Dear Mr. Bradbury,

When I recently learned that you were in talks to adapt your own DARK THEY WERE, AND GOLDEN EYED for the new television anthology series MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION, I immediately went about tracking the story down. I was intrigued, seeing as how DARK THEY WERE wasn't ever featured in THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES and appears to be one of yourlesser-known works.

One question pops into my mind after reading DARK THEY WERE. Why on earth were you pigeonholed as a science-fiction writer, and not a horror author? You're able to tap into the very essence of primal fear to a degree that would make Stephen King ashamed. There are moments in your stories that encapsulate the whole spectrum of emotions, from adventure and intrigue to terror and shadows. The concept of losing your identity, so completely and utterly, to an alien world is a terrifying one. In all honesty, by the end of the tale I felt depressed...even a little angry. Maybe it was how you chose to characterize the family and the surrounding community, but they all came off as emotionally distant, even unsympathetic...and this was long before Mars began to "contaminate" them.

Maybe this was another point of the story that's eluded me. I've never done a good job interpreting the works of other writers. I can understand what's happening within the story in a real, practical sense, but the entire MESSAGE of the tale could fly right over my head. I suppose my problem is that I react to fiction on an emotive level, as opposed to a more intellectual approach; as a result, the plight of Harry and his family left me a little cold. I'm only speaking from my own experiences as an individual reader.

For the MASTERS adaptation, I'd suggest the following: (and keep in mind this is ONLY a suggestion, seeing as how you're one of the most renowned fantasy/sci-fi authors of the 20th/21st century and I'm a clueless punk who's yet to graduate from college)

Focus on the family. Place the rest of the Terran community into the background. In fact, forget the community entirely; they introduced a vague ambience of paranoia and conspiracy into the story that shouldn't really belong in the MASTERS episode. Narrowing the scope of the tale to the family might allow the narrative to become far more intimate, more personal for the viewer. Make the story about a man, his wife, and two children, who undergo a frightening, yet strangely beautiful metamorphosis that consumes their bodies and minds. How does each member of the family react to his/her predicament? With horror? With confusion? With awe? With contentment? A combination of all four? Do they become better people over time, and as a result (ironically) better 'human beings'? These are questions I'd love to see the MASTERS episode toy with.

Those are my thoughts on the adaptation. I know they're not yours, which are liable to be far, FAR better than mine. Here's to a truly exceptional piece of television in the near future.

With sincere respect,
BH

Dear Mr. Bradbury,

I won't deny the egotism of replying to my own post, but unfortunately my passion for this story overrides any attempt on my part to be humble and restrained.

You might want to see (if you haven't already)THE INNOCENTS, the 1961 adaptation of Henry James's novel THE TURN OF THE SCREW. The eerie manifestations of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel in the movie could be similar to how the Martian family appears to the Bitterings early on in the MASTERS OF SCI-FI episode. (And in turn, after the Bitterings have been fully converted, their previous human selves could go about "hautning" them in a cyclical pattern.)

Basset Hound,

while I doubt that Mr Bradbury will see your post (he doesn't drop by here very often (understatement!)), you can be sure that he has seen The Innocents. It was directed by Jack Clayton, who was a personal friend of Ray's for many years, and one of Ray's favourite directors.

Unfortunately, the two had a falling out when Clayton was directing the film of Something Wicked This Way Comes, the only time they worked closely together.