short, creepy, and wonderful

This one just never grabbed me. I do like Bradbury, so I was disappointed not to like this one. :(

I have read the version of this story in "The October Country" and then this version. I preferred "October Country". Dave Mckean's illustrations in this version were wonderful; however, combined I found it it all distracting.

ORIGINALLY POSTED: http://bibliomantics.com/2015/11/02/m...

I don’t love all but I do enjoy a lot of stories by Ray Bradbury. Unfortunately, for some reason I didn’t fall in love with The Homecoming as much as I expected too. Probably because I wasn’t in the mood for it. Regardless, I loved the idea of the very Munsters-esque story and the illustrations by Dave McKean set the right spooky tone.

This book tells you right off that it is for those who love Halloween. The Homecoming is about a family celebrating all Hallow's Eve with their dead ancestors who are all ghouls. The illustrations really make the book come alive. The family goes through the evening with different elements of who all joins the party and how they look. I honestly had to read the book a few times to figure out what was going on. It tried to be scary but it some was odd. It has many positive views and ratings and suggested for all ages of reading. I am not so sure I would agree. I compared it somewhat to The Nightmare Before Christmas. It can be creepy to some children and lovable to others. I appreciate the author and have read some of his stuff but I am just not the biggest fan of this book the first time I read it.

Overall 3.5*
Story 3*
Illustrations 4*

While the name Ray Bradbury caught my eye, it was the charming illustrations by Dave McKean that carried me through the story.

Bradbury always writes with such zest for telling stories and this one is no different. You easily get swept up in his whimsical Hallows Eve tale which easily paints the scene from spider to winged uncle.

Meanwhile, McKean has a very abstract but haunting art style that fits the story well, even considering its limited color palette.

Together, the two work as one and leave a book worth picking up!

I love that Ray Bradbury could write about anything beautifully and yet he often chooses to write creepy little stories for us.

The Homecoming is a cute story that reveals around young Timothy's excitement over the coming family reunion. Suffice to say that in his family Timothy is the only one who is human.
The reader did a nice job of holding my attention with his use of inflections in all the right places. The story had a nice pace and at about 25 minutes is a nice quick listen.

This is a beautifully illustrated edition of the Ray Bradbury short story "The Homecoming," which was first published in Mademoiselle in 1946, and later became part of the novel From the Dust Returned. The story concerns Timothy, the only mortal human in a family of ghouls and vampires, and his longing to truly belong. Dave McKean's illustrations complement the story perfectly, and all in all it's a wonderful little book.

Kicked off 2017's month of Halloween reads with this short story from Bradbury, wonderfully illustrated by Dave McKean.

Weird, but a lot of good metaphorical description.