From the Dust Returned

By Ray Bradbury

Enter the strange world of the Elliott family: it will change you forever…

They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois – and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids.

Now the house is being readied in anticipation of the gala homecoming that will gather together the far-flung branches of this odd and remarkable family where they will mix their arcane skills and lifestyles, fall in and out of love and change the world around them forever.

You have never seen their like before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jan 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9780007541737

Ray Bradbury

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. An Emmy Award winner for his teleplay The Halloween Tree and an Academy Award nominee, he was the recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, among many honors.

Reviews for From the Dust Returned

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In an odd way the best part of this comes when it is over, and Bradbury tells us in an Afterword how it was created from 1945 to 2000. I don't want to spoil that. If the reader didn't already know this is a book for Halloween, and it was born when Ray Bradbury was a child who had a very imaginative Aunt. This overall story is built primarily on some of Bradbury's early short stories, and one or two I have read before, most certainly "Homecoming". This is a return to October Country. I found it a very satisfying read and liked it much more than his "Halloween Tree." Bradbury's writing really shines here and although there are some weaker parts to this overall story he managed to do this so well that it really made me smile.My paperback copy has a delightful inside 2 page spread double cover which was done long ago by Charles Addams to illustrate these stories.

[hhutson-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful little book for any age. This is one of my lifelong favorites and I don't see anyone ever topping it. It's a great gothic, fantastic read, a little fun, a little creepy, not scary at all about a little boy who is quite normal, but lives in a family of otherworldly creatures and each has a different talent, a different way about them and is a different type of creepy creature of the night. I love and would recommend this book to anyone who likes Halloween creepy fun type of books, though it does not cover Halloween.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As usual with Bradbury, the language and images here are really lovely and evocative. The story, in this case, is somewhat uneven and I was disappointed by how little was made of the intriguing tidbits and references to mysterious characters and events. Part of the problem is that this is really a collection of tales, featuring the same characters but written over a period of years and published separately, and so there are inconsistencies, changes in tone, and hints of stories which might have been developed and then weren't. Still, there are a few really excellent stories, and they all have some delightful elements.

[kristak-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I didn't necessarily enjoy the storyline, but Ray Bradbury's writing style is beautiful. The way he describes simple objects can take one's breath away.

[cmcgough_4 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

- Bradbury's version of the Addams family- excellent read for Halloween

[jean_sexton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have long loved Ray Bradbury's writing. One of the earliest fantasy/science fiction books I read was The Martian Chronicles. From the Dust Returned reminds me of that book with its loosely connected stories that are linked through their themes. The theme of this book is darker with a family of odd characters, some darkly so. The unifying characters are daughter Cecy whose mind wanders the earth and son Timothy. He'd be considered "normal" by most people, but he is the one who is different and carefully loved by his family. I would suggest this book to people who are fans of Ray Bradbury or people who enjoy atmospheric dark fantasy.

[altheaann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read an interview with Ray Bradbury not so long ago, where he was talking about re-reading one of his own, older books (Dandelion Wine, I think), and he said he realized that he was never going to write anything that good again - he was amazed that he had written it. It was one of the saddest things from an author that I've heard... Unfortunately, reading this more recent book (2001), I see what he means. The book is not without its charms - but parts of it were initially written in the 1940's, others at other times, and it has a cobbled-together sort of feeling. In the past Bradbury has masterfully put together short stories to create a novel (The Martian Chronicles, for example, one of my favorite books), but this book just didn't convince me. Which is too bad, because I really like the theme - a mystical, Addams-family type group of weird characters with strange and occult talents, living semi-secretly among us regular humans... The note by Bradbury is interesting, talking about how he and Addams developed these similar ideas separately, but had talked about doing an illustrated book together - the project never came to fruition, but one of Addams' pictures is the cover art for this book. I wish they had done it, when they first talked about it.

