Front cover of a 1972 first edition of The Halloween Tree.
The Halloween Tree (ISBN 0375803017) is a children's fantasy novel of nineteen chapters by the American author Ray Bradbury. It was first published in 1972. It gives a somewhat inaccurate and fanciful history of the holiday Halloween. The novel was adapted from the script for an unproduced animated television special that Bradbury wrote in 1967.
The plot is set in motion when a group of eight costumed boys, led by the protagonist Tom Skelton, go out trick-or-treating early on Halloween evening in the small Illinois town where they live. They go to the home of a ninth boy, their friend Joe Pipkin, usually referred to as "Pipkin" or "Pip", only to find out that he is sick and unable to join them. The boys later arrive at a sinister looking mansion that is the home of a mysterious man named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. It is in Moundshroud's yard that the titular Halloween Tree, on which lit jack-o'-lanterns appear to grow, is located. The eight boys briefly see Pipkin near Moundshroud's home before he disappears. Moundshroud informs the boys that Pipkin's life is in danger but offers them an opportunity to save their friend's life and learn about the history of Halloween and the significance of their costumes along the way. The eight boys and Moundshroud then pursue Pipkin on a journey through time and space which takes them to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, Celtic Britain, medieval France and present-day Mexico.
The Halloween Tree was adapted as an Emmy Award-winning American animated TV special of the same name that first aired on ABC on October 2, 1993.
Plot[]
The novel opens in a small town, later revealed to be in Illinois where there, "wasn't so much wilderness around you couldn't see the town. But on the other hand, there wasn't so much town you couldn't see and feel and touch and smell the wilderness." It is the afternoon of Halloween. A boy named Tom Skelton is getting ready to go trick-or-treating by putting on a skeleton costume. He goes out and soon meets seven of his friends. Although they are all costumed, they all recognize each other. The seven other boys are later named as:
- Henry-Hank, dressed as a witch
- Ralph Bengstrum, dressed as a mummy
- George Smith, dressed as a ghost
- J.J., dressed as an apeman
- Wally Babb, dressed as a gargoyle (although everyone else thinks he looks more like Quasimodo)
- Fred Fryer, dressed as a beggar
- "Hackles" Nibley, dressed as the Grim Reaper by wearing a mask and carrying his grandfather's scythe[1]
The boys have the feeling that something is wrong. They realize that it is because their friend Joe Pipkin, usually referred to as "Pipkin" or "Pip" is not with them. The boys go to Pipkin's house. Pipkin comes to the door with much less energy than usual. He is not wearing a costume, looks pale and is holding his side. He tells the other boys to start trick-or-treating without him and says that he will catch up with them later at a house he calls "the place of the Haunts" near the ravine.
After having gathered large amounts of candy by trick-or-treating around town, the eight boys head towards the ravine. They see the house that Pipkin referred to. It looks like a typical haunted house. It has a door knocker that looks like a ghostly face, like the one Ebenezer Scrooge sees in A Christmas Carol. Tom Skelton knocks on the door. The door is opened by a man dressed entirely in black who is barely visible inside the dark house. When Tom asks for trick-or-treat, the man replies, "No treats.. Only - trick!"
The door then slams shut. The boys notice a tree in the yard of the house. There are a thousand illuminated jack-o'-lanterns on the tree. Tom says that it is a Halloween Tree. Henry-Hank asks what the tree celebrates. A voice is heard saying, "Celebrate!" The boys follow the voice. The man in black rises out of a pile of leaves. He introduces himself as Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. He asks the boys if they know why they are wearing their chosen costumes. None of the boys know the significance of their costumes. Moundshroud offers to take them on a journey that will teach them the origins of their costumes. The boys then see Pipkin carrying a lit jack-o'-lantern on the other side of the ravine. He calls out to his friends and tries to catch up with them before he suddenly vanishes. Moundshroud says that Pipkin may have been temporarily taken by Death to be held for ransom. Mounshroud tells the other boys that they can save Pipkin and learn about the origin of their costumes at the same time.
Moundshroud constructs a kite of old circus posters, mostly showing ferocious lions and tigers, that are pasted to a nearby barn. The finished kite somehow looks like a pterodactyl. The eight boys themselves serve as the kite's tail. They and Mounsdshroud fly to Egypt. Tom notices that the Sphinx and the Pyramids look brand new. Moundshroud tells the boys that they have traveled back in time almost four thousand years. They see Egyptians placing oil lamps and offerings of food outside their homes and hear them singing a song in which they ask their dead relatives to return to them. The mummified corpse of an old man is seen placed at the head of a family's dinner table. Moundshroud draws the boys' attention towards a funeral procession. Pipkin's voice is heard coming from inside the sarcophagus. Pipkin is entombed but Moundshroud tells the other boys that they will still have the opportunity to save him later.
Ralph Bengstrum asks if what they have seen in ancient Egypt explains why he is dressed as a mummy. Moundshroud says that it is. He goes on to say that every day was Halloween for the death-obsessed ancient Egyptians. Moundshroud then takes the boys even further back in time to when primitive people lived in caves. Moundshroud explains that the origins of Halloween can be traced back to when prehistoric people first learned to use fire. It was when people were no longer in constant danger of death that they were able to contemplate death. They also began to worry if the sun would rise in the morning and thus the apparent death of the sun each autumn took on special significance for them.
Front cover of a 2001 American edition of The Halloween Tree.
The boys are returned to ancient Egypt. They and Moundshroud then fly over ancient Greece and Rome and see festivals in honor of the dead there before arriving in Britain during the time of the druids. The boys see a forty-foot giant wielding a scythe towering above them. He looks just like Moundshroud. Moundshroud tells the boys that the giant is Samhain, the druids' God of the Dead.[2] Samhain announces that the souls of all those who died in the previous year are gathered there and that they will be transformed into beasts as punishment for their sins. Animals, including dogs, cats, cows and donkeys but all of them no bigger than worms, fall from the sky and are squashed beneath Samhain's feet. The boys flee from Samhain. A dog is also running away from him. The boys recognize something in the dog's eyes that leave in no doubt that the animal is Pipkin. The dog seems to say, "Meet. Meet. Meet. Meeee..." It then disappears.
In a clump of trees near the top of a hill, the boys see druids gathered in honor of Samhain. Their ritual is interrupted by Roman soldiers who declare that Emperor Suetonius has outlawed their religion. The druids are massacred, and Samhain himself appears to die. A Roman temple is built on the site. Soon, however, it is transformed into a church and the Roman soldiers are replaced by priests singing in Latin. Moundshroud announces that they are now in the Dark Ages. The boys ask where Pipkin is. They hear his voice from the sky telling them that he thinks he is being carried away on a broom. Moundshroud tells the boys that they should all fly away on brooms too.
The boys follow Pipkin and fly all across Europe. Looking below, they can see witches jumping over fires and stirring cauldrons. Henry-Hank in his witch costume asks Moundshroud if real witches could fly on broomsticks, talk to the dead, conjure up demons and cast spells on people. Moundshroud says that they could not, but they liked to think they could and sometimes took the credit for deaths they did not really cause. The boys then witness witches being persecuted and put to death by hanging. Henry-Hank declares that he would not like to be a real witch. The boys land in medieval Paris where their brooms suddenly lose the power of flight.
Moundshroud draws the boys' attention to a bell suspended in the air high above them. Pipkin's voice is heard coming from inside it. He has been transformed into the bell's clapper. The boys realize that Pipkin's brains will be dashed out if they do not rescue him. Moundshroud tells the boys that they will have to build Notre Dame cathedral in order to reach their friend. They quickly do so, but Moundshroud tells them something is missing. Wally Babb in his gargoyle costume says that there are no gargoyles. Mouyndshroud tells the boys to whistle. They do so and a vast number of monsters arrive in answer to their call. They settle on the cathedral and turn to stone. The boys then notice that Pipkin is missing again.
