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Dos hombres, un joven llamado Johnny y un viejo de nombre McDunn, se encuentran cuidando un faro cuando una extraña criatura acude luego de oír la sirena de dicha edificación. Como es habitual en Ray Bradbury, el cuento es una excusa para reflexionar sobre la soledad y el paso del tiempo.
La sirena está considerado como uno de los mejores cuentos de Bradbury. Es el relato que abre el libro 'Las doradas manzanas del sol' de Ediciones Minotauro. Fue adaptado a la gran pantalla bajo el título de 'The beast from 20,000 fathoms' el año 1953. La película luego influenciaría la que se estrenara un año más tarde en Japón con el nombre de Godzilla.
La sirena está considerado como uno de los mejores cuentos de Bradbury. Es el relato que abre el libro 'Las doradas manzanas del sol' de Ediciones Minotauro. Fue adaptado a la gran pantalla bajo el título de 'The beast from 20,000 fathoms' el año 1953. La película luego influenciaría la que se estrenara un año más tarde en Japón con el nombre de Godzilla.
Unknown Binding
First published June 23, 1951
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1545 people want to read
About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,561 books25.2k followersRay 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".
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".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
February 19, 2020
A very philosophical horror story about a fog horn and what hides in the fog. Mc Dunn tells his colleague Johnny everything he knows about the fog horn and its impact upon other beings. Really worth a reading with an interesting twist at the end. Recommended!
October 24, 2018
Dinosaur love.
Ray Bradbury’s somber tale of a lonesome foghorn and the creature it calls to up from the ancient depths. First published in 1951, this demonstrates Bradbury’s great ability to create a mood with setting and language. A master of the short work medium, Bradbury’s work here is exceptional, producing a narrative depth with a minimalism of words.
A lighthouse keeper’s apprentice learns the old secret of what comes up from the cold depths of the ocean one night each year. Far from a one dimensional writer, Bradbury uses the story as a means by which to explore themes of love and loss and isolation.
Whether science fiction, fantasy or horror it is one of his best.
Ray Bradbury’s somber tale of a lonesome foghorn and the creature it calls to up from the ancient depths. First published in 1951, this demonstrates Bradbury’s great ability to create a mood with setting and language. A master of the short work medium, Bradbury’s work here is exceptional, producing a narrative depth with a minimalism of words.
A lighthouse keeper’s apprentice learns the old secret of what comes up from the cold depths of the ocean one night each year. Far from a one dimensional writer, Bradbury uses the story as a means by which to explore themes of love and loss and isolation.
Whether science fiction, fantasy or horror it is one of his best.
October 6, 2024
Quintessential Bradbury. Not only chilling and mysterious, but deeply poignant. The deep sense of desolation and forlorn wonder it imparts will leave a lasting impression. Bradbury has been hit or miss for me, but I can't recommend this more highly to any and all readers.
November 1, 2024
What a surprisingly moving and sad story. I've never been a Bradbury fan, but this was beautiful.
Find my book reviews and more at http://www.princessandpen.com
Find my book reviews and more at http://www.princessandpen.com
March 10, 2018
I don't usually read science fiction. It's a reflex action: I see something labeled as 'SF' and look for something else. I don't even have a shelf for such genre. That kind of stuff goes right to the-loneliest-shelf, the place for the uncategorizable. Today, after reading many lines brimming with the kind of profound and thought-provoking lyricism that always leads to the wonders of introspection, I found by chance this short story by Bradbury, which was included in The Golden Apples of the Sun - a collection I already added to my massive to-read list since I loved this one.
I've only read Fahrenheit 451, a book I should return to someday to refresh my memories. And on this clear day tinged with a little wistfulness, on this sun-drenched Sunday afternoon that I spent at home since I didn't care much for the outside world today, I found this Bradbury mentioned on some list by a bookshop I follow on Twitter. "Now, that would be different... ah, what the hell, let's immerse ourselves in a fantastic world full of adventures and a few laughs, perhaps, away from this dominical heaviness", I thought (without a clue, clearly). And read The Fog Horn.
Wrong again, kiddo. And no answer.
Feb 25, 18
* Maybe later on my blog.
