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The Fog Horn
Creative Education's short story collections are ideal introductions to some of the world's best-known authors. the short, timeless classics of Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Ray Bradbury, and others are celebrated in these handsome volumes.
128 pages
First published June 23, 1951
About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,358 books23.1k 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 74 reviews
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.
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.
July 14, 2020
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
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
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.
April 23, 2017
Cold, chilling, mysterious... Amazing short story!
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.
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.
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.
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
December 28, 2023
Mi momio se puso muy feliz porque leí uno de sus cuentos favoritos 🥺✨
December 31, 2019
The sea is very cool and mysterious 😁
What's cooler, the sea or space? Okay obviously space. But the ocean doesn't suck
What's cooler, the sea or space? Okay obviously space. But the ocean doesn't suck
December 15, 2023
"The tower fell. We knelt together, McDunn and I holding tight, while our world exploded."
Second time reading: this book kept finding its way in my thoughts. I love lighthouses. they're so mysterious & beautiful. My love for lighthouses came from visiting a lighthouse when I was young, but it has recently gotten more intense (mostly because of The Lighthouse & this book).
The amount of loneliness that Ray Bradbury was able to capture in 6 pages is bizarre.. The loneliness of the job as a lighthouse keeper, the sound of the foghorn being filled with loneliness because a creature that is almost the embodiment of this pestering sickness, sounds exactly like it... Mcdunn eventually ending up alone to tend the lighthouse. It shatters me.
I fear loneliness, even when I'm surrounded by so many people that love me, I am terrified of still feeling lonely. Every page in this book gives me a feeling in my stomach that I can only compare to loneliness. A dark pit that I fear will never go away.
Second time reading: this book kept finding its way in my thoughts. I love lighthouses. they're so mysterious & beautiful. My love for lighthouses came from visiting a lighthouse when I was young, but it has recently gotten more intense (mostly because of The Lighthouse & this book).
The amount of loneliness that Ray Bradbury was able to capture in 6 pages is bizarre.. The loneliness of the job as a lighthouse keeper, the sound of the foghorn being filled with loneliness because a creature that is almost the embodiment of this pestering sickness, sounds exactly like it... Mcdunn eventually ending up alone to tend the lighthouse. It shatters me.
I fear loneliness, even when I'm surrounded by so many people that love me, I am terrified of still feeling lonely. Every page in this book gives me a feeling in my stomach that I can only compare to loneliness. A dark pit that I fear will never go away.
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
September 19, 2018
Bradbury had a knack for writing short stories that contain deeper emotional turmoil and The Fog Horn is a great example of this; well written characters, a depth of emotions, and interesting science fiction work all in one story of just a few pages. The world of the lighthouse comes alive quickly in this, The Fog Horn is well worth the short time it takes to read. Below is a link to the full story for free.
http://grammarpunk.com/lit/gp/THE_FOG...
http://grammarpunk.com/lit/gp/THE_FOG...
May 24, 2019
A master of the short work medium!
''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.''
''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.''
February 12, 2020
"That's life for you. 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."
Read
March 28, 2011read it as class....
April 3, 2016
Kratka i odlična. Bradbury je majstor kratkih priča, koji te uz par brižljivo odabranih rečenica može začuditi, prestrašiti ali i rastužiti.
August 19, 2017
Poor dinosaur full of longing for what was once.
August 31, 2018
A sad story; I enjoyed every line.
Read
May 17, 2024“La Sirena” es el cuento introductorio del libro “Las doradas manzanas del sol” por Ray Bradbury, y en este nos presentan a dos personas encargadas del faro, McDunn, quien ha estado trabajando en el faro por años, y Johnny. McDunn pronto revela que un monstruo viene desde las profundidades cada año, atraído por el sonido de la sirena en el faro, pensando que por fin encontrará a alguien igual.
Creo que el autor describe la soledad y la necesidad de amor, entendimiento y compañía de manera en que podemos empatizar muy fácilmente, incluso si principalmente estas emociones se presentan a través de una criatura. Aunque también las podemos ver resonar en los personajes; ambos están en un faro y a donde quiera que volteen solo pueden observar agua, y al final, uno de ellos vuelve a la sociedad y la compañía, mientras que el otro se queda solo en el nuevo faro.
Si bien el narrador del cuento es Johnny, McDunn es quien brinda la perspectiva y describe los sentimientos y pensamientos de la criatura marina, y por lo tanto creo que refleja sus propias emociones y situación en esta. Opino que las conclusiones que él expone como “Siempre alguien que quiere a algún otro que no lo quiere. Y al fin uno busca destruir a ese otro para que no nos lastime más” y “Comprendió que en este mundo no se puede amar demasiado” describen las razones por las que McDunn ha elegido vivir en el faro.
Creo que el autor describe la soledad y la necesidad de amor, entendimiento y compañía de manera en que podemos empatizar muy fácilmente, incluso si principalmente estas emociones se presentan a través de una criatura. Aunque también las podemos ver resonar en los personajes; ambos están en un faro y a donde quiera que volteen solo pueden observar agua, y al final, uno de ellos vuelve a la sociedad y la compañía, mientras que el otro se queda solo en el nuevo faro.
Si bien el narrador del cuento es Johnny, McDunn es quien brinda la perspectiva y describe los sentimientos y pensamientos de la criatura marina, y por lo tanto creo que refleja sus propias emociones y situación en esta. Opino que las conclusiones que él expone como “Siempre alguien que quiere a algún otro que no lo quiere. Y al fin uno busca destruir a ese otro para que no nos lastime más” y “Comprendió que en este mundo no se puede amar demasiado” describen las razones por las que McDunn ha elegido vivir en el faro.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2024
Título: The Fog Horn
Autor: Ray Bradbury
Género: Terror / Ciencia ficción
Rating: 🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒
The Fog Horn es una historia desoladora que nos hace pensar en la soledad y en la añoranza, el relato juega con nuestros sentimientos como lo hace con el ser del relato, haciéndonos sentir lo que es tener esperanza para inmediatamente después perderla. ¿Se imaginan vivir así por muchos años?
Bradbury nuevamente ha jugado con mis sentimientos dándome un relato más que se queda en mi cabeza y que rondará ahí por mucho tiempo, dejándome ese sentimiento de pérdida y de desesperanza.
¿Lo recomiendo?
Vayan a leerlo inmediatamente.
Autor: Ray Bradbury
Género: Terror / Ciencia ficción
Rating: 🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒
The Fog Horn es una historia desoladora que nos hace pensar en la soledad y en la añoranza, el relato juega con nuestros sentimientos como lo hace con el ser del relato, haciéndonos sentir lo que es tener esperanza para inmediatamente después perderla. ¿Se imaginan vivir así por muchos años?
Bradbury nuevamente ha jugado con mis sentimientos dándome un relato más que se queda en mi cabeza y que rondará ahí por mucho tiempo, dejándome ese sentimiento de pérdida y de desesperanza.
¿Lo recomiendo?
Vayan a leerlo inmediatamente.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews