Early today, I reviewed Holy Ghosts by Gary Jansen. I was more than excited to hear that Gary was willing to do a guest review for me, and for a book by one of my favorite authors. So, without further ado…
The Halloween Tree: An Appreciation
By Guest Blogger: Gary Jansen (author of Holy Ghosts)
When October rolls around I fall back in love with everything pumpkin: pumpkin soup, pumpkin beer, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin raviolis (I’ m starting to sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump: “ I just love pumpkin, Forrest” ). But my greatest pumpkin-infused love is none other than the short novel The Halloween Tree by the legendary Ray Bradbury.
The Halloween Tree is an atmospheric little book filled with all the twilight, shadows, smells and memories of autumns past you’ d expect from the writer of Something Wicked This Way Comes. It opens with eight youngsters readying themselves for what they believe is going to be the best Halloween ever. Then something mysterious befalls the leader of their crew, a boy named Pip. The crew dressed in their Halloween costumes (there’ s a witch, a ghost, a skull face and a devil to name just a few) is unsure what to do until they meet a mysterious character named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud in what seems like a haunted house on the other side of a dark and dangerous ravine. Outside the old mansion is a tall tree ablaze with the fire of thousands of flaming jack o’ lanterns. Is Moundshroud friend or foe—an old eccentric or Death himself? And what is the significance of this massive Halloween tree? The kids are unsure, but soon they all set off on a grand adventure to save Pip. With Moundshroud at the helm, the trick-or-treaters travel across space and time to strange lands of mummies, gargoyles, and witches, to where the supernatural world is a very real—and sometimes very sinister—place. Can they unlock the secret of Halloween and change the course of Pip’ s destiny? As the saying goes, you’ ll have to read the book to find out…
Though this is one of my favorite Halloween books and one that I ritually take down from my bookshelf every September 30th in preparation for pumpkin season, it is remarkably not one of Bradbury’ s better known books. I’ m not sure why. Maybe because it’ s geared for a younger reader (you can usually find a single copy in your children’ s section of your local bookstore…Oh, and there is also a remarkably well-done animated movie based on this book narrated by the old scribe himself, but it’ s still not available on DVD). Yet, what is so great about reading (and rereading) Bradbury’ s book is that it appeals to the trick- or-treater in all of us—that child that waited all October to get dressed up and ring the door bells of strangers, hoping for your favorite candy or one of those cool decorated paper bags filled with unknown surprises. It brings back rich memories of how we were first awed during those early years of our lives by the shadows cast on the wall by a pumpkin with a lit candle in its hollowed-out soul.
Get The Halloween Tree. Save it for a dark and stormy night. Then turn off all the lights and read it by flashlight. Listen to the wind howl and let the memories of all the pumpkins you’ ve ever carved keep you company as Bradbury unfolds his ghostly tale of innocence lost but never forgotten.
Gary Jansen is the author of Holy Ghosts: Or, How a (Not So) Good Catholic Boy Became a Believer in Things that Go Bump in the Night. http://amzn.to/d13lUM
Thank you Gary! Doesn’t this review just put you in the mood for Halloween!?
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