The Ray Bradbury Theater – The Wind

Friends, as you are probably already aware of, today happens to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of Ray Bradbury. In the past on the Retroist as well as on this site I have expressed my appreciation for the legendary writer that brought us the likes of A Sound of Thunder, Usher II, Fahrenheit 451, The Veldt, and of course Something Wicked This Way Comes to name just a few. So, as the sun begins to descend and blanket the the Vault with soothing night – my thoughts turn to things creepy and bizarre. Which is why I thought it would be appropriate to share an episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater with you – an adaptation of his 1943 story entitled The Wind.

The Wind is a short story that was first published in the pages of Weird Tales magazine in March of 1943. As I understand it, the first time it was collected in book form was four years later with Dark Carnival – which was edited by none other than August Derleth and published by Arkham House.

This television adaptation of The Wind was originally broadcast on July 28th of 1989. Directed by Graham McLean (Worzel Gummidge Down Under) – it stars Michael Sarrazin (The Reincarnation of Peter Proud) as John Colt, a man who is convinced that he is experiencing the wrath of wind itself. As you will learn from the episode itself, John believes he is being hunted down by the wind for having discovered the location from which all wind originates – a valley in the mountains of Tibet. While it might sounds like John is in fact insane – it is hard to scoff at his beliefs though when his home becomes assaulted by the wind itself…

Turn out the lights if you are able and join us in celebrating the 100th birthday of Ray Bradbury with The Wind!