Margaret Atwood on Ray Bradbury: the tale-teller who tapped into the gothic core of America

 At the age of 12 – as he tells us on his website – he had a definitive encounter with a stage magician called Mr Electrico. This was in the age of travelling circuses and the like, and Mr Electrico had a unique act: he sat in an electrified chair, thus in turn electrifying a sword he held, with which he in turn electrified the spectators, making their hair stand on end and sparks come out of their ears. He electrified young Bradbury in this manner, while shouting, "Live Forever!" The child had to go to a funeral the next day, a close encounter with death that led him to seek out Mr Electrico once more to find out how this living forever thing was to be done. The old carney showed him around what used to be called the freak show – complete with a tattooed man who was later to morph into the Illustrated Man – and then told him that he, Ray, contained the soul of Mr Electrico's best friend, who had died in the first world war. You can see how all this would have made an impression. Right after his baptism by electricity at the hands of Mr Electrico, Bradbury started writing; nor did he stop until his own death.

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Margaret Atwood on Ray Bradbury: the tale-teller who tapped into the gothic core of America | Books | The Guardian