What is a holy grail to a reader? A lost book by the bibliophile’s favorite author, of course.
Please note: I’ve rewritten a majority of this post in 2025. Read below to find out why.
When I was young, I remember my sister holding a book called The October Country by Ray Bradbury. She showed me a pencil drawing from the short story, “The Scythe,” and described it to me. I was more than fascinated—I was enthralled. I had to read this story, and then I had to see if the other stories were as good as that one.
Though I was young and Bradbury’s touch was light, I really didn’t understand many of the short tales of The October Country. But it didn’t matter. I loved his writing. From there, I found The Halloween Tree, more suited to my age then. Later, of course, came Something Wicked This Way Comes, Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, and all things Bradbury. I didn’t read Bradbury…I inhaled him.
I read it all.
Or so I thought.
I can’t remember when I found out about Dark Carnival. This rare book—his first—was out of print. I thought it a precursor of Something Wicked until I realized it was a collection of short stories. I read somewhere on the internet (so it must be true) that The October Country was essentially a reprint of Dark Carnival. I considered buying it, but with a price tag in the thousands, I didn’t think about it again for many years. Later, a publisher did a limited run of Dark Carnival, but I missed out.
And then I realized that Dark Carnival’s list of stories didn’t match The October Country. In fact, of the twenty-seven stories presented, only fifteen made it into the later book. What!? How dare so many stories that could be rare treasures not be included! I was insulted, affronted even. How could I get my hands on these stories?
Dark Carnival is not an easy book to find, let me tell you. I spent years trying to find a decent copy. I stumbled over one of the stories in an anthology. Many other Bradbury fans would love a copy of that rare novel and would pay dearly for it.
Bradbury must have been amused. I think he took his early writing and revised it to his later, more eloquent style. I read a copy of a passage of the short story named “The Crowd” as presented in Dark Carnival versus The October Country, and indeed, The October Country is the superior version. But there are some that want to see the original, the raw materials without it being baked and formed into what it later became. Some of us have to eat the cookie dough.
In 2021, I set about re-constructing an early work of Ray Bradbury called Dark Carnival. I used multiple sources to “read” Dark Carnival: the book and still a few of the stories eluded me.
And then, in 2024, I found Dark Carnival!
I kept it until autumn of 2025 to read. Here is my critique. I am including all the works in Dark Carnival with a few I wish were there. My hope is this is the most comprehensive work of Bradbury’s early macabre set of stories. One thing about Bradbury is his ideas were ahead of most modern adaption’s time. While people were still writing Lovecraftian monsters or sword-wielding barbarians in Weird Tales, he was writing body horror.
Dark Carnival as a title is interesting. There’s the “Dark” side of Bradbury and some of these stories are truly dark, and there’s the “Carnival” side, a lighter, nostalgic tone. Another way to describe it is as “Trick or Treat,” where trick is “dark” and “treat” is carnival. Bradbury is at his best when he can creep you out (Dark/Trick) as well as fill you with wonder and awe (Carnival/ Treat). And that is how I’ll rate the stories.
For reference a Dark of 10 may be The Monkey’s Paw or The Haunting of Hill House – serious, scary stuff. A Carnival of 10 may be The Nightmare Before Christmas, lighthearted ode to the macabre but not very scary.
For completeness sake, I’ll add a bonus. A few stories I wish Ray would’ve included in Dark Carnival but didn’t. We can’t blame him as most of these stories weren’t written! But though as he grew famous, he wanted to avoid the trappings of his past, he couldn’t resist writing a macabre thriller from time to time.
Behold The Carnival’s Offerings
Homecoming. This story was included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country. I can sense pride in this story as Bradbury combines the dark and carnival almost perfectly together. A family of monsters, an odd child who is normal but wishes he wasn’t, and an understanding uncle who tells his nephew how lucky he is to be fully alive. If Mars were Bradbury’s “chronicles,” The Family (as he later coined them) is Ray’s Bradburyverse. Excellent mix of dark and light.
Dark: 6 (What Cecy does to that woman!)
