The Halloween Tree

It's pretty much mandatory for me to read Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree every October. It's the book that got me interested in the writing of Bradbury in general, and of course, focuses on my favorite holiday topic.

I was first acquainted with it because The Cartoon Network made it into a movie (part 1, courtesy of YouTube!), and the voice of Mr. Moundshroud was done by Leonard Nimoy. My Pappy was a big video person (one room of his house was lined with VHS) and this was one of the titles on the shelf.

Because the quip "the book was better" is almost always true, I decided to look up the book online. And it was true - the book WAS better. It is, in fact, one of my most favorite books of all times. Which you would think is weird - I mean, technically I guess it's a young adult book. But the writing style of Bradbury is so rich in imagery and poem, and the scenes the book goes through are just so aesthetically please to me, that the pretty standard plot (kids, saving their friend) doesn't pinch the intellect.

Anyway - I'm going to start reading it tonight and I highly recommend you get your hands on it.