Tom finds a gargoyle that looks like Pipkin. The stone Pipkin speaks very slowly, although he speaks much more quickly when rain comes, and water pours from his mouth. He tells the other boys that part of him is in a hospital, part of him is buried in Egypt, part of him is in England, part of him is there transformed into a gargoyle and part of him is somewhere worse. A bolt of lightning strikes the gargoyle. It falls to the ground and shatters. Smoke rises from it and blows south and west. Moundshroud tells the boys that Pipkin is in Mexico and that they will have to reassemble the kite made of old circus posters in order to fly there. As they fly over Ireland, Fred Fryer in his beggar costume sees groups of beggars going from door to door to door to take part in an early form of trick-or-treating. He wants to investigate further but Moundshroud tells him they have no time.
From the air, the boys see cemeteries all over Mexico and all of South America illuminated for the Day of the Dead. Landing in present-day Mexico, the boys are delighted by the festival that keeps the memory of the dead alive, unlike in Illinois where they are forgotten. A vendor gives them candy skulls with their names on them. Tom then sees a man carrying a small coffin that appears to have Pipkin's body inside it. Moundsroud tells the boys that to save Pipkin each boy will have to break a piñata that looks like his Halloween costume. When the boys do so, they find themselves inside a catacomb full of mummified bodies. They are the bodies of people whose families could not keep up the rent payments on their graves. They were dug up and put in the catacomb where they were naturally mummified by the dry air. One of the mummies looks just like Pipkin. He says that the other mummies will not let him leave. Moundshroud presents a candy skull with Pipkin's name on it. He tells the boys that they can save Pipkin's life if they all eat part of the candy skull and agree to give up one year of each of their lives. The boys agree and eat the candy skull. Pipkin then runs past the other mummies and escapes. He runs so fast that he creates a cyclone that blows Moundshroud and the boys back to Illinois where they find themselves once again at Moundshroud's house. Moundshroud tells the boys that they have saved Pipkin's life.
The boys go to Pipkin's house. Tom knocks on the door. The others wait outside while Tom goes in. After some time, Tom emerges. He confirms that Pipkin is alive. He was taken to the hospital and had his appendix removed at nine o'clock that evening.
As each boy goes to bed, a jack-o'-lantern that looks like him is extinguished on the Halloween Tree. Tom is the last boy to go to bed. Tom thinks of the house by the ravine and asks Mr. Moundshroud who he is. Tom hears Moundshroud's voice confirms that he is Death himself. Tom asks if people will ever stop being afraid of night and death. Moundshroud replies that people will one day reach the stars and live forever and Death will then die. The jack-o'-lantern that looks like Tom goes out on the Halloween Tree. The only one remaining lit is the one that looks like Moundshroud. Moundshroud himself blows it out.
Animated adaptation[]
The Halloween Tree was adapted as an animated TV special of the same name that was first shown on ABC in the United States on October 2, 1993. The animation was produced for the American company Hanna-Barbera by Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines. The screenplay was written by Ray Bradbury himself, who also provided narration for the cartoon. The most obvious difference between the novel and the TV special is that the seven other boys who accompany the skeleton-costumed Tom Skelton and Mr. Moundshroud in search of Pipkin in the book become two other boys and a girl in the cartoon. They are named as Ralph, who is dressed as a mummy, Wally, who is dressed as a monster, and Jenny, who is dressed as a witch. The special features the voices of Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Moundshroud, Edan Gross as Tom Skelton, Annie Barker as Jenny, Alex Greenwald as Ralph, Andrew Keegan as Wally and Kevin Michaels as Pipkin. For his screenplay for The Halloween Tree, Ray Bradbury was awarded the 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program. The Halloween Tree was also nominated for that year's Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, which it lost to Rugrats.
See also[]
Footnotes[]
- ↑ An unnamed boy wearing a Devil costume is said to be among the eight friends in Chapter 5 and a Devil-shaped piñata is listed among the piñatas that look like their costumes that the boys are told to break open in Chapter 19.
- ↑ Samhain is a Celtic festival celebrated on 1 November that marks the end of the harvest season and the coming of winter. It is referred to in Irish writings dating back to the 9th century. There is no record of there ever having been belief in a death deity called Samhain. The popular misconception that Samhain was a Celtic god of the dead probably originated in The Halloween Tree.