[bookson23rd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

From The Dust Returned, by Ray Bradbury, is a tale of spirits inhabiting and gathering to the “House” in October Country for a “Homecoming”. The chapters are new and old, some being culled from various magazines where they were printed as short stories decades ago. Put together, they create a hodge-podge of delightfully ethereal characters, with wonderful names like “A Thousand Times Great Grandmere”, and “Nostrum Paracelsius Crook”.
The main character, Timothy, is the only human in the House. A foundling, with only a spider and a mouse for friends, he longs to be part of the ghostly family. Some of the chapters involve the histories of the spirits that are venturing to the House. They are coming from all over the world, so there are plenty of tales to tell.
The truly magical thing about this book is the way some of the words flow, almost hallucinatory, surely poetic at times. Passages such as: “Before the tumult of wings, the collision of fogs and mists and souls like ribboned smokes, she saw her own soul and hungers.”
The chapters definitely show evidence of being written at different times, therefore some are better than others. I loved the chapters that wound words around and around, that tickled my brain with their playfulness!
This is a book I will re-read each Halloween!

[flying_monkeys_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 4 of 5Status updates - 7/16/2012, page 123: Again, Bradbury's prose and imagery, wow!"She stood propped in a dark corner like...an abandoned and scorched ironing board, her hands and wrists trussed across her dry riverbed bosom,... (p.3).""...the ghastly passenger with Minerva Halliday, looking remarkably dead for someone so dead (p. 112)."7/18/2012, page 204: Beginning and middle felt "deeper" than the end."She leaned forward suddenly and gave him such a kiss on his mouth that his eardrums fractured and the soft spot on his skull ached (p.150)."Apparently Bradbury collected several short stories then added some filler to create one novel. Explains a lot.

[satyridae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

That transcendent voice, so distinct, so round, so achingly nostalgic. Dreamy and full of purity and soft-focus whisperings. Recommended.

[mizmoffatt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ray Bradbury returns with another exploration of his beloved October Country and the hidden lives of the undead. From The Dust Returned chronicles the varied adventures of familial eternal beings ranging from the mummified Grandmere and Grandpere to the disembodied sister, Cecy, from the winged Uncle Einar to the all-too-human younger brother, Timothy. It is pure magic mixed with nostalgia, shot through with an ample sense of wonder and other-worldliness. Once again, Bradbury proves his deft skills with language and his remarkable depiction of the mythic qualities of the day-to-day. Ideal for: Halloween-obsessed readers; fans of lore, ghost tales, and the otherwise supernatural; Poets with an eye for novels; kids who need a good scare in those luscious autumn months.(less)

[paganpaul · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

From the Dust Returned is a most fascinating book. Have you ever considered life from the side of spectres, vampires, ghouls and ghosts? Have you an idea how life and death look for the ones that don’t die?Ray Bradbury created a masterpiece with this book, filled with dark twists, gloomy humour and fascinating characters that occasionally find themselves in amazingly awkward, almost human situations. Meet Great-grandmère, Great-grandpère, Father, Mother and Timothy on this passing through the House with ninety-nine or one hundred chimneys, and discover who are hidden in the cellar, and who live in the attic.Ray Bradbury painted a fabulous image in this book, with colourful words in dark shades. From the Dust Returned is a book I can recommend for people who like and/or appreciate a look at the dark side of unlife.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Timothy prayed to the darkness. "Please, please, help me grow to be like them, the ones who'll soon be here, who never grow old, can't die, that's what they say, can't die, no matter what, or maybe they died a long time ago but Cecy calls, and Mother and Father call, and Grandmère who only whispers, and now they're coming and I'm nothing, not like them who pass through walls and live in trees or live underneath until seventeen-year rains flood them up and out, and the ones who run in packs, let me be one! If they live forever, why not me?"Over the course of fifty years, Ray Bradbury wrote these stories about the Elliott family, whose members include mummies, werewolves, flying men, a dreamer who sleeps through her life, travelling to far off places and into other people's minds, and other more mysterious October People. The Elliots are scattered throughout the world, but all return periodically to the family's mysterious house in upper Illinois for a get-together known as the Homecoming, and it is the Timothy, the only human member of the family (who was left in a basket on the doorstep as a baby) who records the history of this strange but close family.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

