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Pillar of Fire (Annotated): Enriched Edition. A Dystopian Science Fiction Horror Tale of Resurrection, Memory, and a Sanitized Future Without Darkness
"Pillar of Fire" is classical space Sci-Fi short story written by the master of the genre, Ray Bradbury. "He came out of the earth, hating. Hate was his father; hate was his mother. It was good to walk again. It was good to leap up out of the earth, off of your back, and stretch your cramped arms violently and try to take a deep breath! He tried. He cried out."
48 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 16, 2021
About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,621 books26.2k 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 41 reviews
June 22, 2026
Our protagonist wakes up from the dead, he knows he is dead. He begins to walk but people don't walk anymore. There is no concept of an untruth and no crime. He woke up in the world hating. He woke up in the future.
⚰️The strangeness of Ray Bradbury's stories is strong here like it is in Dandelion Wine and The Martian Chronicles. The prose strongly evokes strangeness and makes the reader question what is going on here? Something is off but I don't know quite what and I must read on to find out. And Bradbury does guide the story so effectively especially as in the scene with the 'White-Haired Man'.
🪐As the intrigue increases, our protagonist is faced with excruciating loneliness. He is the only 'past-human' and everyone else sees his behavior as odd so he has to hide. He begins to ponder a way out of this dire fate. If he woke up from the dead, that means others could to with the right ingredients. He experiments with the ingredients, making chalk sigils over tombs, but eventually he stands out too much and gets caught. He is a walking dead, who doesn't need to breathe or eat, but the people of the future are so easily fooled.
🖤This was so interesting and went to some dark places! It says a lot about loneliness and connection, being an outsider, and society's need to maintain the status-quo at the cost of truth and meaning. I put this up there with my top 5 Ray Bradbury stories! 5 glowing spheres ⭐️✨
⚰️The strangeness of Ray Bradbury's stories is strong here like it is in Dandelion Wine and The Martian Chronicles. The prose strongly evokes strangeness and makes the reader question what is going on here? Something is off but I don't know quite what and I must read on to find out. And Bradbury does guide the story so effectively especially as in the scene with the 'White-Haired Man'.
🪐As the intrigue increases, our protagonist is faced with excruciating loneliness. He is the only 'past-human' and everyone else sees his behavior as odd so he has to hide. He begins to ponder a way out of this dire fate. If he woke up from the dead, that means others could to with the right ingredients. He experiments with the ingredients, making chalk sigils over tombs, but eventually he stands out too much and gets caught. He is a walking dead, who doesn't need to breathe or eat, but the people of the future are so easily fooled.
🖤This was so interesting and went to some dark places! It says a lot about loneliness and connection, being an outsider, and society's need to maintain the status-quo at the cost of truth and meaning. I put this up there with my top 5 Ray Bradbury stories! 5 glowing spheres ⭐️✨
July 1, 2022
Weird POV story about our bleak future as clean, truthful, crime-free, fearless humanity. A Tribute to horror authors and Death itself.
March 21, 2026
This is standalone short(ish) story by Ray Bradbury that looks at things inside out, and turns it upside down. Here it’s the idea of utopia, William Lantry wakes in a future that has no hate and fear.
It took me time to warm to this, not because I didn’t like it, it was just unsettling in how William Lantry’s rational was off-centre, and yet I wanted to what was going to happen. The biggest surprise was I thought I knew where this story was headed but Ray Bradbury changes its direction in a way I did not expect.
A fantastic read, I’ve read several Ray Bradbury stories from two volumes of his works I have, I keep being surprised, not just by where the story goes but also the variety in his work.
It took me time to warm to this, not because I didn’t like it, it was just unsettling in how William Lantry’s rational was off-centre, and yet I wanted to what was going to happen. The biggest surprise was I thought I knew where this story was headed but Ray Bradbury changes its direction in a way I did not expect.
A fantastic read, I’ve read several Ray Bradbury stories from two volumes of his works I have, I keep being surprised, not just by where the story goes but also the variety in his work.
September 16, 2026
Turns out sterilizing fear is a pretty good way to sterilize imagination too
December 27, 2021
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Plot: William Lantry awakens hundreds of years after his death when his body is one of many removed from a cemetery for disposal. William is at first confused by this new world, with it's strong moral code, and lack of violence and lying; then, a burning rage lights inside of him and he decides that all of these futuristic people do not deserve to live...
Genre: Science fiction, supernatural.