I've only read Fahrenheit 451, a book I should return to someday to refresh my memories. And on this clear day tinged with a little wistfulness, on this sun-drenched Sunday afternoon that I spent at home since I didn't care much for the outside world today, I found this Bradbury mentioned on some list by a bookshop I follow on Twitter. "Now, that would be different... ah, what the hell, let's immerse ourselves in a fantastic world full of adventures and a few laughs, perhaps, away from this dominical heaviness", I thought (without a clue, clearly). And read The Fog Horn.
The Fog Horn blew.
The monster answered.
I saw it all, I knew it all-the million years of waiting alone, for someone to come back who never came back. The million years of isolation at the bottom of the sea, the insanity of time there, while the skies cleared of reptile-birds, the swamps fried on the continental lands, the sloths and sabre-tooths had there day and sank in tar pits, and men ran like white ants upon the hills.
[...]
The monster was only a hundred yards off now, it and the Fog Horn crying at each other. As the lights hit them, the monster's eyes were fire and ice, fire and ice.
"That's life for you," said McDunn. "Someone always waiting for someone who never comes home. Always someone loving some thing more than that thing loves them. And after a while you want to destroy whatever that thing is, so it can hurt you no more."
The monster was rushing at the lighthouse.
The Fog Horn blew.
Wrong again, kiddo. And no answer.
Feb 25, 18
* Maybe later on my blog.
December 31, 2015
“One day many years ago a man walked along and stood in the sound of the ocean on a cold sunless shore and said “We need a voice to call across the water, to warn ships; I'll make one. I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house when you open the door, and like the trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds flying south, crying, and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore. I'll make a sound that's so alone that no one can miss it, that whoever hears it will weep in their souls, and to all who hear it in the distant towns. I'll make me a sound and an apparatus and they'll call it a Fog Horn and whoever hears it will know the sadness of eternity and the briefness of life.””
In an isolated lighthouse, the narrator and his fellow operator, McDunn, keep the light burning, and the fog horn blowing. The sea is so old, as old “as the beard of a comet”, and hides so much. And McDunn, who's been at the work for some time, warns his less experienced workmate about how, at a certain time of year – tonight, in fact – one of the sea's great secrets comes to the surface, drawn by the call of the fog horn and the yearning for some company.
When I was a child, we'd stand on our doorstep at midnight on New Year's Eve and listen to the sounds of the ships a few miles away in Cork harbour blasting their fog horns as a way of ringing in the new year. I remember the strangeness of that sound, and the loneliness of it heavy in the night.
Ray Bradbury was one of the first writers to really open me to up the magic of stories, and of language. I was probably about ten years old when I first read this one (it's the opening story of his collection, The Golden Apples of the Sun), and it thrilled and chilled me then and has remained one of my favourites ever since. It's just beautiful told, and Bradbury's language is, as always, a thorough delight: sad, eerie and evocative, poetry from the heart and soul. I can think of no better way of saying goodnight to 2015 – and of welcoming in 2016 – than with this one.
P.S. - This story was adapted for the big screen in 1953 as 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'. Furthermore, the lighthouse that inspired Bradbury to write it is, supposedly, Galley Head Lighthouse, in Rosscarbery, West Cork (about 50 miles from me). This might be mere conjecture, but it's a nice thought...
In an isolated lighthouse, the narrator and his fellow operator, McDunn, keep the light burning, and the fog horn blowing. The sea is so old, as old “as the beard of a comet”, and hides so much. And McDunn, who's been at the work for some time, warns his less experienced workmate about how, at a certain time of year – tonight, in fact – one of the sea's great secrets comes to the surface, drawn by the call of the fog horn and the yearning for some company.
When I was a child, we'd stand on our doorstep at midnight on New Year's Eve and listen to the sounds of the ships a few miles away in Cork harbour blasting their fog horns as a way of ringing in the new year. I remember the strangeness of that sound, and the loneliness of it heavy in the night.
Ray Bradbury was one of the first writers to really open me to up the magic of stories, and of language. I was probably about ten years old when I first read this one (it's the opening story of his collection, The Golden Apples of the Sun), and it thrilled and chilled me then and has remained one of my favourites ever since. It's just beautiful told, and Bradbury's language is, as always, a thorough delight: sad, eerie and evocative, poetry from the heart and soul. I can think of no better way of saying goodnight to 2015 – and of welcoming in 2016 – than with this one.
P.S. - This story was adapted for the big screen in 1953 as 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'. Furthermore, the lighthouse that inspired Bradbury to write it is, supposedly, Galley Head Lighthouse, in Rosscarbery, West Cork (about 50 miles from me). This might be mere conjecture, but it's a nice thought...