B.T. (aka Before Twilight) there were other vampire stories. This particular one is a collection of connected stories about the Elliotts, an Illinois family of vampires. The story is told through the eyes of Timothy, a 10-year-old mortal boy who was dropped off at the Elliotts house when he was a baby. The family includes Cecy, who sleeps eternally but travels about by possessing other people's bodies, Great Grandmère, Nefertiti's mummified mother and Uncle Einar, a jovial character who can fly. The stories seem disconnected. They present interesting characters, but it seems like Bradbury never quite fleshes any of them out. I've really enjoyed some of his books, like The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, but this one didn't work for me. I never cared about anyone in the book. The audiobook I listened to included an interview with Bradbury at the end. He talked about creating the characters based on his own relatives. Illustrator Charles Addams worked on an illustration inspired by the stories and later they became the basis for his creation The Addams Family.

[sharongoforth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors.  The more I read his work, the more I admire him.  The man is a genius with words and creates some of the most interesting characters ever to grace a page.  From the Dust Returned is no exception.  It is the extended play version of his brilliant short story, The Homecoming, As with many of Bradbury's novels, From the Dust Returned is actually a compilation of short stories, several of which have been published individually over the past 60 years.  The stories are held together with loosely connecting chapters which gives them the continuity needed to form a novel.  What is really neat about From the Dust Returned is that we learn the beginnings of the Elliot family, their wonderfully creepy house,  and just how the human boy Timothy came to be part of this ghoulish family.  It also extends the events after the Homecoming, and surprisingly, reveals a huge dilemma for the dead:  no one believes in them any more.  Because of this, all the ghosts and ghouls are being forced from their homes and into oblivion.One of the most moving chapters was the story of Miss Minerva Halliday, a nurse and passenger on the Orient Express, and the ghost she encounters and befriends on her journey.  He seems to be visibly melting before her eyes:"He arrived this night, moving with a terrible slowness, to sit across the aisle from this woman of some years, her bosom like a fortress, her brow serene, her eyes filled with a kindness that had mellowed with time.  There was a black medical bag at her side, and a thermometer tucked in her mannish lapel pocket.  The ghastly man's paleness caused her left hand to crawl up along her lapel to touch her thermometer."Oh, dear," whispered Miss Minerva Halliday.  The maitre d' was passing.  She touched his elbow and nodded across the aisle."Pardon, but where is that poor man going?"  "Calais and London, madam.  If God is willing."  And he hurried off.Minerva Halliday, her appetite gone, stared across at that skeleton made of snow.  The man and the cutlery laid before him seemed one.  The knives, forks and spoons jingled with a silvery cold sound.  He listened, fascinated, as if to the voice of his inner soul as the cutlery crept, touched, chimed; a tintinnabulation from another sphere.  His hands lay in his lap like lonely pets, and when the train swerved around a long curve his body, mindless, swayed now this way, now that, toppling.At which moment the train took a greater curve, and knocked the silverware chittering.  A woman at a far table, laughing, cried out:  "I don't believe it!"  To which a man with a louder laugh shouted:  "Nor do I!"  This coincidence caused, in the ghastly passenger, a terrible melting.  The doubting laughter had pierced his ears.  He visibly shrank.  His eyes hollowed and one could almost imagine a cold vapor gasped from his mouth.Miss Minerva Halliday, shocked, leaned forward and put out one hand.  She heard herself whisper:  "I believe."  The effect was instantaneous.  The ghastly passenger sat up.  Color returned to his white cheeks.  His eyes glowed with a rebirth of fire." (pgs. 103-105)Bradbury's message in this book is clear.  He wants us to remember these stories, these ghouls and ghosts, and to not forget those who have gone before us.

[kpolhuis_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Ray Bradbury's language. In fact, I would need to be able to write like him to describe how I feel whenever I read one of his stories. He is the king of short stories!

