Killer, come back to me

We know better now, but Ray Bradbury's stories and novels, mainly science fiction, were labeled right off as low-rent relatives of real literature. Younger readers knew better, sensing that Bradbury was working the same themes as high-status fictioneers, plus a few they hadn't thought of yet. And he was more fun to read. This anthology is grounded in Bradbury's origins as a crime writer in the forties. He could do the hard-boiled strut with the best of them, then enhance it with what the editor calls "the emotional fire of his prose." As when he writes of a breath sounding like "a sword hissing in its shield." While he was earning his bones in the pulps, the unsettling elements that mark his later work emerge clearly. If you could see the horrible future and could change it, would you? You have a chance to work out your rage by killing a stranger. Will you? If you murder a simulacrum of your spouse, are you still a murderer? All told in an intense, poetic language that leaves disturbing echoes.

The 20 worthy tales in this diverse collection of crime stories from Bradbury (1920--2012) originally appeared in popular lifestyle magazines, fantasy and horror pulps, and mystery and detective magazines during the 1940s and 1950s. Naturally, science fiction elements underpin several, most notably the opener, "A Touch of Petulance," in which a remorseful time traveler attempts to alter his past. Elsewhere, devilish black humor boosts heart-pounding horror in chilling gems like "The Screaming Woman," in which a child is adamant she hears the screams of a woman buried alive, but is unable to persuade others to initiate a rescue. Other highlights include the title tale, in which a gangster's moll grooms a man into becoming a replica of her deceased boyfriend, and "And So Died Riabouchinska," in which a ventriloquist's dummy holds the answer to a cold case. Bradbury's flair for dazzling imagery elevates pulp fiction fare like "Dead Men Rise Up Never," a kidnapping yarn. Quirky tales concerning robots and talking marionettes, though not to everyone's taste, showcase the author's inventiveness. This tribute volume should appeal to more than just Bradbury fans. (Aug.)