----------
Thoughts While Reading:
Thoughts at 100%:
1. This was an unusual story, but an interesting one. I was rooting for Lantry, but also happy when his reign of destruction was put to a stop. I don't want to give too much away, but for a short sci-fi novella, this ticked all the boxes, and had a clear beginning, middle, and end (so many novellas don't seem to which drives me insane).
----------
Conclusion and Recommendation:
I'm giving this 3.5 stars rounded down to 3. This might not sound like a good rating, but I don't give novellas as high ratings as full length novels just due to the fact that they can't have as much anything (character development, plot, etc. etc.). Still, this is worth a listen even just for the thought provoking nature of the story.
Plot: William Lantry awakens hundreds of years after his death when his body is one of many removed from a cemetery for disposal. William is at first confused by this new world, with it's strong moral code, and lack of violence and lying; then, a burning rage lights inside of him and he decides that all of these futuristic people do not deserve to live...
Genre: Science fiction, supernatural.
----------
Thoughts While Reading:
Thoughts at 100%:
1. This was an unusual story, but an interesting one. I was rooting for Lantry, but also happy when his reign of destruction was put to a stop. I don't want to give too much away, but for a short sci-fi novella, this ticked all the boxes, and had a clear beginning, middle, and end (so many novellas don't seem to which drives me insane).
----------
Conclusion and Recommendation:
I'm giving this 3.5 stars rounded down to 3. This might not sound like a good rating, but I don't give novellas as high ratings as full length novels just due to the fact that they can't have as much anything (character development, plot, etc. etc.). Still, this is worth a listen even just for the thought provoking nature of the story.
February 19, 2022
I was kinda “meh” on how the story played out. It was paced well, and the premise was interesting. But the main character was thoroughly one dimensional. I disliked him and felt he was unredeemable.
The audiobook was formatted well with no issues in sound quality. The narrator did a good job.
The audiobook was formatted well with no issues in sound quality. The narrator did a good job.
September 18, 2021
He came out of the earth hating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2026
The year is 2349. Death still exists, but burial doesn't. Corpses are no longer laid to rest; instead, they’re fed into a massive incinerator known as the Pillar of Fire. Fear has been abolished. Horror has been outlawed. The great horror works of Poe, Machen, Bierce, and Lovecraft have been burned to ashes.
Citizens of this sterilized utopia don’t know fear, grief, horror, murder — they don’t even know how to lie. Life is peaceful. Harmonious. Perfect.
Or so they believe.
But this is Ray Bradbury, and his utopias never stay perfect or ideal for long.
The Awakening:
William Lantry rises from his coffin when he hears men digging up his grave, preparing to haul his corpse to the Pillar of Fire — the final step in erasing the last cemetery and the last physical trace of death.
The gravediggers leave just before reaching him, leaving only a thin layer of earth. When they’re gone, Lantry claws his way out of the dirt, stumbles into the future, and tries to understand the hell he’s awakened into. His is literally the walking dead.
He doesn’t like what he sees.
What follows is Lantry’s violent crusade to reintroduce terror to a society that has sterilized the human experience. The novella tracks his killings, the citizens’ slow realization that something is wrong, and the clash between a man who embodies death and a world determined to erase it.
The Writing:
Bradbury’s prose here is clean, sharp, and controlled.
No purple flourishes. No ornamental excess.
He writes with precision — only using big words when it serves the emotional weight of the story.
A Precursor to Fahrenheit 451:
Pillar of Fire is an early exploration of themes Bradbury would later refine in Fahrenheit 451. It’s not just a dystopia — it’s a meditation on repression and the consequences of erasing the darker half of human nature.
Central Themes:
The Necessity of Shadow: Echoing Carl Jung, Bradbury argues that without grief, horror, and death, humanity loses depth. A society that erases darkness becomes emotionally shallow and stunted. We must embrace the dark side in order to see the light.
Censorship and Conformity:
Bradbury attacks state‑controlled conformity and the destruction of the past. Horror isn’t banned because it’s dangerous; it’s banned because it’s human.
Lantry as Literature:
Lantry’s obsession with avoiding cremation echoes the burning of books in Fahrenheit 451. He becomes a living symbol of forbidden imagination and creativity and the persistence of the human shadow.
Verdict:
If you want something eerie and philosophically rich, Pillar of Fire delivers in spades. It’s Bradbury at his most macabre and most insightful; a dystopian horror novella that argues vehemently for the value of darkness in the human soul.
