The Veldt Resources

Ray Bradbury may seem like he's against technology, but he sure uses a lot of it.

Bradbury biographer Sam Weller summarizes "The Veldt" and its history, and that history is at least as fascinating as the story itself. Except there are no big cats.

Technovelgy lists important (fictional) inventions, including the nursery. Get the rundown on the world's creepiest room.

Bradbury's stories have been made into some movies and television shows, but he also worked in Hollywood, writing other movies. That's what happens when you rise to fame in the golden era of the silver screen.

TV Tropes does a nice job listing other stories where a virtual reality room acts… strangely.

The excellent Science Fiction Encyclopedia discusses the history of virtual reality. You'll be building your own nursery in no time.

This movie version is enjoyed by absolutely no one, but it includes a version of "The Veldt," so we had to give it a shout out. (See "Video" for some clips.)

This 1985-6 TV show did a version of "The Veldt." Get your own copy, if you're in the mood to be creeped out by murderous kiddos.

Bradbury's 1998 interview about urban planning and how he felt about the future. The interview includes this gem of a line about Fahrenheit 451: "I was trying to prevent a future, not predict one."

Sam Weller wrote a great bio of Bradbury; but if you can't read the whole book, get the gist with this (much shorter) interview.

A useful article on Ray Bradbury's less literary, more pop-culture roots. And no, it has nothing to do with John Travolta.

The Illustrated Man movie includes several stories and a frame story. "The Veldt" begins around part 3 and ends around part 5 on YouTube. Or you could, you know, rent the movie. Either way, you'll want to compare this version to the original, just to see if they stunk it up as much as everyone says.

The dude has been around a while, so it makes sense that this talk lasts… a while.

Harvard's Loeb Experimental Theater adapted "The Veldt" in 2006. Here's the part we like the best: the ending. Spoiler alert: it's horrifying.

Hear the story out loud, read by Stephen Colbert for NPR. Yep, it's awesome.

This old time radio show did a version very soon after the story was first published. (How do you think Bradbury felt about the radio version?)

Another radio adaptation, this time with a handy dandy script included. Bonus: the ending makes clear that the parents don't die in this version. Fancy that!

With some hipster specs.

Original cover of the book, in all its orange glory.

That's a crazy tattoo, man.

The cover of the Saturday Evening Post for Sept 23, 1950, where this story was first published. Note: no aliens or death-rays here. Just good clean wholesome family stuff.