Remembering Ray Bradbury

We’re all incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of Ray Bradbury at This Is Horror. We are suspending the publication of any further articles and news on This Is Horror for the next twenty-four hours. In its place are reader and writer tributes to and memories of Ray Bradbury.

We will be posting both tributes and articles below – these will be updated throughout the evening as and when they are sent in. Please e-mail your memories, articles and tributes to Michael@ThisIsHorror.co.uk subject line ‘Remembering Ray Bradbury’.

Tributes to Ray Bradbury

“The first book of Ray Bradbury’s I read was ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ when I was about 13 years old. It still remains a firm favourite, to be taken down, read and enjoyed often. I enjoyed a lot of Bradbury’s work but SWTWC really left a mark on me. I cannot visit a funfair with my kids without thinking of Mr Dark or poor Miss Foley. And you can take it as read I never go on the Carousel!” – Kev Leitch

“I felt sick went I heard that Ray Bradbury had passed away. He lived to a grand old age and has left a rich legacy behind him and will continue to inspire from beyond. The world is a poorer place without you, Ray. Thank you for everything.” – Michael Wilson, THIS IS HORROR Editor

“As a teenager my science teacher, Mr Gilbert, would read science fiction stories to the class before the summer break. This was my first taste of the works of Ray Bradbury. I remember Marionettes Inc having a profound effect on me. It both terrified and thrilled my young mind and left my imagination with endless possibilities. Later, I enjoyed his works on screen. The Martian Chronicles mini-series in 1979, and much recently I re-watched the deeply psycholological horror Something Wicked This Way Comes. Even now the stories of this tremendously talented man will live on in our memories, our literature and the media of audio and film to inspire and capture the imagination of the future generations of writers who walk, tentatively, in his footsteps.” – Sam Stone, Award-winning author

“I first read ‘The Martian Chronicles’ when I was sixteen. It was July 1998, I’d just finished secondary school and was waiting to start college in the September, and I loved that the first short story of the collection, ‘Rocket Summer’, took place in January 1999 – what to me at the time was an unknowable future. Whilst I couldn’t imagine what life would be like in only six months, Bradbury had envisaged not just one extraordinary world half a century away, but two. Though his creativity knew no bounds, his critique of humankind and its destructive nature was so intensely expressive as to make the possible seem alarmingly probable. To this day I recall first reading The Martian Chronicles, and later the equally as moving Fahrenheit 451, and being filled with a wonderful ambivalence: delight over Bradbury’s fantastical ideas, and terror that they may one day become reality. He was a great man, a father of speculative fiction and, for me, a teacher of caution, ethics, and how to learn from mistakes we haven’t yet made.” – Richard Sutherland, author of The Unitary Authority of Ersatz

“The first time I read any of Ray Bradbury’s work was when I was in the eighth grade, back in 1967, and I have been reading him ever since. I’ve always wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old, but Ray was one of the first authors I wanted to grow up to be like. His stories captured my imagination and I dreamed of dandelion wine, illustrated men, Halloween trees, and mysterious carnivals coming to town in late October for years. I am even honored to say I did get to meet my hero at some conventions back in the 70s/80s. His personality was just as I knew it would be. One that matched his books, One of the great classics in my estimation, the world lost a shining star, but the universe got another bright one as it streaks into that October Country, just past Mars.” – Pamela K. Kinney