The October Country

It's Ray Bradbury's short stories so of course, they're going to be good. One of my favorite short story writers, no question.

In this collection, I see a theme of characters who become obsessed or deeply neurotic about events/things that lead them into situations they may (or may not) have avoided. A few examples of this are “The Next in Line,” “The Crowd,” and “The Wind.”

The description calls these “macabre” stories and perhaps they are, but I found humor in some of them too, “Skeleton,” “There Was an Old Woman,” and “Homecoming” in particular. It could just be me; it has occurred to me that I have a weird sense of humor.

“Homecoming” was one of my particular favorites, like The Munsters if Marylin had been less well-adjusted.

Fun collection and my favorite Halloween read this year.