As a fan of Ray's new audio productions (Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes) I have been watching the Colonial Radio Theatre site for news on the new production of THE HALLOWEEN TREE they have been working on. They just posted a trailer for the show and it sounds amazing! It is at www.colonialradio.com. They say it wont be released until the fall.

...But one strange wild dark long year, Hallowe'en came early.

OK, that's from SWTWC, but it helps me make the point that due to some quirk of marketing Colonial's production of THE HALLOWEEN TREE is NOW AVAILABLE!

Amazon has them in stock, and is shipping them now. Here's a direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Tree-Ray-Bradbury/dp/14...id=1220037526&sr=8-2

You can aso order directly from Blackstone:
http://www.blackstoneaudio.com/search.cfm?search=halloween+tree

- but I'm not sure whether Blackstone are yet shipping the CD version.

Jerry Robbins of Colonial kindly sent me an advance copy of the CD for review, and I was planning to publish the review at the beginning of October, to tie in with the seasonal marketing push. But, as Halloween's come early, I have been caught on the hop.

I will publish my review soon, but suffice it to say here that this is Colonial's most lavish Bradbury yet. The post-production and music took a year to complete, and it is a remarkably good piece of work. Unlike their previous Bradburys, which were taken from Ray's stage play scripts, this is a new adaptation (by Jerry Robbins) taken directly from the novel. And it is remarkably authentic.

And here's the actual cover art for the CD:

I just finished listening to "The Halloween Tree" audio CD, and Phil is right - it is beyond incredible! The music sounds like something out of a Speilberg movie, the acting is great - Moundshroud is creepy and still fun, the kids are great too (especially Pip, who really sounds scared and lost), and there must be a million sound effects. I would even venture to say it tops the animated movie version. It seems to stick very close to the book (I didn't notice anything that sounded added on), and Rays dialog is sheer poetry. I highly recommend "The Halloween Tree!" It's a ton of fun.

Hey Jim, I'm glad to have my opinion validated! I think it's better than the animated film (the animation looks rather cheap to me). When I get time, I would like to sit down with book and CD together, and see how close they are. Not that it matters much, but like you I didn't immediately notice anything that had been added or taken away.

I was initially disturbed by the singing, but Jerry Robbins of Colonial (who did the adaptation and stars in it as well) pointed out to me that the lyrics were taken directly from the Bradbury text.

(In case anyone missed it - I announced it in a different thread - my review of the CD is on my website now. Click the link below.)

I listened to some of the first CD with the book, and it's pretty much intact. I loved the singing, and all of the lyrics in the song "Halloween Tree" are in the book - the same with the Samhain song. Also, it just seemed to fit the story. it didn't feel like "Ok, let's all sing." The kids never sing, just the events around them. I think this is a true Halloween Classic, and I hope it gets some notice! I wish they would do 451 next!

Jerry Robbins has told me he definitely wants to do some more Bradbury, so I expect there will be more. They won an award for Something Wicked, and this latest production is also award-worthy, so I'm sure they have plenty of motivation to continue with RB material.