November 13, 2012
One day many years ago a man walked along and stood in the sound of the ocean on a cold
sunless shore and said "We need a voice to call across the water, to warn ships; I'll make one.
I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house
when you open the door, and like the trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds
flying south, crying, and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore. I'll
make a sound that's so alone that no one can miss it, that whoever hears it will weep in their
souls, and to all who hear it in the distant towns. I'll make me a sound and an apparatus and
they'll call it a Fog Horn and whoever hears it will know the sadness of eternity and the
briefness of life.""
Just amazing
sunless shore and said "We need a voice to call across the water, to warn ships; I'll make one.
I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house
when you open the door, and like the trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds
flying south, crying, and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore. I'll
make a sound that's so alone that no one can miss it, that whoever hears it will weep in their
souls, and to all who hear it in the distant towns. I'll make me a sound and an apparatus and
they'll call it a Fog Horn and whoever hears it will know the sadness of eternity and the
briefness of life.""
Just amazing
October 30, 2025
On the mysteries of the sea
"It's a lonely life, but you're used to it now, aren't you?"
The eerie moodiness is immaculate. Lighthouse keepers speculate on the origins of the Fog Horn.
"He had some theories about the Fog Horn itself."
I'll make a voice like all of time and all of fog that ever was; I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house when you open the door, and like trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds flying south, crying and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore.
The Fog Horn blew.
The sound of the Fog Horn comes and goes, comes and goes, and you stir from the muddy bottom of the Deeps, and your eyes open like the lenses of two-foot cameras and you move, slow, slow, for you have the ocean sea on your shoulders, heavy. But the Fog Horn comes through a thousand miles of water, faint and familiar, and the furnace in your belly stokes up, and you begin to rise, slow, slow.
The Fog Horn blew.
The monster answered.
The use of capitals was powerful. The two encounter a monster from The deepest Deeps and it's wrapped up very succinctly and poignantly. Highly recommend this short story. I got from The Illustrated Man, The October Country & Other Stories.
"It's a lonely life, but you're used to it now, aren't you?"
The eerie moodiness is immaculate. Lighthouse keepers speculate on the origins of the Fog Horn.
"He had some theories about the Fog Horn itself."
I'll make a voice like all of time and all of fog that ever was; I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house when you open the door, and like trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds flying south, crying and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore.
The Fog Horn blew.
The sound of the Fog Horn comes and goes, comes and goes, and you stir from the muddy bottom of the Deeps, and your eyes open like the lenses of two-foot cameras and you move, slow, slow, for you have the ocean sea on your shoulders, heavy. But the Fog Horn comes through a thousand miles of water, faint and familiar, and the furnace in your belly stokes up, and you begin to rise, slow, slow.
The Fog Horn blew.
The monster answered.
The use of capitals was powerful. The two encounter a monster from The deepest Deeps and it's wrapped up very succinctly and poignantly. Highly recommend this short story. I got from The Illustrated Man, The October Country & Other Stories.
February 6, 2017
A super creepy tale about what is in the fog.
January 16, 2023
A wonderful short story by Bradbury: creepy and memorable. The descriptions of the fog and the dark ocean create a vivid setting, and the drama pays off nicely. Ten years after I read it, I could still recall it in detail. Recommended for fans of science fiction or of tales about the sea.
January 6, 2009
I sat there wishing there was something I could say.
May 4, 2022
The Land Before Time can step aside.
The Fog Horn is the absolute saddest dinosaur story ever written.
I will not be taking any questions at the time.
The Fog Horn is the absolute saddest dinosaur story ever written.
I will not be taking any questions at the time.
September 20, 2007
Love is a form of despair,
a cruel sort of grief.
Fucking amazing, I swear it.
a cruel sort of grief.
Fucking amazing, I swear it.
April 23, 2017
Cold, chilling, mysterious... Amazing short story!
August 31, 2021
"Haré un sonido tan desolado que alcanzará a todos y al oírlo gemirán las almas, y los hogares parecerán más tibios, y en las distantes ciudades todos pensarán que es bueno estar en casa". (La sirena, fragmento).
