The Halloween Tree

This article is about the 1972 children's book by Ray Bradbury. For the 1993 animated TV special, see The Halloween Tree (movie).

Front cover of a first edition of The Halloween Tree from 1972.

The Halloween Tree (ISBN 0375803017) is a 1972 children's fantasy novel of nineteen chapters by the American writer Ray Bradbury. It was adapted from the screenplay that Bradbury wrote in 1967 for an unproduced animated television special. The novel provides a history of Halloween that is somewhat inaccurate and fanciful.

The novel opens in a small town in Illinois on the afternoon of Halloween. A boy named Tom Skelton is preparing to go out trick-or-treating. He soon meets up with seven other costumed friends. They notice that their friend Joe Pipkin, usually referred to as "Pipkin" or "Pip", is not with them. They go to his house, only to find out that he is sick and unable to join them. The boys later arrive at what looks like an archetypal haunted house, the home of a mysterious man named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. The titular Halloween Tree, on which illuminated jack-o-lanterns appear to grow, is located in Moundshroud's yard. The eight friends briefly see Pipkin near Moundshroud's house before he disappears. Moundshroud tells the boys that Pipkin's life is in danger. He offers them an opportunity to save their friend and learn about the history of Halloween and the meaning behind their costumes along the way. The eight boys and Moundshroud then follow Pipkin on a journey across time and space, visiting ancient Egypt, Celtic Britain, medieval France and present-day Mexico and also glimpsing the origins of Halloween traditions in prehistoric times, ancient Greece and Rome and Ireland.

The Halloween Tree was adapted as an American animated TV special of the same name that was first shown on ABC on October 2, 1993.

Plot

The story begins in a small town, later revealed to be in Illinois, described as a place 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." On 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 quickly meets up with seven of his friends. Even though they are all wearing costumes, they boys all recognize each other immediately. The seven other boys are later named as:

• Henry-Hank, wearing a witch costume
• Ralph Bengstrum, wearing a mummy costume
• George Smith, wearing a ghost costume
• J.J., wearing an apeman costume
• Wally Babb, wearing a gargoyle costume (although everyone else thinks he looks more like Quasimodo)
• Fred Fryer, wearing a beggar costume
• "Hackles" Nibley, wearing a Death costume that he has improvised by putting on a white mask and carrying his grandfather's scythe

The boys feel that something is wrong. They suddenly realize that 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 without his usual energy. He has no costume, looks pale and holds his side. He tells his friends to start trick-or-treating without him, adding that he will catch up with them later at a house he calls "the place of the Haunts" near the ravine.

After receiving large amounts of candy by trick-or-treating around town, the eight boys set off for the ravine. They see the house that Pipkin referred to. It is the very image of a haunted house. Its door knocker looks like a ghostly face, like the one Ebenezer Scrooge sees in A Christmas Carol. Tom Skelton knocks on the door. A man dressed entirely in black, barely visible inside the dark house, opens it. Tom asks for trick-or-treat. The man replies, "No treats.. Only - trick!"

The door slams shut. The eight friends notice a tree in the yard of the house. A thousand illuminated jack-o'-lanterns appear to grow on it. Tom says that it is a Halloween Tree. Henry-Hank asks what the tree celebrates. A voice can be heard saying, "Celebrate!" The boys follow it. The man in black rises out of a pile of leaves. He introduces himself as Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud and asks the boys if they know why they are wearing the costumes they chose. None of the boys know the meaning behind their costumes. Moundshroud offers to educate them on the origins of their costumes by taking a journey with him. On the other side of the ravine, the boys then see Pipkin carrying an illuminated jack-o'-lantern. He calls out to his friends and tries to catch up with them, but suddenly vanishes. Moundshroud tells the other boys that Pipkin may have been temporarily taken by Death to be held for ransom. He goes on to say that the other boys can save Pipkin and learn about the origin of their costumes at the same time.

Moundshroud makes a kite from old circus posters, mostly showing ferocious lions and tigers, pasted on the side of a nearby barn. Somehow the finished kite resembles a pterodactyl. The eight friends 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 some four thousand years. They witness Egyptians placing oil lamps and offerings of food outside their houses and hear them singing a song in which they call on their dead relatives to return to them. The mummified corpse of an old man sits at the head of one family's dinner table. Moundshroud draws the boys' attention towards a funeral procession. They hear Pipkin's voice coming from inside the sarcophagus and watch as their friend is entombed. Moundshroud informs the other boys that they will have a chance to save him later.

Ralph Bengstrum asks Moundshroud if what they have witnessed in ancient Egypt explains why he is dressed as a mummy. Moundshroud replies that it does. He goes on to say that for the death-obsessed ancient Egyptians every day was Halloween. Moundshroud briefly takes the boys even further back in time to when primitive people lived in caves. He explains that the origins of Halloween go all the way back to when prehistoric people first learned to use fire. When people were no longer in constant danger of death, they were able to sit and contemplate death. They also started to worry that the sun would not rise in the morning. The apparent death of the sun each autumn therefore took on special significance for them.

Front cover of a 2001 American edition of The Halloween Tree.

The boys are returned to ancient Egypt before they and Moundshroud fly over ancient Greece and Rome and see festivals in honor of the dead held there. They arrive in the British Isles during the time of the druids. The eight boys see a forty-foot giant wielding a scythe towering above them. He looks exactly like Moundshroud. Moundshroud says that the giant is Samhain, the druids' God of the Dead. Samhain proclaims that the souls of all those who died in the previous year are gathered there and that, as punishment for their sins, they will be transformed into beasts. From the sky fall animals, including dogs, cats, cows and donkey, all of which are no bigger than worms. They are squashed beneath Samhain's feet. The boys run away from Samhain. A dog is running away from him too. Something in the dog's eyes makes the other boys recognize it as Pipkin. The dog seems to say, "Meet. Meet. Meet. Meeee..." before it disappears.

In a clump of trees near the top of a hill, the boys watch druids gathered in honor of Samhain. The ritual is interrupted by Roman soldiers who declare that the druids' religion has been outlawed by Emperor Suetonius. All of the druids are killed by the soldiers. Samhain himself appears to fall down dead. A temple in honor of Roman gods is built on the druids' sacred site. It is, however, soon transformed into a church. The Roman soldiers are transformed into priests singing in Latin. Moundshroud tells the boys that they are now in the Dark Ages. They ask him where Pipkin is. Pipkin's voice can then be heard coming from the sky. He says that he thinks he is being carried away on a broom. Moundshroud tells the other boys that they should fly away on brooms also.

Moundshroud and the eight boys fly all over Europe as they follow Pipkin. When they look below, they can see witches jumping over fires and stirring cauldrons. Henry-Hank in his witch costume asks Moundshroud if real witches were able to fly on broomsticks, talk to the dead, conjure up demons and cast spells on people. Moundshroud replies that they were not. They had no real powers but liked to think they did and sometimes took credits for deaths they had not really caused. The boys then see witches being persecuted andexecuted by hanging. Henry-Hank decides that he would not like to be a real witch. The boys land in medieval Paris and their brooms suddenly lose the power of flight.

Moundshroud draws the boys' attention to a bell that is suspended in the air high above them. Pipkin's voice can be heard coming from inside it. He has been changed into the bell's clapper. The other boys realize that Pipkin's brains will be dashed out unless they rescue him. Moundshroud tells them 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 from the completed cathedral. Wally Babb in his gargoyle costume says that there are no gargoyles. Mouyndshroud tells the boys they have to whistle. When they do so, a vast number of monsters come in answer to their call. They settle on the cathedral and are turned to stone. It is then that the boys notice Pipkin is missing again.

Tom sees a gargoyle that looks just like Pipkin. The stone Pipkin speaks extremely slowly, although he speaks considerably more quickly when rain comes, and water pours from his mouth. He tells his friends 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 in Paris and part of him is somewhere worse. A bolt of lightning hits the gargoyle. It falls to the ground and is smashed to pieces. Smoke rises from the broken gargoyle that goes south and west. Moundshroud tells the boys that Pipkin is now in Mexico and they will have to reassemble the kite made of old circus posters to fly there. While they are flying over Ireland, Fred Fryer in his beggar costume sees groups of beggars going from door to door to door as they take part in an early form of trick-or-treating. He wants to investigate further. Moundshroud tells him they have no time.

From the air, the boys see graveyards all over Mexico and South America that are lit up for the Day of the Dead. The boys land in present-day Mexico. They are delighted by how the fun festival keeps the memory of the dead alive, unlike in Illinois where they are forgotten. A vendor gives each boy a candy skull which bears his name. Tom then notices a man carrying a small coffin which appears to have Pipkin's body inside it. Moundsroud informs the boys that to save Pipkin each one of them will have to break open a piñata that looks like his Halloween costume. After they do so, the boys find themselves inside a catacomb full of mummified bodies. The bodies are those of people whose families could not keep up the rent payments on their graves. They were dug up and placed in the catacomb where they were naturally mummified by the dry air. One of the mummies looks exactly like Pipkin. He says that the other mummies will not allow him to leave. Moundshroud presents a candy skull that has Pipkin's name on it. He informs the boys that they can save Pipkin's life if they all eat a piece of the candy skull and agree to give up one year of each of their lives. The boys all agree to the bargain and eat the candy skull. Pipkin then runs past the other mummies and escapes. He runs so fast that he creates a cyclone which blows Moundshroud and the other boys back to Illinois. They find themselves once again at Moundshroud's house. Moundshroud tells the boys that, thanks to them, Pipkin's life has been saved.

The eight boys go to Pipkin's house. Tom knocks on the door and enters the house. The others wait outside. After some time, Tom comes out. He tells his friends that Pipkin is alive. He was taken to a hospital and had his appendix removed at nine o'clock that evening. He is, however, now doing fine.

As each of the boys goes to bed, the light goes out inside a jack-o'-lantern that looks like him on the Halloween Tree. Tom is the last boy in town to go to bed. He thinks of the house by the ravine and sends a thought to Mr. Moundshroud asking who he is. Tom hears Moundshroud's voice confirms that he is the Grim Reaper himself. Tom asks if there will ever be a time when people will ever stop being afraid of night and death. Moundshroud answers that people will one day reach the stars, live forever and Death will die. The jack-o'-lantern which looks like Tom on the Halloween Tree is extinguished. Only one illuminated jack-o'-lantern, the one that looks like Moundshroud, remains. Moundshroud himself blows out its light.

External links

• The Halloween Tree on Wikiquote.
• The Halloween Tree on GoodReads.
• The Halloween Tree on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.

See the article on The Halloween Tree on Fandom's Literature wiki.