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Halloween Tree | 
 enlarge | Author: Ray Bradbury
Publisher: Del Rey Books,U.S.
Category: Book
List Price: £10.42
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 189695
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Reissue
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 145
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.7 x 0.8
ISBN: 0394824091
EAN: 9780394824093
ASIN: 0394824091
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Somewhere inside Ray Bradbury's head is a place where it's always golden autumn, in 1920s midwest America, and every night is Halloween. He has a gift for evoking childhood thrills where joy and terror come heart-stoppingly close. Here eight kids dressed as horrors for Halloween go hunting darkness and find it:... one hundred million tons of night all crammed in that huge dark pit, that dank cellar, that deliciously frightening ravine. Awaiting them is the comic-sinister trickster Moundshroud, who whirls the boys on a tour through time that shows them the roots of Halloween--cavemen trembling from the dark, Egyptians whose lives revolved around death, Druids appeasing their terrible gods, and so on to the grim carnival of Mexico's Day of the Dead. It's full of poetic flashes, as when "all the old beasts, all the old tales, all the old nightmares, all the unused demons-put- by" are summoned from every corner of Europe to become gargoyles in the newly-built Notre Dame Cathedral.Bradbury's theme of celebrating life by celebrating death is underlined by fleeting appearances of the gang's missing ninth boy, the one we soon realise is gravely ill and may not last the night. But Moundshroud, who is more than he seems, offers a deal ... The Halloween Tree is written as though for children, with lashings of exclamation marks--but, just as in a fairground, adults too can let their hair down and enjoy the wild roller- coaster ride. --David Langford
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
A Halloween Classic November 6, 2008
Ruth King (Spring City, PA USA)
"Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallows' Eve. Everything seemed cut from soft black velvet or gold or orange velvet. Smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys like the plumes of funeral parades. From kitchen windows drifted two pumpkin smells: gourds being cut, pies being baked."
-- The Halloween Tree, p. 4
Why do we dress up on Halloween? How did the tradition of trick-or-treating begin? Why are witches, skeletons and ghosts associated with Halloween? The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury takes the reader on an incredible journey through the history of Halloween.
It's Halloween night, and for 13-year-old Tom Skelton and his friends, it's the most exciting evening of the year. But when they meet up to go trick-or-treating together, they realize that one of their friends is missing - Joe Pipkin, "the greatest boy who ever lived." When they arrive at Pipkin's house, Pip emerges, his face deathly pale. He says that he's not feeling well but he'll catch up with his friends at a house at the edge of town.
The boys arrive at the house to find an incredible sight: a giant tree filled with jack-o-lanterns, the Halloween Tree. There they meet the mysterious Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, the sinister yet genial owner of the home. When he questions the boys about the significance of their costumes, the boys, dressed as a Skeleton, Mummy, Witch, Ghost, Gargoyle, etc. all realize that they don't know the stories behind their Halloween costumes. Mr. Moundshroud offers to help them discover the history of All Hallows' Eve, but the boys know they have to wait for Pip. When Pip appears, his friends call to him, but as Pip approaches, he stumbles and vanishes into the darkness. Mr. Moundshroud then takes the boys on an amazing journey through time and space, not only to learn the history of Halloween, but also to save their dear friend, Pipkin.
Mr. Moundshroud takes them to ancient Egypt, England during the time of the Druids, Notre Dame in the Middle Ages, and finally to the cemeteries of Mexico for the Day of the Dead. At each magical stop, they learn something new about how the traditions of Halloween were shaped by different cultures across the centuries, culminating in the holiday we know today.
Bradbury spins an imaginative and haunting tale of friendship and discovery in this remarkable book. While The Halloween Tree was first published in 1972, my first exposure to the story came from the excellent Cartoon Network television special that aired in the 1990's. If the special is ever made available on DVD, I'll be first in line to purchase it. Until then, the book will be a treasured yearly tradition for me.
 Courtesy of Teens Read Too December 28, 2007
TeensReadToo.com (All Over the US & Canada)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Opening this book is like opening a present. Originally published in 1972, publisher Alfred A. Knopf has printed a new hardcover edition. The dust-jacket is beautifully illustrated, the book is of an unusual size. Everything about it says "special."
Inside, I was not disappointed. Bradbury swept me away with his opening scene:
"It was a small town by a small river and a small lake in a small northern part of a Midwest state. There wasn't so much wilderness around you couldn't see the town. But on the other hand there wasn't so much town you couldn't see and feel and touch and smell the wilderness. The town was full of trees. And dry grass and dead flowers now that autumn was here. And full of fences to walk on and sidewalks to skate on and a large ravine to tumble in and yell across. And the town was full of...
Boys.
And it was the afternoon of Halloween.
And all the houses shut against a cool wind.
And the town was full of cold sunlight.
But suddenly, the day was gone.
Night came out from under each tree and spread."
This scene sets the tone for the entire book. THE HALLOWEEN TREE is as classic a Halloween story as A CHRISTMAS CAROL is for Christmas. It is about a group of boys, all friends, ages 11-12, who dress up for their
annual night of Halloween mischief and go trick or treating. The boys find themselves at a particularly spooky mansion in a dark ravine, with a Marley-the-ghost door knocker and a gigantic tree covered with jack-o-lanterns. As the jack-o-lanterns light up one by one, the boys realize they are in the presence of a Halloween Tree, and that something very special is about to happen.
The resident of the house, the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud, takes the boys on a fantastic journey through traditions of Halloween past. This story is part history lesson, but the history is provided in such a compelling way that your average reader won't even realize he or she is learning something.
Perhaps the only downside to this story is that it is so dominantly geared toward a male audience. All of the major characters are male. Though, being female myself, I could get lost in the spookiness of the narrative.
Bradbury uses his trademark short sentences which are short on exposition but long on crafting a mood. The story is spooky without ever being scary, and is sure to delight kids of all ages.
Reviewed by: Marie Robinson
Beautiful, Magical and Moving. October 31, 2002
M. S. Richards (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ray Bradbury conjures dark delights from the depths of history in this classic book. Have you ever wondered about the truth behind Halloween? Then join eight friends lead by Tom Skelton, along with the mysterious Mr Moundshroud, on their quest to save young Joe Pipkin - the greatest boy who ever lived. This is another magical work from the master storyteller enhanced by the gorgeous, gothic renderings of Joseph Mugnaini. The book explores the origins of All Hallow's Eve, as well as the kind of friendship that only exists in childhood. There's a lot of heart in Bradbury's vision of the scariest night of the year, and the sacrifice that the boys make at the end is perhaps the most beautiful in literature. If you enjoy it, and you will, then check out the animated film adaptation for which Bradbury wrote the screenplay.
Magical and scary fantasy February 15, 2000
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I remember getting this from the library about fifteen years ago, at the age of 10. And then reading it again and again and again, unwilling to leave the frightening yet safe world of childhood evoked by the author (the same world as described in "Something wicked this way comes"). As soon as I saw it had been republished I ordered the book - and as I did so all the images of the two boys and their vividly drawn experiences came flooding back. If you are a Bradbury fan, and haven't read this one yet, then buy it. If you aren't a Bradbury fan, and want a taster - then you can't go far wrong with this book.
This book is a Halloween classic! October 5, 1998
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Halloween Tree is an exceptional book filled the mystery of autumn and the intrigue of childhood. Written in the classic Bradbury style, this book is must read for me every Holloween season and a story I readily share with the children in my family.
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