Ray Bradbury Gift Set: WITH "The Halloween Tree" AND "Something Wicked This Way Comes" AND "October Country" [Hardcover]

I just received this set in the mail. I am somewhat disappointed, although the set is, in general, fairly attractive.

First (I know that I should have asked before buying, but didn't!) I was surprised to find that The October Country only has one or two of the original Mugnaini illustrations. Most of the stories are illustrated, but by different artists. The history of these illustrations is not provided, as far as I can tell. They are not bad illustrations, but it's hard to beat Mugnaini's effort.

Second, although The Halloween Tree DOES have the Mugnaini illustrations, the reproductions are disappointing. I compared them to a cheap paperback edition I own, and discovered that the reproductions in this slipcase hardcover set have in most cases been trimmed. Consequently, important parts of the illustration (for example, a skull at the bottom of a stairway) are cut off. One or two illustrations are actually close-ups of the originals, so there is an unpleasant graininess to the texture. In general, the illustrations do not seem to be reproduced with much care or quality. They were almost certainly not made from original plates.

Finally, Mugnaini illustrated each chapter head of The Halloween Tree with a line drawing of a mask. In my cheap paperback edition, the masks are much larger, so their features stand out. In this special edition, however, the publisher decided to put an autumn leaf design at the bottom of the page, so the size of the masks had to be reduced. This size reduction sucks the drama right out of the masks. Furthermore, the dark, blotchy style of the autumn leaf pattern doesn't complement the fine lines of the masks. Instead, the additional leaf pattern simply makes the page look messy.

I should probably also mention that, according to its website, PS Publishing limited this slipcase edition to 274 copies. Yet nowhere on the copyright page or anywhere else in this set do I see an indication that this is a limited edition.

I previously purchased PS Publishing's signed, limited editions of R is for Rocket and S is for Space. I was quite pleased with those books, so I was disappointed to discover that this three-volume set failed to measure up to the standards set in those volumes.

On the positive side, there are interesting introductions and epilogues in each of the three volumes (although not by Bradbury himself), and the original scripts for The Halloween Tree (which Bradbury first intended as a drama) appear in an appendix.

This set is definitely a mixed bag. It's an alternative to consider if you are not in the market for the first editions, but you are better off knowing about the downside before making your purchase. Hence this review. (Final notes: there are no dust covers, but the dustcover designs are printed right on the boards. Also, the signatures appear to be glued together rather than sewn.)

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review  3.0 out of 5 stars