The October Country

Ray Bradbury — 1999

Welcome to a land Ray Bradbury calls "the Undiscovered Country" of his imagination--that vast territory of ideas, concepts, notions and conceits where the stories you now hold were born. America's premier living author of short fiction, Bradbury has spent many lifetimes in this remarkable place--strolling through empty, shadow-washed fields at midnight; exploring long-forgotten rooms gathering dust behind doors bolted years ago to keep strangers locked out.. and secrets locked in. The nights are longer in this country. The cold hours of darkness move like autumn mists deeper and deeper toward winter. But the moonlight reveals great magic here--and a breathtaking vista. The October Country is many places: a picturesque Mexican village where death is a tourist attraction; a city beneath the city where drowned lovers are silently reunited; a carnival midway where a tiny man's most cherished fantasy can be fulfilled night after night. The October Country's inhabitants live, dream, work, die--and sometimes live again--discovering, often too late, the high price of citizenship. Here a glass jar can hold memories and nightmares; a woman's newborn child can plot murder; and a man's skeleton can war against him. Here there is no escaping the dark stranger who lives upstairs...or the reaper who wields the world. Each of these stories is a wonder, imagined by an acclaimed tale-teller writing from a place shadows. But there is astonishing beauty in these shadows, born from a prose that enchants and enthralls. Ray Bradbury's The October Country is a land of metaphors that can chill like a long-after-midnight wind...as they lift the reader high above a sleeping Earth on the strange wings of Uncle Einar.

Reviews

karissa🌙@kitten

Oct 4, 2024

The Lake - ☆☆☆☆

There Was an Old Woman - ☆☆☆☆

The Dwarf - ☆☆☆.5

The Next in Line - ☆☆☆.5

Uncle Einar - ☆☆☆☆

The Emissary - ☆☆☆☆☆

The Wind - ☆☆☆☆

The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse - ☆☆☆

The Jar - ☆☆☆☆

Touched with Fire - ☆☆☆

The Crowd - ☆☆☆.5

The Scythe - ☆☆☆.5

The Man Upstairs - ☆☆☆

The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone - ☆☆☆

The Cistern - ☆☆☆☆☆

Skeleton - ☆☆

The Small Assassin - ☆☆

Jack-in-the-Box - ☆☆☆

Homecoming - ☆☆☆☆

Lara Engle@bzzlarabzz

Aug 23, 2023

The stories in this book tend to end with an implication rather than a conclusion. Read carefully and you'll be disturbed. Read casually and you'll be confused. Also, beware of the rampant sexism and racism. The mid-20th-century in America seems like a terrible place for anyone who isn't a white man. (Yeah, we're still working on that.)

Dave | Storyphoria@storyphoria

Dec 15, 2022

A fun collection of stories, some ups and some downs. I had read a number of these in other places at some point, but still others were new to me. Overall an enjoyable collection but I feel like the thing I enjoyed the absolute most was Mr. Bradbury's introduction and description of what The October Country was.

Dee B. @deeisreading

Aug 19, 2022

3.7

John Balek@cruelspirit

Oct 26, 2021

Growing up in Illinois, Bradbury's works were essential to any english reading curriculum. Throughout my time in school I was exposed to many of his novels and short stories; mainly the ones leaning more towards Sci Fi but others as well. This is my first time reading Bradbury as an adult, I've not really read any of his autumnal/horor works; or at least I didn't remember them. I read one story a day throughout this month, like many short story collections there is quite a range in quality. There were some stories such as "The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse", "The Scythe, and "The Small Assassin" which I would say are some of the best I've read from him but there were also plenty I felt indifferent or bored with. These stories came out nearly 70 years ago and Bradbury's writings have influenced the mainstream so much that many times it can feel like he isn't bringing anything new but it's important to remember he originated a lot of these themes and elements. The October Country definitely captures that halloween season atmosphere so if you are looking for that this a great selection. I was reading Angela Carter's The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman alongside this so in comparision a lot of these stories felt pretty tame. That being said, some stories here are quite haunting, even today, but only a few. I guess I'm just looking for a middle ground between the two author's takes; I guess that's why I like Kafka so much.