Carnival: 8
The Next in Line. This story was included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country. This was never my favorite tale because, reading it as a child, I didn’t understand it. As an adult, a couple stranded in a Mexican town shortly after The Day of the Dead and who visit the mummies, those too poor to pay for graves, is a decent thriller. No, the mummies don’t spring to life, that story is left to inferior collections. Yet, Bradbury’s vague ending is terrifying. And the writing is quintessential Bradbury.
Dark: 7
Carnival: 5
Jack-in-the-Box. This story was included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country. This is a weird, normal-for-Bradbury story of a child raised in a house by a mother and a teacher. It’s a bizarre yarn for the upside down way it views life. I found this story changed more than the others.
Dark: 3
Carnival: 6
Interim. This is a Dark Carnival exclusive. Bradbury was writing flash fiction before its time. This under-1000 word short story is set in a cemetery without any characters at all! The piece reads like a nightmarish poem with an outrageous ending. The finale makes no sense but that’s not the purpose. Ghoulish in the extreme.
Dark: 8
Carnival: 7
The Small Assassin. This story was included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country. One of Bradbury’s most famous works. So much so that it is the title of the British variant of The October Country. Reprinted many times, the story asks the question of what would we as a human race become if we formed no conscience. The finale is a taboo topic for me (writers shouldn’t write about this), but note the way Bradbury ends it. This sets him apart from most authors.
Dark: 8
Carnival: 4
There Was an Old Woman. This story was included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country and is largely unchanged (if at all). An hilarious story of a New Englander who refuses to die, Bradbury is picture-perfect at voice. Tildy is hilarious as an ornery elder who thinks death is dumb and refuses to do so.
Dark: 5
Carnival: 9
The Traveler. This story is not in The October Country, but may be found in many other of Bradbury’s anthologies and in his novel From the Dust Returned. The story of a traitor to the Elliot Family and what he wants from Cecy is a lurid tale of Cecy and how she can Travel around different people. While the plot is light for Bradbury, the phrases describing Cecy’s power abound in poetic prose. The version in From a Dust Returned is very different. Bradbury adapted it to fit into the novel and cut out many of his dreamy sequences.
Dark: 7 (far lighter in Dust Returned)
Carnival: 7
The Jar. This story was included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country. One of Bradbury’s most famous because Alfred Hitchcock adopted it, with only minor changes, into one of his episodes. The Jar always surprises me when I read it. It’s twisted but beautifully written. The ending is more ambiguous in print than on the screen.
Dark: 9
Carnival: 8 (it is set partially at a carnival, but has that nostalgic feel to it)
Reunion. This story was only included in Dark Carnival. This is one of the few stories I agree with Bradbury for excluding from The October Country. He wrote it as a horror fantasy, but it reads as science fiction today. A young boy, Malcolm, on laundry day retreats to the attic. He lives with his aunt and uncle. Malcolm’s parents and brother have passed away. He doesn’t really know them, therefore he wishes them back to life knowing their relics in the attic have pieces of them remaining (drops of sweat, fingernail, etc.). This is not a returned zombie or even a ghost story. It’s more a reflection of a lonely boy.
Dark: 2
Carnival: 6
The Wind. This story was included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country. One of the earliest of Bradbury stories, if not the earliest in the book, you have far more dialog and less poetic descriptions in this one. He also attempted to explain why supernatural events were occurring (later, he would just write them as if this was an every day occurrence). Even early Bradbury could make a gust of wind scary!
Dark: 8
Carnival: 4
Uncle Einar. This is another story of the Elliot family. Bradbury injects more whimsy in this story than terror. The ending is amusing, and seems a bit light for Dark Carnival, but it’s a level of fun you don’t find in modern tales.
Dark: 2
Carnival: 9
The Maiden. This story is unique to Dark Carnival. This piece of flash fiction reads like a prose poem, and Bradbury’s writing shows a maturity of a person at the height of his career. Yes, it’s a one shot with no autumn people. However, this lurid tale is an example of a concise, unsettling bon bon of horror.
