Sam Weller (The Bradbury Chronicles) and Mort Castle (On Writing Horror) have compiled (and contributed to) a collection of short stories in honor of Ray Bradbury, who died in June 2012 at age 91. The stories in Shadow Show are as varied as Bradbury's own vast range of speculative fiction; some are more successful than others, yet the strongest entries are enthralling enough to sustain the reader through the infrequent lulls.
Margaret Atwood's "Headlife," Joe Meno's "Young Pilgrims," Charles Yu's "Earth (A Gift Shop)" and Bayo Ojikutu's "Reservation 2020" recall Fahrenheit 451's use of science fiction as a vessel for exploring political and social issues. Dan Chaon's "Little America" and Robert McCammon's "Children of the Bedtime Machine" are refreshingly original takes on post-apocalyptic America and evoke the melancholy of Bradbury stories like "There Will Come Soft Rains." Other Bradbury cornerstones are paid tribute: "The Tattoo" by Bonnie Jo Campbell is heavily based on The Illustrated Man, while Alice Hoffman's "Conjure" and Julia Keller's "Hayleigh's Dad" feature menacing strangers in small towns. "By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain" by Joe Hill is an unexpected gem among the other sparkling entries of Shadow Show. It follows two imaginative children as they discover a beached lake monster, a creature reminiscent of Bradbury's "The Fog Horn."
Long-time Bradbury fans and the uninitiated alike are sure to find enjoyable experiences in this collection. The afterwords accompanying each contribution explain Bradbury's influence on the stories and on the author's life in general. These personal tributes, more so than any story, celebrate the life of Ray Bradbury and prove his impact on the literary world. --Tobias Mutter, freelance reviewer