[wendyrey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Part fairy tale part fantasy, with a touch of magical realism, a book assembled out of a number of short stories written over much of Ray Bradbury's life. All the bits fit together reasonably well but it left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied.Interesting

[japag_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've always thought that there are two kinds of good books: Books that you read for the plot, to know just what happens on the next page; and books that you read for the writing, taking your time just enjoying the pictures that the words create in your mind.Bradbury has always been, in my opinion, deeply rooted in the latter category, and none of his books have shown it more profoundly than "From the Dust Returned". The sheer beauty of his writing (some of it dating from the 40s) just amazes.But, at the flipside of the coin, there is not much plot to talk about. The book mostly describes the odd members of the Elliott family, some of whom fly with wings, some with their mind, some of whom might or might not be vampires, etc.It also can be seen as an allegory for the loss of all things magical and mystical in our electronic age, which becomes very clear in the last couple of chapters.This is a good book for summer afternoons (or, naturally, Halloween nights), when you have all the time in the world to just leisurely enjoy your time.

[jpsnow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bradbury based this novel on short stories he wrote over 50 years ago. His afterword gives credit to Adams, who's illustration also graces the cover. Bradbury says all of the characters were based on his own family. Each chapter is a short story in itself, most of which spin a fascinating and unique character or plot. I was especially captivated by the telling of Cecy, Angelina Marguerite, A Thousand Times Great Grandmere, Grandpere, and the Theban Voice.

[mendoza_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

From the Dust Returned chronicles a community of eternal beings: a mummified matriarch who speaks in dust; a sleeping daughter who lives through the eyes and ears of the creatures she visits in her dreams; an uncle with wings like sea-green sails. And there is also the mortal child Timothy, the foundling son who yearns to be like those he loves: to fly, to sleep in daytime, and to live forever. Instead, his task is to witness the family's struggle with the startling possibility of its own end.The dream-like atmosphere is enough to lull one into a mind-set where truly, a family such as this, can exist. This is relatively a quick read, but one that had been definitely worth revisiting. I think, that next the Dandelion Wine this is my favorite of his.

[plappen_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

From the Dust Returned, Ray Bradbury, HarperCollins, 2001Set in present-day America, this is the story of an Eternal Family.They have lived for centuries in a wondrous house with one hundred chimneys. Some members of the family are the sort who sleep during the day, in beds with lids. The house is being readied for Homecoming, that time when all the far-flung family members get together.They arrive in all sorts of forms; humanoid, animal, spirit. There’s Uncle Einar and his wings. A Thousand Times Great Grandmere is the family matriarch. She has not exactly lived, but existed, since the time of the Pharaohs. Cousin Cecy is able to enter the mind of any mammal, human or animal, even at great distances. She takes four male cousins along for a joy ride into the minds of patients at an insane asylum. While they are gone, the bodies of the male cousins are destroyed in a fire. Now what? Then there is Timothy, the "normal" one of the family. He was literally left on the doorstep in a blanket. He is the only one of the family who will grow old and die.There is a dark shadow over this Homecoming. The world is changing, and the family members are becoming less relevant. Many come from a time before Christianity, and are finding it hard to exist in this world.In a way, this is typical Ray Bradbury. Set in rural America, this story is full of wonderful writing that is just weird enough, without going too far. This is highly recommended for everyone.

[thetwods · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

More of a series of interconnected stories, some of which have been published in various collections through the years, than a novel. As such, there is a disjointedness that prevents the overall story from ever taking flight. Still, the lyricism of Bradbury's writing is as present as ever in this slight, yet enjoyable, read.

[israfel13 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I dark nursery rhyme of the highest caliber.

[junipersun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you read primarily for the sound of the words, you'll probably enjoy this book. Bradbury certainly packs in descriptive images. Unfortunately they are images which don't resonate with me. I've read some of his books long ago, I enjoy a lot of science fiction, but I have no connection with this focus on the weird and dead.