Dark: 10
Carnival: 7
The Lake. One of his earliest offerings, Bradbury included The Lake in The October Country and Dark Carnival. Not scary but bittersweet, Ray would lean more toward the sentiment of this short story in the future and away from the plot. I wonder if he wrote this after visiting his Illinois home and if this was a bit autobiographical. Less eerie, more melancholy.
Dark: 7
Carnival: 10
The Tombstone. This is only included in Dark Carnival, though Bradbury included it in later short story works, so it’s more available. This offering has a thread of humor running through it that I enjoyed. It’s macabre but not too dark, but I love the ending that does pay off the story and (at the same time) could be interpreted in multiple ways.
Dark: 7
Carnival: 7
The Dark. This story only appears in Dark Carnival. I haven’t confirmed, but believe it’s true, a version of it appears in Dandelion Wine. It certainly is an inspiration for The Halloween Tree. It’s told in second-person point-of-view, it’s a fascinating treatise on fear and death. While nothing much happens, it’s the way of the words that make the difference. A great example of enfolding the reader into the story.
Dark: 7
Carnival: 10
The Dead Man. This story only appears in Dark Carnival. The story of a man who claims he drowned and is dead receives laughs from all the town except one lonely lady. When the two express feelings for each other, the dead man decides to get married. But can their be a happy ending for these two? Never scary, but full of a macabre heart, this rates high on the Carnival scale.
Dark: 5
Carnival: 9
The Coffin. This story only appears in Dark Carnival. I’m not certain why this didn’t appear in The October Country, but I believe Bradbury included it in other anthologies. Two brothers who hate each other. The older brother is building a coffin as he’s dying. The younger is curious about this mysterious coffin. A great mix of dark and carnival, a horrific ending that you might leave you in stitches.
Dark: 7
Carnival: 7
The Smiling People. This story only appears in Dark Carnival. This tale is the very definition of the word “lurid.” In this offering, Mr. Greppin is a man who cannot bear sounds and only wants to come home to a smiling family. Two weeks ago, he announced he planned to be married when things take a nasty turn. I guessed the ending, then thought: “No, Bradbury wouldn’t go there.” He did. I can see why this celebrated author wouldn’t include it in October Country, but it is too bad. The Smiling People feels like a classic Tales from the Crypt but with the deftness of the Bradbury touch.
Dark: 9
Carnival: 6
Cistern. This story appears in both Dark Carnival and The October Country. This strange tale is one of my favorites but not an opinion shared by the Bradbury community. The dreamy quality and absurd idea gives the narrative flight. No monsters, no sudden surprises, the primary action takes place between two people in a front room. Yet, the story has a way of giving one pause.
Dark: 6
Carnival: 9
Let’s Play “Poison.” This story only appears in Dark Carnival. It starts horrifically and then settles into a revenge novel of cruel teachers and innocent students. Or are they so innocent? Not my favorite of the unique stories, it still lands a punch.
Dark: 7
Carnival: 6
The Handler. This story only appears in Dark Carnival. I would love to know the reason Bradbury removed this incredible tale from The October Country. This is the best of the stories in Dark Carnival that are not in The October Country. When you believe you know what this story is going to be about, it transforms. The end of it (perhaps Bradbury thought it childish) is for my money a delightful blend of Weird Tales and Bradbury magic.
Dark: 9
Carnival: 8
The Night Sets. This story only appears in Dark Carnival. Here, Bradbury is constructing a surreal story, a Dali painting put to prose. The setting is the thing, and is more of the thing than the reader realizes. The first time reading it, the reader may be frustrated or puzzled. On reflection and taken for what it is, it’s a bizarre little short.
Dark: 6
Carnival: 6
All-time Bradbury Greats
(all are included in both Dark Carnival and The October Country).
The Scythe. During the Depression, a desperate farmer, his wife, and two children stumble upon a house that the former owner, now dead, bequeaths to whoever finds it. The only issue is they must tend the wheat. And when the farmer learns what that entails, he regrets ever stopping. Very dark, supremely creative, The Scythe invokes the deepest of questions about death.
Dark: 10
Carnival: 6
Skeleton. A man becomes aware of his skeleton, and the discovery horrifies him. How could such a creepy thing live inside of him? He consults an odd man who promises to help him be the master of this alien construct inside of him. But what happens to the skeleton-fearing man is truly bizarre.
Dark: 9
Carnival: 10
The Crowd. Did you ever notice how a crowd always gathers in seconds around every accident? One man, Mr. Spaulner notices, and he collects photographs to find the same people in the crowd. What do they want? Spaulner thinks they’re up to no good, and he’s going to the police to show his evidence. But the Crowd has other ideas.
Dark: 9
Carnival: 7
The Emissary. Maybe the best story of its type. The writing, setting, the characters of Martin and his dog, Torry. Torry is a good dog, and he’s a bad one. Unlike Torry, this fantastic tale is always good. Scary, sentimental, ambiguous, a piece of art not pulp.
Dark: 9
Carnival: 10
The Man Upstairs. This classic is in both Dark Carnival and The October Game. Without giving much away, a strange lodger takes a room upstairs and the boy in the house takes an instant dislike to him. To me, this tale has something for everyone. It has the small-town Illinois atmosphere, the strange intruders of Something Wicked, the weirdness of the Elliot family stories, and the bite of some of Bradbury’s vicious murder offerings. It’s gruesome, too, but not the way Bradbury writes it. This is the charm of the novel. It has a David versus Goliath feel to it that leaves the reader with a thrill.
Dark: 9
Carnival: 10
Paused at the midway of Dark Carnival
These stories don’t exist in Dark Carnival. Only one was published in The October Country. They are the cousins of the family of stories from the masterpiece.
The Black Ferris. Written in 1948, this story is the genesis of the idea of Something Wicked this Way Comes. Instead of autumn people, you have a crook. Instead of a carousel, you have a ferris wheel. The writing is amateur-hour Bradbury, so maybe he wasn’t proud of it. Yet, this story exemplifies Dark Carnival. I read this online.
Dark: 7
Carnival: 9
The April Witch. Written in 1952. Included in Dark Carnival, but not The October Country though you may find it in other Bradbury collections. The April Witch is a Cecy (from The Elliot Family of “Homecoming”) story where she possesses another young woman to experience love. Bizarre, less haunting than most of these stories, it still rings a true Bradbury bell. I read this as The Wandering Witch in From a Dust Remembered.
Dark: 3
Carnival: 7
The Dwarf. Written in 1956, post Dark Carnival and included in The October Country. This is the only story in The October Country that should have been in Dark Carnival. Bradbury had a fascination with dwarves, carnivals, and mirror mazes (Something Wicked is in the future of this book.) The ending is standard faire today, but it was surprising back when he wrote it, being one of the first to use this “trick.”
Dark: 7
Carnival: 8
The October Game. Infrequently, Bradbury inhabits the mind of someone who has no redeeming qualities. When he does, he produces a shocking tale of terror. This is one of those stories, and may have been the darkest story he ever wrote. This is not included in either Dark Carnival nor The October Country, though it would fit right into either one. Perhaps he thought it too grim.
Dark: 10
Carnival: 6
The Foghorn. This story was originally published in the Saturday Evening Post and then in Golden Apples of the Sun in the early 1950s. It concerns a beast and a foghorn and a light house keeper waxing philosophic on time and loneliness. Feels Dark Carnival-ish with a bit more of Bradbury’s penchant for dinosaurs.
Dark: 6
Carnival: 9
And there you have it. By the stats, Dark is xx and Carnival is xx. I believe any story that, if you add the Dark and Carnival together equals above a 14 deserved to be in October Country. This would be n of them.
I tip my hat to Mr. Ray Bradbury where every he finds himself. I hope he’s in his beloved autumn surroundings, surrounded by bizarre-yet-kind Elliot family members, waxing lost tales of Halloween’s past.