The Halloween Tree

The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury, is a fantasy adventure novel for young readers published in 1972. It tells the story of a group of eight boys who embark on a journey through time and space one Halloween night to save their friend Pipkin. Acting as their spirit guide on this journey is Moundshroud, a macabre yet benign personification of death and Halloween. The novel unravels the origins and traditions of Halloween across different cultures and eras and explores themes of The Need to Recognize Mortality, The Power of Friendship, and The Difference but Connectedness of Cultural Traditions.  

Bradbury, a pioneer in the genres of science fiction and fantasy (including his seminal novel, The Martian Chronicles), first conceived The Halloween Tree in 1967 as a screenplay, which was not produced. In 1972 he published it as a short novel, dedicating it to his friend Man’Ha Garreau-Dombasle, who had translated Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 into French. In 1993, a feature-length animated film of The Halloween Tree was released by Hanna-Barbera, adapted for the screen and with narration by Bradbury; Bradbury won an Emmy award for the screenplay.

This guide refers to the 2001 Yearling edition of The Halloween Tree, which includes the black-and-white illustrations by artist Joseph Mugnaini that appeared in the original edition.

Plot Summary

A group of eight boys gather on the sidewalk on Halloween night to go trick-or-treating in their small Midwestern town. When they realize that their friend Pipkin is missing, they go to his house to check on him. Pipkin appears on the front porch to greet them, but he looks sick and pale. He tells the friends to go ahead of him to the ravine at the edge of town, saying that he will catch up.

At the ravine, one of the boys, Tom Skelton, leads the friends to explore an old house reputed to be haunted. When they knock on the door, a shadowy figure answers and tells them to expect a “trick” rather than a “treat.” Exploring the side of the house, the boys discover a tree festooned with illuminated pumpkins that are each carved with different human features: a Halloween Tree.

The shadowy figure introduces himself as Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. When he quizzes the boys on the meaning of Halloween traditions and they are unable to provide satisfactory answers, he invites them on a journey through space and time to discover the essence of the holiday.

Before the boys depart, Pipkin appears in the distance wanly calling to his friends; he then vanishes. Moundshroud explains that Pipkin has been “borrowed” by death and is being held ransom. The journey will be a means to rescue Pipkin from the clutches of death.

Constructing a magical kite, the boys and Moundshroud set sail through the air and find themselves traveling back in time. They arrive in ancient Egypt, where they explore an underground tomb containing mummies. A funeral procession passes by bearing a child-shaped mummy that the boys realize is Pipkin. Pipkin calls for help from beneath the mummy wrappings, but his voice is cut off. Moundshroud assures them that they will meet Pipkin again further along on the journey. He explains that Egyptian burial customs were the origin of modern Halloween, representing fear and reverence for death as well as hope for new sunlight after the darkness of winter.

Climbing a pyramid allows the boys to view other historical civilizations from a magical crystal lens. They observe the Greeks and Romans, whose death-related customs also contributed to Halloween. Moundshroud then causes his body to turn into a sweep of autumn leaves that bears the boys into the air once more. When they land, they are in Britain at the time of the Druids. Samhain, the god of death, is “harvesting” souls with his scythe, wreaking violent havoc and destruction. Pipkin appears in the guise of a frightened dog and runs off. Historical time seems to speed up, and the boys watch as the Celtic religion is replaced by Roman polytheism and then by Christianity.

The boys again hear Pipkin’s voice, this time telling them that he is being carried away on a broom. The boys and Moundshroud are carried away on brooms too, and as they fly over Europe, they see alleged witches being persecuted during the Dark Ages. The friends land in medieval Paris, where Moundshroud announces that they will help build Notre Dame Cathedral. Pipkin appears first as the clapper of a bell and then as a stone gargoyle on the side of the completed cathedral. The boys are finally able to get close enough to Pipkin to converse with him. However, when lightning strikes him, he crumbles to the ground, and the wind carries the ashes away. Moundshroud says that Pipkin is being whisked away to Mexico, where a coffin is being prepared for him.

The boys reassemble the kite and fly to Mexico. It is the Day of the Dead, and Mexican villagers are attending a candlelight ceremony at a cemetery. When a candy seller gives the boys a skull-shaped candy with Pipkin’s name on it, they realize he is in serious danger. Moundshroud tells the boys to strike piñatas hanging from a tree. They do so, and the objects inside the piñatas carry them away through the air.

The boys land in a graveyard and enter a catacomb. In a long hall, behind rows of menacing mummies, sits a terrified Pipkin. Moundshroud announces that the boys have one hope of rescuing Pipkin: They must each sacrifice a year from their lives. The boys agree and share the Pipkin-imprinted candy to solidify the pact. Immediately Pipkin, filled with new courage, runs past the mummies out of the catacomb.

The wind sucks the boys out of the catacomb and through the air. They land back in their hometown, where it is almost midnight on Halloween. At the haunted house, the scenes they have witnessed during the night appear as if in review on each floor.

The boys say goodbye to Moundshroud and leave to check on Pipkin. After making inquiries, they discover that Pipkin had to go to the hospital for appendicitis; the operation was successful, and he is now doing fine.

Standing on his veranda, Tom reflects on the experiences of the night. Moundshroud, speaking to him in spirit, confirms what Tom suspected: He (Moundshroud) is death, and eventually, he will come for Tom as he does for every other human being. Moundshroud reassures Tom that fear and death will ultimately be destroyed. The pumpkins on the Halloween Tree go dark, and the town goes to sleep for the night.