Oleajes de dolor, melancolía, angustia y millones de años de espera. En este relato entendemos ese miedo a lo desconocido y ese vacío tan grande que implica saberte solo en los abismos. No importa si eres humano, animal o un ser de otro mundo, la soledad y el vacío se viven igual.
La desesperación del monstruo es la mía también, y aquí, desde mi propio abismo, deseo con fuerzas que vuelva a escuchar ese llamado que lo haga querer sacudirse la tristeza infinita que carga.
"-Así es la vida -dijo McDunn-. Siempre alguien espera que regrese algún otro que nunca
vuelve. Siempre alguien quiere a algún otro que no lo quiere". (La sirena, fragmento).
Oleajes de dolor, melancolía, angustia y millones de años de espera. En este relato entendemos ese miedo a lo desconocido y ese vacío tan grande que implica saberte solo en los abismos. No importa si eres humano, animal o un ser de otro mundo, la soledad y el vacío se viven igual.
La desesperación del monstruo es la mía también, y aquí, desde mi propio abismo, deseo con fuerzas que vuelva a escuchar ese llamado que lo haga querer sacudirse la tristeza infinita que carga.
"-Así es la vida -dijo McDunn-. Siempre alguien espera que regrese algún otro que nunca
vuelve. Siempre alguien quiere a algún otro que no lo quiere". (La sirena, fragmento).
June 17, 2024
Es un relato sobre un faro que emite un sonido y ese sonido atrae a un monstruo que hace mucho tiempo ha estado extinto, pero cada cierto tiempo llega al faro y a la sirena que provoca ese sonido tan extraño.
Me hizo sentir muchas tristeza por el monstruo, intentando comunicarse con alguien de su especie 😢
Me hizo sentir muchas tristeza por el monstruo, intentando comunicarse con alguien de su especie 😢
August 9, 2017
Although I am not a big fan of short stories, this one was fairly enjoyable. It is one of three lovely volumes I found at our library shop. This one is about a lighthouse with a fog horn which attracts a sea monster believing he has found a mate. Imaginative.
September 28, 2024
Cuando nos paseábamos con trompetas arrancándonos países y cabezas, ellos vivían ya bajo las aguas, a dieciocho kilómetros de profundidad, helados en un tiempo tan antiguo como la cola de un cometa.
October 12, 2019
Haunting
A short story by Bradbury which evokes a measure of Lovecraft, embracing the mysterious and unfathomable; yet, without the horror.
A short story by Bradbury which evokes a measure of Lovecraft, embracing the mysterious and unfathomable; yet, without the horror.
July 16, 2021
No puedo describir la inmensa tristeza que me provoca este cuento cada que lo leo. Allá en los abismos, en lo indefinido del tiempo espero que la criatura encuentre compañía.
January 10, 2023
I had to read this for my literature class oh god was it such an interesting read.
it talks about loneliness, isolation, companionship, and knowledge so beautifully. I expected some very deep science-fiction and truth be told, this is my first encounter with bradbury. I am so very curious about how my professor will interpret it tomorrow, but I’m already loaded with ideas.
it talks about loneliness, isolation, companionship, and knowledge so beautifully. I expected some very deep science-fiction and truth be told, this is my first encounter with bradbury. I am so very curious about how my professor will interpret it tomorrow, but I’m already loaded with ideas.
January 8, 2025
I don't think anyone who's followed me here for more than a few months is gonna be surprised to see me reading Bradbury again. He's one of my favorites, and I was so thrilled to find an audio version of this story floating around on YouTube!
Oh, man, though, this story is so sad! Imagine feeling sorry for a sea monster. If anyone could do it, it's Bradbury!
This is one of his rare more fantasy-leaning stories, and I greatly enjoyed it! Would recommend!
Oh, man, though, this story is so sad! Imagine feeling sorry for a sea monster. If anyone could do it, it's Bradbury!
This is one of his rare more fantasy-leaning stories, and I greatly enjoyed it! Would recommend!
July 18, 2025
great short story. immaculate lighthouse keeper vibes. 10/10 would own a foghorn if it brought comfort to an ancient sea creature of the deep.
April 1, 2024
Este relato me pareció tan hermoso como melancólico a la vez, la manera en la que MacDunn empatiza con la criatura es fascinante, pues temas como la soledad, la espera y el dolor fueron abordadas de manera tan sublime que lleva al lector a identificarse con ese inmenso mar de sensaciones, el querer ser comprendidos, amados y valorados ante un mundo en el que quizá nos veamos perdidos.
