The Halloween Tree (1972)

Originally written as a screenplay for a cartoon that wasn't produced in 1967, Ray Bradbury turned The Halloween Tree into a novel. Through the eyes of a group of kids, in search of their lost friend, the story travels through space and time telling the story behind Halloween. The tree in the title, is used as a metaphor for all the branches of of myth and legend coming together to form the holiday we all know today as Halloween.

In 1992, Bradbury finally wrote and narrated an animated version of the story, produced by Hanna-Barbera for TV. The animation won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animation. The voice of Mr. Moundshround, who guides the kids through their journey, was played by actor Leonard Nimoy.

Both the novel and the narration by Bradbury in the animation, have an eerie feel about them. Bradbury was a genius of suspense and dark foreboding often set in small town America. Another great piece of fiction by Bradbury that creates the same sense of unease, loss of innocence and the metaphorical journey into adulthood is Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), which was also made into a live action movie in 1983 by Disney. A particularly dark departure for the studio at that time, harking back to their early darkly chilling animations.

Weird Retro Fact: Death Is A Lonely Business (1985) by Ray Bradbury a previous Captain's Blog post.