The Whole Town's Sleeping

by Ray Bradbury

A famous short story

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Classics, School

28 pages, Unknown Binding

Published September 1, 1950

About the author

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).

The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray Bradbury’s tale is set on a sultry summer evening in a small town suppressed by the unease and fear of an unknown strangler known as The Lonely One. It’s a fear inducing read on several levels, and in part because the setting is so commonplace. This could be you or me, and so Lavinia’s reactions and emotions are wholly identifiable during each step of the evening. Strolling through the secure and settling streets, confident with the bold bravery of the young, foolish, or heedless, as ease silently and stealthily succumbs to the unease of the unknown but ubiquitous danger. Soon we are overtaken by tormenting terror, certain of our own imminent injury or worse yet, a drawn out and devilish death. Not soon enough, we reach the relieving repose of our safe haven where we are free to take a breath, calm our thumping heart, and steady our overactive nerves and imagination. But wait, what? Is that the story? Or is there more to be told?

I enjoy Bradbury’s short stories that leave an open ending. Sure, there’s the obvious, but still not totally certain of the particulars, ending, but also there’s a less nefarious possibility for those who, like Lavinia, enjoy the prickle of excitement but hate a violent finale. This would make a fun campfire read with each person offering up a unique and plausible possible continuation of the story.

Read this 8-page mild spine-chiller here: https://www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/cms/li...

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Whole Town’s Sleeping” is Bradbury’s homage to the campfire ghost story, whose intent it is to thrill and scare.

The old story about where the killer in coming up the first step, then the second step, etc. is even referenced. Since this was first published in a 1950 edition of McCall’s magazine it makes me wonder how old that tale is.

Miss Lavenia Nebbs lives in a quiet town through which runs a deep and dark (ripe for a ghost story) ravine. Also occurring in this otherwise quiet town is a series of murders, presumably by a serial killer named the Lonely One. He has been attacking single women and leaving them to be found dead for weeks. Ms. Nebbs and her friends find the town scared and closing up early to keep susceptible young women off the streets late at night.

But Lavenia is an odd one, and curious, and maybe even a little excited by the violence and threat of lurking harm and true to all such stories like this, finds herself out after midnight, crossing the lonesome ravine and in fear of the Lonely One.

A master of fantasy, Bradbury demonstrates his ability with the horror genre here.

A very good story.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hot blue-glass eyes of the mannequins watched as the ladies drifted down the empty river bottom street, their images shimmering in the windows like blossoms seen under darkly moving waters.

Thankfully, my grandmother was spared the horror and devastation of 9/11, having passed away in her sleep shortly before the terrorist attacks. This review has nothing to do with terrorism, but it has everything to do with the memory of Grandma Faye, and the nostalgic feelings that Bradbury's fiction often depicted, and which he did so well here.

Grandma loved horror. I remember going over to their house for the day as kids, and she'd usually have a "scary movie," like Friday the 13th playing, and although I didn't recognize the inherent corniness of such films at the time, I felt drawn the them nonetheless. In the early 90's, she expressed excitement for Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, which my mom had surprisingly taped for us kids to watch. Keep in mind, I was in junior high at the time, and my sister was three years younger. I liked it at the time, but she loved it, she couldn't get enough of it. That is, however, irrelevant to this review. The point is, I'm almost positive that I got my love of horror from Grandma.

As I was reading The Whole Town's Sleeping, I found my memories drifting back to her. Particularly at the mention of the 1920's cultural norms, and inexpensive outings to theatres, candy shops and drug stores, even soda shops. The latter hit me hardest because in the 80's, Grandma and Grandpa owned a soda shop, which was quite the social hang-out, back in the day, in my home town. Those memories made me smile, in a bitter-sweet kind of way, despite the short tale's dark subject matter.

I have no idea if she ever read it or not, but I know she would have enjoyed it, probably as much as I have.

I miss you, Grandma.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time reading Bradbury, though I have listened to some of his Martian Chronicles and Zero Hour (that one is so chilling, and I can't listen to that without feeling quite disturbed; note to myself need to read that at some point), on OTR (old time radio) replays from various shows. I have listened to The Whole Town's Sleeping several times this way, and after hearing Suspense's version with Janet Nolan and Peggy Webber yesterday, which I have also heard Agnes Moorehead as Lavinia. I wanted to read this short story to see if they kept to his essence. The directors basically do a really close likeness with few changes but Bradbury's words had more of a horrifying and scary effect on me. Where as the Zero Hour was terrifying it had a science fiction element which one found lacking reality but nonetheless scary but The Whole Town's Sleeping was something that could happen. The irony of the ending and being her safe haven intensified the fear factor, especially when thinking of the many times I have arrived home and felt safe. One thing that strikes me, Livinia's wanting to still see the movie even after seeing her dead friend was killed was very offsetting.

Suspense Old Time Radio- August 31, 1958, with Agnes Moorehead _ link below.

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...

[Tokio Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this is a fine example of who and how Ray Bradbury writes. This is not a science fiction or exploration story like so many of his famous works are, no, this is a thrilling tale of a girl walking home at night.

The story begins with a girl named Lavinia Nubbs (great name) and her friend stumbling upon the dead body of their friend Emily who was killed by the Lonely One in a ravine. After that the reader sees from the point of view of Lavinia. The reader sees her mistakes and thrills of being potentially chased by a killer. There is even a quote on page seven saying “Lavinia stood with the three people staring at her. She felt nothing. Except perhaps the slightest prickle of excitement in her throat”, this is after she realizes she may be the killer’s next target. In this sentence alone the reader knows Lavinia does not live a thrilling life or maybe she is just a thrill addict.

I do have to say the ending is very predictable, yet the lead up to the conclusion made my heart race. I wasn’t hoping Lavinia would survive the night, she made to many mistakes for me to pity her, but I found my heart racing in tandem with her own. I felt like I was being chased down a ravine by the Dark Man, The Lonely One, and it was not pleasant but exhilarating.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I have trouble falling asleep at night, I like to pick up a short story. I keep a few anthologies by my bed. Last night was this creeper by the master, Ray Bradbury.

In this story, Lavinia is headed out to the movies with her friends even though rumors of a killer are floating around her town. She decides not to be cowed by fear and go on with her plans. Bradbury captures her moving from confidence to concern to terror and the reader is in Lavinia's mind as she panics on the way home.

Plus, it did the trick and I fell right to sleep!

[King Crusoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a pleasant little story! Atmosphere and setting are fantastic. Not sure when the story was written, but it gives that classic 1940’s-1950’s America vibe that old TV and movies from the era give me. Between the descriptions of the town and the dialogue, this one had a hell of a nostalgic feel to it, despite my unfamiliarity with what it makes me pine for.

“The Whole Town’s Sleeping” could’ve been an absolutely perfect Prologue to a suspense thriller if Bradbury had so chosen.

As is, still a perfectly worthwhile story that I recommend easily.

[Kahleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like there were a lot of plot elements set up that ultimately never served a direct purpose in the way I expected them to, which kept me on my toes until the climax.

First I assumed that Lavinia was the culprit setting up an alibi on account of her odd behavior in remarking the time and hurrying her friends along to the show despite the obvious danger at hand. This was further solidified in my mind when they continually noted that she was now the fairest of them after the untimely demise of their friend. My assumption was that she was the Lonely One or was in direct cahoots with him in order to weed out the competition.

This remained the case up until the point we were granted her inner monologue. They emphasized her living on her own all that time which likely contributed to her becoming more of a risk-taker given the mundane circumstances. I still can't help but feel as though I'm missing out on a bigger picture with her character motivations or a deeper meaning at large.

Something else that really brought the story together to me as a whole was the subversion of the safety of our very own home. The whole time the build-up led the reader and by extension Lavinia to believe that her residence was the safe haven that couldn't be intruded upon. Yet we knew from prior context that the man from the drug store provided the address to someone who fancied her to some extent.

There was also the bait and switch with the Officer near the end. To me there were so many potential possibilities of who the killer was and how they might emerge that even though many of them were immediately obvious, I still felt a lingering uncertainty as to which one would prevail.

I wonder if the very existence of said Officer actually adds a tinge of ambiguity to the fate of Lavinia considering her blood-curdling scream and how he pointed out the ease in which voices carry in that area. Part of me wonders if it might've been possible for him to reach her in time or whether that is merely a pipe dream on my end.

Usually I would've been let down by the number of curveballs that seemingly didn't raise the stakes as much as I initially anticipated they would, but if anything they were serviceable distractions that kept my interest and muddled the truth from being all too obvious.

[Bonnie Gleckler Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Bradbury’s earlier works. Lavinia Nebbs goes out for the evening with her friends. She’s not afraid. But perhaps she should be. Her friends each ask her to stay with them and spend the night. But, she’s not afraid. Should she be?

[Paiton Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really didn't care for the ending, It had a lot more potential and I feel like this could have been a great novel like "Fahrenheit 451"

[Jamie Raue · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent thing to be reading at night. Though you should maybe keep a mug of hot chocolate for when you're finished. A lemonade would be good too, especially on warm nights.

[Thomas Houghton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps I’m being harsh by not giving five stars, because Bradbury’s suspenseful short story is filled with beautiful descriptions and ingeniously interwoven speech - but, part of me was let down by the ending. For those who haven’t read the text, it is about a woman named Lavinia who, after leaving the cinema, walks home and believes she is being stalked by the serial killer known as the ‘Lonely One’. I won’t spoil the ending but I do feel like Bradbury could have done more with it - it seems obvious what is about to happen and therefore the reveal is less scary than the author likely intended. However, overall it is still a good horror-tale that builds the atmosphere well and is structured in such a fragmented, jarring way that you cannot help but feel tense whilst reading it.

[Deniz Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

“On her solitary porch, Lavinia Nebbs -- age thirty-seven, very straight and slim -- sat with a tinkling lemonade in her white fingers …
Francine… and didn't look thirty-five.”


“The Whole Town’s Sleeping” by Ray Bradbury depicts a small town setting in Illinois, but the narrator uses a telescopic viewpoint from which to tell the story, almost as if the only survivor of this small town in Illinois, e.g. Harvard, IL, heard the story from one of three women. Lavinia Nebbs, Francine, and Helen have planned to see a movie, which the June 14, 1955 radio transcript says was a Robert Mitchum film noir playing around the same time in theaters, yet the film is not the cause of Freud’s sense of the uncanny.

The character of Lavinia Nebbs causes Freud’s sense of the uncanny. Lavinia is neither here nor there. Either she is from the farm or the city, one side of the tracks or the other, from God’s dominion or Chicago, yet one cannot decide whence she came. Even her surname of Nebbs can be of Norwegian or Yiddish origin. However, ambiguity alone does not cause a sense of the uncanny. Neither does the darkness of the ravine cause a sense of the uncanny. Instead, the narrator's telescopic lens causes a sense of the uncanny.

If Lavinia lived on Park Street, then she wouldn’t have had to walk through this non-existent “ravine” and count the 113 steps. The ravine and the steps didn’t exist in this town in Illinois. There was only a creek and a rickety old bridge. It is more likely that the narrator realizes that Lavinia’s suitor is the town’s victim, and the likely address is the address at Park Street. Therefore, Lavinia must have lived towards the end of South Eastman Street and had to cross a small bridge.

Therefore, Lavinia was being warned not to go home to her address at Park Street—the suitor and the town’s knight would be there. Could there have been an innocent explanation for her reaction? Was she ashamed of her smaller house at Eastman Street and always made friends on the other side of the tracks?

Lavinia is not only drawn towards the movie theater, she has an uncontrollable urge of seeing this Robert Mitchum movie at the theater. After Lavinia and Francine discover the third murder victim in the ravine, Francine and Helen urge her to stay home that night due to the serial killer named the Lonely One. What could scare a woman who wasn’t scared of walking alone at midnight through the very crime scene where a local woman was murdered?

One of the most notable residents of Harvard, Illinois was the famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow, who lived there briefly immediately after graduating from the University of Michigan Law School. The year was 1879, and there weren’t any movie theaters at that time. The darkness of the ravine is really Darrow's agnosticism. When Clarence Darrow was thirty-seven years old, in 1894, he defended Eugene V. Debs, the leader of the Pullman Strike in Chicago. Of course, Freud’s sense of the uncanny can have a linguistic perspective as Debs does not change into Nebbs over time. Those were two different names.

(I was unable to read the original short story. I read the radio transcript version.)

[Karen Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this for the first time in school, and didn't really appreciate it at the time.
The Whole Town's Sleeping manages to take a very unusual situation and show the horror unfolding. We follow Lavinia and her friend Francine as they determine not to give in to the fear running through their Illinois town with the presence of a killer nicknamed The Lonely One. They go to the cinema and talk, inevitably, turns to the risk they are taking not staying home alone. The women laugh it off, but then they discover a body as they are walking home and their attention turns to the possibility that they might be in a dangerous situation.
As the evening wears on, Lavinia ends up in increasingly dangerous situations and much is made of her behaviour. She is judged harshly for her behaviour, and shrugs the concern off. There is a part of me that admires Lavinia's attempts to rationalise her actions and not to give in to the palpable fear spreading through the town.
I'd genuinely forgotten how tense the closing line is. I always wonder what happened next!

[Tammy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here’s a ridiculous story of a woman who didn’t join in with her friends freaking out over a murderer on the loose...The Lonely Man. She goes to the “only safe place”, which is her home to find him lurking in the shadows. The story ends with him uttering. “Beautiful.” Of course, I despise women being portrayed as delicate little porcelain dolls who could never run, much less fight for their lives.

[Miki]

I'm becoming a Ray Bradbury fan. Elements of the story don't quite fit the time, and this is better discussed in a blog post here: The Delights of the Genre. However, I love how Bradbury builds suspense. What a great short story to read in the lead up to Halloween!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this story in our school library back in 1980, and read it during first break. Needless to say, I was FINISHED for the rest of the day!!! Didn't help either that I had to ride my bike home through a sleepy suburb!!!

[noodle · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible book! i remember my teacher reading this to us in our english lesson, and ever since then i have been hooked on this short story! bradbury’s descriptions of the small elements really set the scene, and i can almost imagine myself there alongside lavinia

[Abineeve · Rating 2 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT:


There is a reason she is called Lavinia. The books so sinister it takes your breath away...

[Maie Elfayoumy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one can describe instant inner fears and personal craziness in a short story like Bradbury.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for school.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to it read by Jasika Nicole.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright that was super spooky I haaaaated that.

[katya · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am SHOOK

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining. Using this short story with my Y8 class. They seemed to like it too!

[allie english · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a university class and was blown away by how much was put into eight pages. An excellent example of a fantastic short story.

[Prashant Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this short story invoked fear and it was easy to correlate the anxiety nd the thrilling experience. Almost everyone faces such an experience, and it has been penned so well

[Caitlin O’Loan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scary and why the cliffhanger WHY?

[Shayzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this on old radio broadcast. Loved the story. Lavinia went from nonchalant, almost stupid, prideful, too terrified.

[Bethany Troyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick terrorizing way to make you jumpy the rest of the day