leiber experiences an intense fear of her newborn son, convinced that the baby wants to hurt her. Despite the support of her husband and the doctors, Alice feels alone in her struggle, perceiving a sinister connection with her son that nobody else seems to notice.
Ray Bradbury: The Veldt
The Veldt is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published on September 23, 1950, in The Saturday Evening Post and later included in The Illustrated Man (1951). Set in a future where technology dominates everyday life, it tells the story of the Hadley family and their automated home, designed to meet their every need. Its most significant innovation is a virtual reality games room capable of materializing any imagined environment. However, their peace of mind is disturbed when the room repeatedly projects a disturbing scene of the African savannah, where lions lurk in the grass. As their children’s obsession with this landscape grows, the Hadleys question the impact of excessive technology on their family.
Ray Bradbury: There Will Come Soft Rains
“There Will Come Soft Rains,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published in Collier’s magazine in 1950, immerses us in a futuristic, melancholic, and desolate vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Set in 2026, the narrative presents us with a completely automated home where the inhabitants have disappeared. Although there are no longer people to care … Read more
Ray Bradbury: Time Intervening
In Ray Bradbury’s “Time Intervining,” an old man leaves his house in the early morning and finds some children playing in his garden. Although he tries to talk to them, he gets no response. When he returns home, he sits in the dark, restless. Suddenly, a young man and a girl enter, surprised to see him, and chase him away, claiming that this is their home. The old man, perplexed and with unheeded protests, ends up in the street. During the night, he watches in bewilderment as several people enter and leave his home, seemingly paying no attention to him.
Ray Bradbury: A Careful Man Dies. Summary and analysis
A Careful Man Dies is a short story by Ray Bradbury published in November 1946 in New Detective Magazine. The story follows Robert Douglas, a meticulous writer with hemophilia, a disease that can cause death from any wound. He has organized his life with extreme care to avoid risks, but everything changes when he receives a mysterious package that hides a deadly trap. He soon realizes that someone wants to kill him in a subtle and undetectable way. His world becomes a dangerous survival game as he tries to discover who is behind the attacks.
Ray Bradbury: A Sound of Thunder. Summary and analysis
In Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder,” time travel becomes a commercial venture in 2055, allowing wealthy hunters to journey into the prehistoric past. The story follows Eckels, who pays to hunt a Tyrannosaurus Rex through Time Safari Inc. Despite strict warnings about staying on a designated path to avoid altering history, Eckels panics during the encounter with the dinosaur and steps off the Path. Upon returning to 2055, subtle but profound changes in the present become apparent – language has devolved, and a fascist leader has won the presidential election instead of the Democratic candidate. The discovery of a crushed butterfly in the mud on Eckels’ boots reveals how his momentary transgression has irreversibly altered the course of human history.
Ray Bradbury: All Summer in a Day. Summary and analysis
All Summer in a Day is a science fiction story written by Ray Bradbury and published in 1954 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The story is set in a future in which humanity has colonized Venus, a planet where it rains incessantly and the sun only rises for one hour every seven years. In this gloomy world, a group of children eagerly await the moment they see the sunlight. Among them is Margot, a girl who clearly remembers the warmth and brightness of the sun because she lived on Earth, which makes her the object of envy and rejection by the other children.
Ray Bradbury: Kaleidoscope. Summary and analysis
“Kaleidoscope,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published in October 1949, recounts the tragedy of a space crew whose rocket explodes in a vacuum. Separated and helpless, the men float toward unknown destinations while trying to communicate by radio. In this extreme situation, their voices reveal intense emotions, memories, and personal conflicts as they reflect on the meaning of life and the inevitability of death.
Ray Bradbury: The Dragon. Summary and analysis
The Dragon is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in August 1955 in Esquire magazine. The story follows two medieval knights who, in the middle of a desolate wasteland shrouded in darkness, await the arrival of a fearsome dragon that devours solitary travelers. As the night progresses, one of them feels that time in that place is strange, as if the world were trapped in an eternal cycle. With their spears at the ready and fear in their hearts, the warriors prepare to face the creature, unaware of the truth that awaits them.
Ray Bradbury: The Other Foot. Summary and analysis
In The Other Foot, Ray Bradbury imagines a future where Black people have fled a racially divided Earth to start anew on Mars, leaving behind the injustices of the past. Twenty years later, news arrives that a rocket carrying a white man is coming, reigniting old wounds and prompting Willie Johnson and others to prepare for revenge by imposing segregation on the visitor. As the rocket lands, the white man reveals Earth’s devastation from a nuclear war, pleading for help and acknowledging past wrongs. Faced with the ruins of their former world, Willie and the community confront the futility of hatred, choosing instead to dismantle the structures of revenge and seek a path toward reconciliation.
Ray Bradbury: The Playground. Summary and analysis
The Playground is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in 1952 in the collection The Illustrated Man. The story follows Charles Underhill, a widowed man who, after the death of his wife, becomes obsessed with protecting his son Jim from the dangers of childhood. When his sister Carol decides to take the boy to a playground, Underhill visits him and is horrified by the brutality with which the children play. As his anxiety grows, he faces a disturbing decision that will lead him to question how far he is willing to go to save his son.
Ray Bradbury: The Small Assassin. Summary and analysis
The Small Assassin, a short story by Ray Bradbury published in 1946, is a disturbing psychological horror story that explores fear and paranoia in motherhood. Alice Leiber, after a complicated delivery, develops an irrational rejection of her baby, convinced that there is something strange about him. Her husband, David, tries to help her, while Dr. Jeffers attributes her fear to an emotional disorder. However, as unexplained events occur, the sense of threat grows, and what seems like a simple obsession becomes terrifyingly real.
Ray Bradbury: The Veldt. Summary and analysis
The Veldt is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published on September 23, 1950, in The Saturday Evening Post. The story follows George and Lydia Hadley, a couple living in a fully automated house that handles all their needs. The center of the home is a virtual reality nursery that materializes the thoughts of their children, Wendy and Peter. When the room constantly projects a disturbing African savannah inhabited by lions, Lydia suspects something is wrong. As they investigate, the parents discover that technology and children’s imaginations can become uncontrollable.
Ray Bradbury: There Will Come Soft Rains. Summary and analysis
There Will Come Soft Rains, written by Ray Bradbury and published in 1950, is a story that transports us to a post-apocalyptic future in which technology continues to function despite the absence of humans. In an automated house in Allendale, California, the devices go about their daily routine: they prepare breakfast, clean the rooms, and read poetry, unaware there is no one there to receive their services. Outside, the world has changed dramatically, and the house is a silent testament to what it once was. As the day progresses, the story draws us into a reflection on the relationship between human beings, technology, and nature, showing how the world continues its course utterly indifferent to the existence or disappearance of humanity.