When you consider it in the context of how many of Bradbury's predictions have come true, the story is a true wake-up call and cautionary tale about what could be if we don't reel in technology and government overreach.
Citizens of this sterilized utopia don’t know fear, grief, horror, murder — they don’t even know how to lie. Life is peaceful. Harmonious. Perfect.
Or so they believe.
But this is Ray Bradbury, and his utopias never stay perfect or ideal for long.
The Awakening:
William Lantry rises from his coffin when he hears men digging up his grave, preparing to haul his corpse to the Pillar of Fire — the final step in erasing the last cemetery and the last physical trace of death.
The gravediggers leave just before reaching him, leaving only a thin layer of earth. When they’re gone, Lantry claws his way out of the dirt, stumbles into the future, and tries to understand the hell he’s awakened into. His is literally the walking dead.
He doesn’t like what he sees.
What follows is Lantry’s violent crusade to reintroduce terror to a society that has sterilized the human experience. The novella tracks his killings, the citizens’ slow realization that something is wrong, and the clash between a man who embodies death and a world determined to erase it.
The Writing:
Bradbury’s prose here is clean, sharp, and controlled.
No purple flourishes. No ornamental excess.
He writes with precision — only using big words when it serves the emotional weight of the story.
A Precursor to Fahrenheit 451:
Pillar of Fire is an early exploration of themes Bradbury would later refine in Fahrenheit 451. It’s not just a dystopia — it’s a meditation on repression and the consequences of erasing the darker half of human nature.
Central Themes:
The Necessity of Shadow: Echoing Carl Jung, Bradbury argues that without grief, horror, and death, humanity loses depth. A society that erases darkness becomes emotionally shallow and stunted. We must embrace the dark side in order to see the light.
Censorship and Conformity:
Bradbury attacks state‑controlled conformity and the destruction of the past. Horror isn’t banned because it’s dangerous; it’s banned because it’s human.
Lantry as Literature:
Lantry’s obsession with avoiding cremation echoes the burning of books in Fahrenheit 451. He becomes a living symbol of forbidden imagination and creativity and the persistence of the human shadow.
Verdict:
If you want something eerie and philosophically rich, Pillar of Fire delivers in spades. It’s Bradbury at his most macabre and most insightful; a dystopian horror novella that argues vehemently for the value of darkness in the human soul.
When you consider it in the context of how many of Bradbury's predictions have come true, the story is a true wake-up call and cautionary tale about what could be if we don't reel in technology and government overreach.
December 9, 2025
O.K. I know I bitch alot about Ray Bradbury's excessive verbiage, of which there is a shit-ton-boat-load of at the end of this story. It really does take a long, long, looong time for the story to end, after the narrative is over. Ray Bradbury obviously suffers from "payed-by-the-word-count" flatuance.
That being said, this story gets 4 stars just because the idea is so wierd, it shouldn't work. But somehow it does work.
The idea of a dead man, coming back to "animation", to wreck havoc on a world that is incinerating the last corpses left on the Earth is......well....a strange idea.
And so Wiil Lantry thus sets forth, declaring war on the entire Planet Earth, leaving destroyed incinerators in his wake.
Part of me wonders if, since this was published after WWII ended, if there was some sort of comment on The Holocaust going on in the back of Ray Bradbury's mind.
Anyways, the first half of the story is pretty good. Landry has to deal with a world full of polite, helpful people who no nothing of violence, lying, killing or even fear. This makes his spree of destruction so much easier, since no one has any idea of what is going on. Such mayhem is totally foreign and unimaginable to them.
It sounds alot like the plot for the 1993 movie Demolition Man staring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes.
Then the second half gets bogged down by no plot development. The only thing that happens is that Will Lantry gets outed by some scientist-guy, who logics out his secret.
And here, endless verbiage abounds. And abounds. And abounds abounds and abounds. One just wishes RB would get on with it and stop writing words. End the story already! Please! A
Ah well. It's the sort of thing that made Ray Bradbury fall off my must read lust.
Still though, it's kind of a cool plot idea for a wierd story.
That being said, this story gets 4 stars just because the idea is so wierd, it shouldn't work. But somehow it does work.
The idea of a dead man, coming back to "animation", to wreck havoc on a world that is incinerating the last corpses left on the Earth is......well....a strange idea.
And so Wiil Lantry thus sets forth, declaring war on the entire Planet Earth, leaving destroyed incinerators in his wake.
Part of me wonders if, since this was published after WWII ended, if there was some sort of comment on The Holocaust going on in the back of Ray Bradbury's mind.
Anyways, the first half of the story is pretty good. Landry has to deal with a world full of polite, helpful people who no nothing of violence, lying, killing or even fear. This makes his spree of destruction so much easier, since no one has any idea of what is going on. Such mayhem is totally foreign and unimaginable to them.
It sounds alot like the plot for the 1993 movie Demolition Man staring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes.
Then the second half gets bogged down by no plot development. The only thing that happens is that Will Lantry gets outed by some scientist-guy, who logics out his secret.
And here, endless verbiage abounds. And abounds. And abounds abounds and abounds. One just wishes RB would get on with it and stop writing words. End the story already! Please! A
Ah well. It's the sort of thing that made Ray Bradbury fall off my must read lust.
Still though, it's kind of a cool plot idea for a wierd story.
January 2, 2025
What really makes a man?
What makes us live?
Bradbury (and his vociferous defense of The Dark) snags me once again with his unique perspective that I've kind of forgotten in the many years since I last picked up some of his work.
He once again makes the point (in this novella) that it's not our logic or our love or accomplishments that makes us human. It is our fears, our hates, our superstitions and transgressions that make us alive.
The murderous dead guy in the story is more alive (in Bradbury's world) than the robotic motions of the modern society in which he now finds himself, honed to complete efficiency and bereft of murder, lies, dirt, sin; people no longer have to fear the dark because they know there's nothing there (an interesting point that maybe it's only BELIEF that makes things real to us - belief as the only way to true life....)
Death brings nothing to these new people because they truly believe there's nothing else. No religion, superstition, vampires, monsters. No Poe, no Lovecraft or any of the others.
People die and are disposed of (creamation) in the most efficient way possible, because there's no reason to hang on to their remains - no hope of anything happening to them; the dead just taking space away from the living. Which is what eventually happens to the last living dead guy (or dead, living guy) on earth, leaving us to reflect on the tragedy of that loss as the new sanitized version of earth continues into the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2025
A five star concept. The protagonist is a dead man who comes alive hundreds of years into the future. It is a future that has no crime, violence, no dishonesty, and people when they died are burned quickly and without ceremony. Oddly, they have also dug up all dead people and burned them too. One cemetery was left as a tourist destination but now that one is to be destroyed. On the night before he is to be dug up and consumed the protagonist who has lain awake and absorbed all knowledge of this future arises and goes on a killing spree so he won't be alone.
Since everyone assumes that all are honest and crime not possible he easily gets away with it until one man uses logic to figure out the truth and burns the man.
The writing - particularly the first few pages is Bradbury at his finest.
The flaw in the story is my confusion as to what Bradbury's intent was. On the one hand, his protagonist "came out of the earth hating. Hate was his father, hate was his mother." Then, he murders people. But on the other hand as he is sent to be burned he is crying out that he is Edgar Allen Poe and other authors that Bradbury loves - authors whose books were burned in this future. So, does Bradbury stand with this future he has created with its lack of crime or does it lament it as soulless because it has lost touch with its past?
Since everyone assumes that all are honest and crime not possible he easily gets away with it until one man uses logic to figure out the truth and burns the man.
The writing - particularly the first few pages is Bradbury at his finest.
The flaw in the story is my confusion as to what Bradbury's intent was. On the one hand, his protagonist "came out of the earth hating. Hate was his father, hate was his mother." Then, he murders people. But on the other hand as he is sent to be burned he is crying out that he is Edgar Allen Poe and other authors that Bradbury loves - authors whose books were burned in this future. So, does Bradbury stand with this future he has created with its lack of crime or does it lament it as soulless because it has lost touch with its past?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2023
A short story that was in a magazine once in 1948 has some elements of his Fahrenheit 451 novel a little later on.
As I grow and read more books than I ever thought I would, I found a deeper love of literature that reference other works. Not only does it tell me what was known at the time but tells me a bit more of the times itself and I can find the difference and see who made it to my time.
I heard the names of Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft -who I have read works by, and know a bit about them. But then I hear names like Ambrose Bierce, Machen, Derleth, and I suspect Clement Freud and look them up and see their works to hopefully read.
Along with phliosopbers Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Who I also never heard of and had to Google them learning more about those subjects as well.
As a short read I learned more of the times and the author's references then I expected.
The story itself is well written and I plan on reading it again at some point. We find a man brought to life hundreds of years later when we are finally at an Utopia of sort. He deals with anger and rage from previous generations of his past and the earth and like all lost souls, he is looking for something lost to him.
As I grow and read more books than I ever thought I would, I found a deeper love of literature that reference other works. Not only does it tell me what was known at the time but tells me a bit more of the times itself and I can find the difference and see who made it to my time.
I heard the names of Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft -who I have read works by, and know a bit about them. But then I hear names like Ambrose Bierce, Machen, Derleth, and I suspect Clement Freud and look them up and see their works to hopefully read.
Along with phliosopbers Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Who I also never heard of and had to Google them learning more about those subjects as well.
As a short read I learned more of the times and the author's references then I expected.
The story itself is well written and I plan on reading it again at some point. We find a man brought to life hundreds of years later when we are finally at an Utopia of sort. He deals with anger and rage from previous generations of his past and the earth and like all lost souls, he is looking for something lost to him.
May 10, 2022
This tale opens with: 'We cannot tell you what kind of a story this is. We simply cannot present it as we present other stories. It is too tremendous for that.' And soon leaves the reader with a clue: 'He came out of the earth, hating. Hate was his father; hate was his mother... He touched the tombstone over his own empty grave. He knew his own name again.' But where will this story go, and where will it end? William Lantry, over 400 years in his grave! Who, or what, is he?
The world William Lantry awakens to is far different than the one he left for his four-century-plus underground condominium.
A short read so isn't it is a good time for you to begin?
The world William Lantry awakens to is far different than the one he left for his four-century-plus underground condominium.
A short read so isn't it is a good time for you to begin?
April 8, 2025
Strange tale about the future.
Pillar of Fire proves that Ray Bradbury can take any situation and turn it into an entertaining story. In this case the story not only puts you on edge, but it also gives you pause to wonder if there might be huge crematoriums in the not-so-distant future. This story isn’t my favorite of Mr. Bradbury’s by far, but it did a decent job keeping me engaged as well as engaging my mind long after it ended wondering how feasible his future world could be. B.J. Harrison does an excellent job narrating the story.
Pillar of Fire proves that Ray Bradbury can take any situation and turn it into an entertaining story. In this case the story not only puts you on edge, but it also gives you pause to wonder if there might be huge crematoriums in the not-so-distant future. This story isn’t my favorite of Mr. Bradbury’s by far, but it did a decent job keeping me engaged as well as engaging my mind long after it ended wondering how feasible his future world could be. B.J. Harrison does an excellent job narrating the story.
July 16, 2026
In Pillar of Fire, a hateful man who died in 1933 somehow climbs out of his coffin in the year 2349. The short story imagines the kind of mayhem a single malevolent entity can cause a utopian society that no longer comprehends lying or murder. There’s a suggestion that tranquility can only be truly appreciated when we are aware of horror. Moreover, it’s dangerous to be entirely oblivious to evil!
October 29, 2021
A seasonally appropriate read for Halloween weekend! It showcased some of the finer aspects of Bradbury's future works, firefighters, books, Mars, the loss of knowledge, and the eradication of hatred.
September 7, 2025
Fantastic novella set in a future that denies death and fear, a dead man awakens seeking to understand life and the absence of it. A thematically dense short novel with delightfully lyrical prose inspires emotions and insists you define what’s worth living for.
April 8, 2022
This made me think of some issues of Sandman with similar themes.
June 4, 2022
Second time to read this and I am stunned by the job Bradbury did.
July 18, 2022
Quick short story with an interesting concept.
July 25, 2022
Great short story, very creative. I've never read anything like it.
September 20, 2022
i loved this, now i have to read everything by this man
December 7, 2023
It was strange. The ending left me with many thoughts about which I am still thinking.
February 16, 2024
How will William Lantry live in a world where no one knows him? For he was born 350 years ago, and he just got out of his grave. Listened to on The Classic Tales Podcast.
May 14, 2024
I love this concept.
May 22, 2024
First, you burn the books, then you burn the people who’ve written books, then you burn the people who’ve read books, then you have California.
August 29, 2024
A bizarre, weird, thought provoking tale (novella).
March 29, 2025
Creepy, but interesting.
July 10, 2025
[4.5 stars]
December 1, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ bizarre thought provoking novella.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews