What is a holy grail to a reader? A lost book by the bibliophile’s favorite author, of course.

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.

I also wondered if the early stories were ideas he incorporated into other stories or novels. Did his story “The Maiden” become the character of the Dust Witch in Something Wicked This Way Comes, perhaps? I can’t say as I haven’t read it yet.

So what am I to do? I searched high and low and think I have copies of most of the stories, even the harder to get ones. While not collected in one book, I’m going to build a roadmap and read them, 1 or 2 per day, in October 2021. By the end, will I have read the elusive Dark Carnival and captured the holy grail? Probably not in the strictest sense. But in another way, like Bradbury characters, I will have created my own Dark Carnival in a society that refuses to share. As I read it, I plan to reflect on something I hope Bradbury taught me in many of his stories. They may burn books, but they can’t suppress the hope of readers. I start my version of Dark Carnival with that benighted hope…