La escena en la que el monstruo derrumba la torre es tan desgarradora que lo sentí profundamente como el limite del dolor y el desahogo ante el abismo e incertidumbre en el que muchas veces uno pueda encontrarse, así también el hecho de que la criatura no haya regresado al final del relato, lo interprete como una etapa de aislamiento y reflexión después de uno haber sacado todo lo que llevaba dentro por tanto tiempo.
Y por último la analogía entre la sirena y la criatura me pareció tan linda como triste al mismo tiempo, puesto que ambas se ven solas en el enigmático e infinito mar, una con su sonido y sus luces y la otra con su terrible lamento y su incansable viaje en las profundidades.
La escena en la que el monstruo derrumba la torre es tan desgarradora que lo sentí profundamente como el limite del dolor y el desahogo ante el abismo e incertidumbre en el que muchas veces uno pueda encontrarse, así también el hecho de que la criatura no haya regresado al final del relato, lo interprete como una etapa de aislamiento y reflexión después de uno haber sacado todo lo que llevaba dentro por tanto tiempo.
Y por último la analogía entre la sirena y la criatura me pareció tan linda como triste al mismo tiempo, puesto que ambas se ven solas en el enigmático e infinito mar, una con su sonido y sus luces y la otra con su terrible lamento y su incansable viaje en las profundidades.
May 18, 2019
Mindwebs audiobook ##15. (The first minute or two is a damaged recording a very low volume signal with a louder hum), but the rest is perfectly narrated with suitably subdued sound effects. Bradbury always seems to live in weirdly spooky universe, I particularly loved "The Drowned World" it's what I would call literary SF, highly evocative and somehow that transcends my preference to read hard SF.
This story is typically Bradbury, weirdly wonderful as usual. Two lighthouse keepers - one old, one just starting his 4th month and about to change shifts. The ancient one act as narrator telling the apprentice his tall tale of a monster from the Deeps attracted to the sound of the fog horn. 5 stars stands.
(I've read or listed to this book before on 29/5/19 and gave it 5stars but no review. )
15 Mindwebs-770715_FogHorn Ray Bradbury
This story is typically Bradbury, weirdly wonderful as usual. Two lighthouse keepers - one old, one just starting his 4th month and about to change shifts. The ancient one act as narrator telling the apprentice his tall tale of a monster from the Deeps attracted to the sound of the fog horn. 5 stars stands.
(I've read or listed to this book before on 29/5/19 and gave it 5stars but no review. )
15 Mindwebs-770715_FogHorn Ray Bradbury
December 24, 2013
Choice quotes:
"That's life for you," said McDunn. "Someone always waiting for someone who never comes home. Always someone loving some thing more than that thing loves them. And after awhile you want to destroy whatever that thing is, so it can't hurt you no more."
"...toward the place where you bury yourself in sleep and sea memories of a world where there were thousands like yourself, but now you're alone, all alone in a world not made for you, a world where you have to hide."
"I saw it all, I knew it all--the million years of waiting alone, for someone to come back who never came back. The million years of isolation at the bottom of the sea..."
"It's learned you can't love anything too much in this world."
"That's life for you," said McDunn. "Someone always waiting for someone who never comes home. Always someone loving some thing more than that thing loves them. And after awhile you want to destroy whatever that thing is, so it can't hurt you no more."
"...toward the place where you bury yourself in sleep and sea memories of a world where there were thousands like yourself, but now you're alone, all alone in a world not made for you, a world where you have to hide."
"I saw it all, I knew it all--the million years of waiting alone, for someone to come back who never came back. The million years of isolation at the bottom of the sea..."
"It's learned you can't love anything too much in this world."
July 18, 2022
A good introduction to Bradbury's shorts, this read isn't too long for those wanting a shorter tale. Honestly, "The Fog Horn" left me asking a lot of questions and needing some help to understand what transpired. The literary expertise, however, is clear through Bradbury's ability to craft a real environment.
November 7, 2019
Heartbreaking. I was sad for days after feeling such sympathy for the last dinosaur on earth. So alone he joins with a fog horn hoping for companionship.
November 16, 2020
Amazing writing. Wow
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March 12, 2024Qué desolación, qué cuento tan pequeño e inmenso a la vez, así como la soledad del ser.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews