From the Dust Returned

By: Ray Bradbury

Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

Ray Bradbury, America’s most beloved storyteller, has spent a lifetime carrying readers and listeners to exhilarating and dangerous places, from dark street corners in unfamiliar cities and towns to the edge of the universe. Now, in an extraordinary flight of the imagination a half-century in the making, he takes us to a most wondrous destination: into the heart of an Eternal Family.

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. In the past-midnight stillness can be detected the soft fluttering of Uncle Einar’s wings. From her realm of sleep, Cecy, the fairest and most special daughter, can feel the approach of many a welcome being—shapeshifter, telepath, somnambulist, vampire—as she flies high in the consciousness of bird and bat.

But in the midst of eager anticipation, a sense of doom pervades. For the world is changing. And death, no stranger, will always shadow this most singular family: Father, arisen from the Earth; Mother, who never sleeps but dreams; A Thousand Times Great Grandmére; Grandfather, who keeps the wildness of youth between his ears.

And the boy who, more than anyone, carries the burden of time on his shoulders: Timothy, the sad and different foundling son who must share it all, remember, and tell … and who, alone out of all of them, must one day age and wither and die.

By turns lyrical, wistful, poignant, and chilling, From the Dust Returned will surely be numbered among Ray Bradbury’s most enduring masterworks.

©2001 Ray Bradbury (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Ray Bradbury’s passion for the soul of his characters, softly using melancholy to reach the readers

Timothy’s proximity to eternity, and his opportunity to make his own choice stood out like Cecy’s presence in the moonbeam on the staircase of abandoned house at the end.

Wonderful writing style, wonderful characters

What a wonderful book! I loved the writing style- it is so dreamy and mysterious. The characters are all interesting and like-able and strange and mysterious, the stories all so seamlessly interwoven, magical and mundane elements blending perfectly. Narration is great. I can’t recommend this enough!!!

Spooky and poetic.

This is my favorite Ray Bradbury book. The writing is so beautifully poetic while at the same time maintaining Bradbury’s eerie witchy Halloween-y subject matter. The afterwards it all together. Mr Bradbury, sir, you are the master. I wish I could give this a million stars. The narration was also excellent, and fit the book very well.

A welcome surprise!

What can I say! I’m really glad I checked this one out. Great story telling, loved the characters and probably one my favorite vampire/undead stories I’ve read in a while. Quite a bit different than what the genre has become, but that’s what I liked best about it

Loved it!

Bradbury is one of my all time favorite writers. His prose is stellar and he writes my favorite style of Horror-or rather spooky. I've already listened to it twice and will do so again.