RAY BRADBURY’S EARLIEST INFLUENCESThe Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula,...

MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #3038 SPRING 2012 39

By Terry Pace

Ray Bradbury was a32-year-oldwriteronthevergeoflife-alteringnationalrenownwhenamoviestudiohehadlonglovedandreveredhiredhimtodevelop an out-of-this-worldconcept foroneof theground-breakingscience-fictionthrillersoftheColdWarera. “Sixtyyears ago, in 1952,Universal hiredme towrite ascreentreatmentforthefilmthatbecameknownasIt Came from Outer Space,”Bradburyrecalled.“IwassothrilledtobeworkingatthesamestudiothathadmadeThe Hunchback of Notre Dame,The Phantom of the Opera,Dracula,The Mummy, andThe Invisible Man—moviesthatchangedmylifeinthe1920sand’30s.AssoonasImovedintothestudiobungalowandstartedwork,IwentovertoThe Phantom of the Opera stageandstoodinthemiddleofthetheaterwhere theyhadfilmedtheopera-house scenes. Itwassoglorioustobethereinperson,standing at long lastwith theghostofLonChaney,mychild-hoodhero.IfeltlikeIwasfiveyearsoldalloveragain.” The lingering specter ofChaney—silentcinema’smyth-ic“ManofaThousandFaces”—has inhabitedBradbury’s souland psyche throughout hislong, fruitful, and vastly in-fluential literarylife.ThefamedauthorofFahrenheit 451,The Martian Chronicles,The Illustrated Man,Dandelion Wine,Something Wicked This Way Comes,The Machineries of Joy,The Halloween Tree,From the Dust Re-turned,Farewell Summer,andothercorner-stoneworksofsciencefiction,fantasy,andthemacabrecreditsChaneyastheearliestandmostprofoundinspirationforhischild-hoodfearsandanxietiesandthedevelop-mentofhisflourishingyoungimagination. “Lon Chaney has been the centralmetaphorofmylifeallthewaythrough,”the92-year-oldBradburyinsists.“IsawChaney’sperformanceas thebell ringerQuasimodoinThe Hunchback of Notre DamewhenIwasthreeyearsold,andaverystrangethinghap-pened:Iwondered,atthatveryearlyage,ifIwasn’tahunchbackmyself.Iworriedthat

Imightgrowuptobejustsuchamisshapenoutcast.That’saverystrangefearforachildthatagetohave,isn’tit?ButIrememberthatfeelingquitevividly—Chaney’sperformanceinthatfilmaffectedmesodeeply.TheverynextyearIsawLonChaneyagaininHe Who Gets Slapped,withallthecircusclownsandthe lions—again,Chaneyprovidedmoremetaphorsthat lefta lastingimpressiononme.Intheendingof He Who Gets Slapped,theclownplayedbyChaneytrapsthesepeopleinaroomwithalion.Thatlionandthatroomturnedup25yearslaterinmyscience-fictionstory‘TheVeldt,’wheretwochildrenaresentintoavirtual-realityplayroominthefutureandencouragedbytheirparentstoplaytheretogetherand leave thegrownupsalone.Attheendof thestory, thechildrentraptheirdistant,uncaringparents intheroomtobe

eatenalivebylionsontheAfricanveldtthatthey’vecreatedthroughtheirownwishfulfill-mentinthevirtualrealityofthefuture.ThatstorywasmadepossiblebyLonChaney.” When Bradbury was only five, heexperiencedChaney’s iconicperformanceasanother tragic cinematicgrotesque—thedisfigured,mysterious, and occasionallymurderousmusicalgeniusErik,amad,love-lorn composer andorganist lurking in thedark catacombs beneath the ParisOperaHouse.Universal’s lavish,big-budget1925movieadaptationofFrenchauthorGastonLeroux’sgothicmelodramaThe Phantom of the Operamadeitsfirst-runbig-screenvisittotheAcademyTheatreintheauthor’ssleepyMidwesternhometownofWaukegan,Illinois. “Thatparticularfilmhasstayedwithmeforever—it’sjustsoperfectinsomany

R AY B R A D B U RY ’ S E A R L I E S T I N F L U E N C E S

wonderfulways,”Bradburymaintains. “Iwent to see it on openingnightwithmyolderbrotherSkip, andwewalked to thetheaterfromourhouse.Ithinktheperfor-mancewasatseventhatnight,andbynineo’clockwewereonourwayback,hauntedby thememoryofChaney’sPhantom.Toget home,we had towalk over a bridgethat ran across this big, dark ravine thatdivided the town.On thewaydown thelong steps that leddown the slope to thebridgethatranovertheravine,mybrothersuddenlyranaheadofme,withoutaword,anddisappearedintothedarkness.Heranall thewaytotheothersideof theravineandhidhimselfunderneaththebridge.SohereIwas,atnineo’clockatnight,crossingthisbigravine,surroundedbydarknessandsilenceandterrifiedbecauseIthoughtmybrotherhadrunhomeandabandonedme

toafateworsethandeath.WhenIreachedthefarendofthebridge,Skipjumpedoutinfrontofmeandscreamedandscaredthelivinghelloutofme.Iranscreamingupthehillandallthewayhome.MyfatherwassomadwhenIgothomeandtoldhimwhathad happened thathe beat the hell outofmybrother,whichmademe very hap-py at the time.Thatravine is still thereinWaukegan, in thecenterofwhat’snowcalledRayBradburyPark. The bridge isstill there, too, andthe far end of thebridge iswheremyb ro the r h id and

jumped out and frightenedmeafterwefirstsawThe Phantom of the Operaallthoseyearsago.That’samemoryyouneverforget.” Thedeep,dark, fearsome ra-vinethatterrifiedRayBradburysocompletely in his childhood laterworkeditssinisterandmysteriouswayintoseveraloftheauthor’sen-duringliteraryworks,mostnotablyhis quasi-autobiographical novelofmagical fantasy and a child’sfirst bittersweet tasteofmortality,Dandelion Wine (1957), alongwiththatbook’sbelatedsequel,Farewell Summer(2006).SetintheMidwest-ernhamletofGreenTown,Illinois(Bradbury’sfictionalizedversionofhisWaukeganbirthplace), duringthefatefulpre-Depressionsummerof1928,Dandelion Winefeaturesanunseen serial killer knownas theLonelyOne,who lurks near thedreadedravinelateatnight,terror-

izingthecitizensofGreenTownandstran-glingseveralofthetown’ssadandsolitaryspinsters.MorethanhalfacenturyafterhepennedDandelion Wine,BradburybelievesthelethalfigureoftheLonelyOnerepresentsoneofhisfirstattemptstore-createChaney’s

Author Ray Bradbury saw The Hunchback of Notre Dame when he was just three years old, and he wondered at the time if he was a hunchback himself. (Courtesy of Photofest)

The deep, dark, terrifying ravine (left) young Ray Bradbury (and brother Skip) had to cross during nighttime walks between his house and first-run theatrical screenings of Lon Chaney’s silent-movie chillers (including The Phantom of the Opera) is now part of Ray Bradbury Park in the author’s hometown of Waukegan, Illinois. (Ravine Photo Courtesy of Ray Bradbury/Phantom Photo Courtesy of Photofest)