There is even an appearance by Charles Dickens, who refuses to associate with those writers he feels are beneath him, despite the fact that Dickens himself dabbled with ghosts and the supernatural. As a fitting tribute to his boyhood, these authors along with several others appear in the short story “The Exiles.” Banned from Earth, the ghosts of writers of the supernatural seek refuge on the planet Mars fearing that they may soon face total extinction. This is not surprising considering the author’s love of horror greats, such as Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. “The Veldt” is a perfect example of how often Bradbury uses elements of horror in his fiction. Rather, this is a critique of how its misuse can tear families apart. In this age of games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, Bradbury is not chastising technology itself. It never ceases to amaze me just how prophetic Bradbury was, whether it was providing a glimpse of the future of body art or lecturing us on the dangers of misusing technology as seen in the opening story “The Veldt.” A clever gothic horror tale, neatly disguised as science fiction, this is the story of a virtual reality nursery that becomes quite dangerous under the hands of two spoiled children. Although written over half a century ago, the man covered with top-to-toe body art would not be out of place in the present day where tattoos are a natural way of life. I remember when first reading this book several years ago how fascinated I was at this character created back in the 1940’s. The Illustrated Man is a collection of separate stories told through the living tattoos of a mysterious man covered in body art.

Written with complete childlike wonder, this is a collection of short stories that could not be more perfect. Each of the stories contained in The Illustrated Man are beautifully written commentaries on relationships, social situations, and deep moral considerations. Bradbury is a legend because of his ability to plunge into the depths of the human soul. While it is true that Bradbury’s works are fantastic journeys into the farthest reaches of space and time, those science fiction elements are simply stage props to the real action. The “science” in his works is as real as Alice falling down the rabbit hole, or Poe’s raven of the night.

To refer to Ray Bradbury as just a writer of science fiction would be a great disservice to the legacy he left behind.

The illustrated man stories