Review: Shadow Show - Stories In Celebration of Ray Bradbury - By Joe Hill

Ray Bradbury would like me, I’m sure. Because he is the author Fahrenheit 451 which is one of my favourite books. I would love to have chatted with him to hear his reflections. Ray Bradbury’s stories were what impressed me most when I read Film Writers by Jose Maria Areste. It was about the lives and times of many writers who worked in Hollywood. He was an honest man with a special sensibility.

Ray Bradbury is not my only sympathizer. It is something I feel with all readers who have ever read his works, and those who have been strongly influenced by them. Shadow Show. Ray Bradbury’s love and influence is evident in the stories that are a tribute.

Shadow Show’s original edition was published in 2012, sadly just one month after Ray Bradbury’s death. It has been translated into many languages since then. The Spanish edition of Shadow Show had never been published. This was due to the Kelonia publishing company and the patrons who helped them with the project.

This book contains the stories of 28 authors: Jay Bonansinga (Neil Gaiman), Sam Weller, David Morrell and Thomas F. Monteleone. This luxurious establishment pays tribute to Ray Bradbury by telling stories that are in some way inspired by his work. These stories range from horror to fantasy, science fiction, pure reality and magical realism. My favorites include “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury”, “By the Silver Waters of Lake Champplain”, “The Girl at the Wake”, “The Girl at the Wake”, “The Companions”, “The Phone Call” and “Children of the Sleeping Machine”, Robert McCammon, “Light” and “Earth (a Gift Shop)” by Charles Yu. It seems it will put the entire list.

The great value of this book is not in these stories, however good they may be, but in the explanations the authors give about them. When it is a case of a particular Bradbury work, they comment on the inspirations and what Bradbury meant for them. Many even tell how they wrote him a letter as children to express the literary fears they had when they read his stories. Bradbury was kind enough to answer them, encouraging them both to write and criticizing the stories they had written. Friendships were formed that would last a lifetime.

After reading Shadow Show, I’m convinced Ray Bradbury was a great person and that today’s literature wouldn’t be the same without him. It opened up new avenues and blurred the boundaries between genres. But it also helped more than one reader become a writer because of its support. Ray Bradbury is a rare and unrepeatable writer. Let’s pay tribute to Ray Bradbury by reading Shadow Show, and all his literary legacy. Few people are more deserving than him.