The Halloween Tree

I grabbed this entirely out-of-season because I wanted a good audio book, and Bronson Pinchot does a lovely job bringing this to life.

This doesn't rate five stars for me because something about Bradbury's “good old days” schtick grates a little. It goes without saying that there are no female characters or people of color. But I'm pretty sure that accurately reflects Bradbury's subjective experience as a boy in 1920s Waukegan, Illinois, so I get it. Also, the gushing description of Pipkin as the apotheosis of boyhood came off a little strange to me.

But never mind all that - overall, this is a wonderfully evocative tale that artfully meshes the ambivalent nature of our harvest/death festivals with the weird zone between being a carefree child and learning hard grownup truths about mortality.

It can be deliciously Halloween-creepy - the old house, the enigmatic Moundshroud, the titular tree with its magical jack–o'–lanterns. But it is sometimes also seriously creepy, as the group travels through time witnessing stylized representations of historical festivals of the dead, and a ghostly Pipkin is repeatedly embodied and lost in them. (And let me tell you, Pinchot uses some well-placed whispers and wails to reinforce the shivers perfectly.) Then, thinly layered on top is a serious meditation about death and learning to live with the knowledge of death.

And throughout, Bradbury's poetic use of language supports the tone, while making each passage a pleasure of its own, apart from the advancement of the plot.

Definitely recommended for reading with your older kids and highly suitable as Halloween fare or for reading around a campfire!

2.25 stars

Well, that was disappointing.

Let me sum up the positives:
- imaginative and original
- beautiful imagery/descriptive settings
- nice illustrations

Now the negatives:
- too fast. One minute they're in Egypt, next they're in Greece or France or Mexico. It was so rushed
- too many kids, and no character development ( I get it, it's a short story/kids book), but seriously who were these kids!? There was Tom, but what made him special
- Sorry, but why should I care that Pipkin goes missing? Would have loved a little more at the beginning to find a reason to care about the characters
- What the hell was going on? Reincarnation? Are we to believe that even stone figures have emotions and feelings?
- too short.

Overall:
This was a very imaginative story. I loved the idea of it, but was disappointed in the execution. I had to force myself to finish it. I heard there's an animated movie/tv special based on this book. I think it would work better in that format. I'm excited to watch that ( and hopeful it's better).

tldr: great idea, poor execution.

I bought a bunch of audiobooks once, and then discovered that I'm not especially fond of them. I get annoyed with the narrator's voice, or it's too slow, or I fall asleep. It's not the book's fault, at all. This was the last one I convinced myself to listen to (out of guilt for spending money), but no more! One day I'll actually read it, and get more of a kick out of its Halloweeny myths and child-like wonder.

I really liked this cover, and of course it's considered a Halloween classic, so I felt like I had to read it. If this is a favorite of yours, I'm glad you enjoy it, this is my opinion and it isn't meant to battle or diminish yours!
Honestly, I'm not sure if it's me, or my mindset when I picked this up, but with this being a classic Halloween story I really expected something else. This kind of boils down to a group of children getting a haunted history lesson all while their best friend might actually die at the outcome? And then with the ending?! I'll keep it spoiler free, but I could see this easily in adult horror, but for kids???
Even with this being for children I kind of felt myself lost and confused for a vast majority of this book. The closer and closer it got to the end, the less and less I wanted to keep reading honestly. That doesn't happen to me often. 
Personally a 2/5*, just wasn't for me. 

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. Such a beautiful beginning Ray!

Eight boys go on a journey and learn about Halloween and Samhain history, while trying to save their best friend.

This book is beautifully written, as expected being from Ray Bradbury, and the story is gripping and interesting. His writing takes us on the journey and we can easily picture ourselves in Egypt, Notre-Dame and Mexico, seeing everything unfold with our own eyes.

I'm sure I would have loved this as a kid. Unfortunately, I read it as an adult, and my experienced eyes caught something my brain and heart feel very passionate about.
You see, there is not one single female character on this book. Moreover, this is a story where the coolest of the boys that ever lived ”...hated girls more than all the other boys in the gang combined.”

What we get here is another story for boys, about “boys being boys”.

Gender plays no role in this story, as it shouldn't. Why would you, as a father of girls, write this sentence? Why couldn't you put a girl in the group? I'm not even asking for this book to pass the Bechdel test! My standards are not that high!

I wouldn't have noticed this as a kid because all I ever read was boys going on adventures and girls falling in love. In my mind, I would just change Tom to resemble me, and I would go in this adventure in his place.

If you ever wonder why Romantasies are such a hit, this is it! It's because women are finally going on adventures and men are falling hard and first.

Congratulations Ray, you loose two stars and join Tolkien on my prestigious list of “Not a single female character to be seen in the whole book”

Come one, come all, and read a festive Halloween tale about a group of kids who travel the globe learning about the many mysteries behind death itself. Your spooky ticket includes trips to Pre-Christian Europe, Egypt, Paris in the 16th century, and Mexico. You'll be in awe as the master storyteller uses his poetic pen to explain and describe how death originated in these cultures. Will all the passengers survive? Turn the pages to find out.

|| “They thought of All Hallows' Night and the billion ghosts awandering the lonely lanes in cold winds and strange smokes.”

This book is just pure excitement and joy. I'm sure this is not an original idea, but the story feels like a Halloween version of A Christmas Carol. Bradbury has a way with words, and this story whisks you away on a fun adventure through time. Even though this is probably aimed at kids, there were so many cultural references that I had to hit Wikipedia to learn more. If you are looking for a book that will bring a sparkle to the eye and a shudder to the heart this fine, spooky season, this one will do the trick.

|| “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”

⭐ | Rating | ⭐
❖ 5 out of 5