The Shape of Things by Ray Bradbury Episode #102
Ray Bradbury | September 20, 2023-
play_circle_filled
The Shape of Things by Ray Bradbury Episode #102
Ray Bradbury
THE SHAPE OF THINGS
Episode #102 · Written by Ray Bradbury · Narrated by Scott Miller
Modern medicine promises control, certainty, and safety. In The Shape of Things, that promise collapses the moment a child is born alive, healthy, and utterly unfamiliar to human eyes. What follows is not panic or spectacle, but something far more unsettling: the slow, grinding pressure of love forced into secrecy.
As doctors search for solutions and neighbors remain unaware, a family retreats inward. Daily routines become acts of concealment. Affection carries risk. Each passing month sharpens the question no one wants to ask—how far should parents go to protect a child who cannot exist openly in their world?
Bradbury builds tension through proximity rather than scale. The story unfolds in hospital rooms, patios, and bedrooms, where emotional fatigue matters more than scientific jargon. The threat is not the unknown itself, but the cost of enduring it without relief.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ray Bradbury published hundreds of short stories across magazines including Thrilling Wonder Stories, Weird Tales, Planet Stories, and The Saturday Evening Post, shaping a career defined by emotional immediacy rather than technical speculation. His early science fiction frequently centered on families, children, and ordinary people placed under extraordinary pressure.
Best known for The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and stories such as “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Veldt,” Bradbury consistently examined how technological progress collides with human vulnerability. The Shape of Things belongs to that lineage—a story where innovation solves one problem while creating a far more personal reckoning.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to The Shape of Things by Ray Bradbury — a vintage science fiction short story where a family must choose between belonging and love.
RELATED STORIES
Few writers shaped the emotional landscape of classic science fiction the way Ray Bradbury did.
Bradbury did not rely on hardware or technical spectacle to make the future feel real. He filled rockets with longing, placed ghosts in small towns, and turned distant planets into mirrors held up to the human heart. Whether he was writing about children seduced by virtual worlds, lonely travelers on Mars, or quiet suburban lives unraveling under strange pressure, his stories pulse with warmth, dread, nostalgia, and wonder.
On The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast we’ve explored Bradbury’s astonishing range. In The Veldt (also known as The World the Children Made), technology grants children terrifying power over their parents. Asleep in Armageddon traps a lone astronaut on a hostile world where even the wind seems alive. Dwellers in Silence carries us across the red deserts of Mars, where hope flickers against ancient ruins.
Then there are the quieter shocks: Referent, which exposes envy and obsession with razor precision. Defense Mech and The Monster Maker, where invention and ambition twist into unintended consequences. Even in collaborations like Final Victim (with Henry Hasse), Bradbury’s touch is unmistakable.
From the cold Martian well in The One Who Waits, where an ancient entity waits patiently beneath the sand for new flesh and new thoughts, to Martian longing in The Visitor, from the biting irony of Changeling to the haunting unease of Death Wish, these selections reveal a writer who could make a single image linger for decades. Explore the stories below and experience the voice that helped define vintage science fiction for generations.
- The Veldt (The World the Children Made) by Ray Bradbury
- Outcast of the Stars by Ray Bradbury
- The Creatures That Time Forgot by Ray Bradbury
- Jonah of the Jove-Run by Ray Bradbury
- Lazarus, Come Forth by Ray Bradbury
- It Burns Me Up by Ray Bradbury
- Defense Mech by Ray Bradbury
- A Little Journey by Ray Bradbury
- Asleep in Armageddon by Ray Bradbury
- The Monster Maker by Ray Bradbury
- Rocket Summer by Ray Bradbury
- The Visitor by Ray Bradbury
- Morgue Ship by Ray Bradbury
- The Shape of Things by Ray Bradbury
- Referent by Ray Bradbury
- Final Victim by Ray Bradbury and Henry Hasse
- Death Wish by Ray Bradbury
- Changeling by Ray Bradbury
- Undersea Guardians by Ray Bradbury
- The One Who Waits by Ray Bradbury
- Dwellers in Silence by Ray Bradbury
- And Then—The Silence by Ray Bradbury
ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.7 million listens.
Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.
What listeners are saying:
★★★★★
“The perfect narration to a treasure trove of incredible talent. They don’t make them like this anymore but fortunately we can still hear them. The narration is on point and passionate and matches the mood of the stories perfectly.”
— Phee808
★★★★★
“Best SciFi podcast ever! This is far and away my favorite podcast. The story selection is great…so many authors that I have read and loved during my 50 years of sci-fi reading, and also some that are new to me, with great stories! The narrator, Scott, has the best voice, and a wonderful story telling ability. This podcast has become my every night bedtime must-listen!”
— PJ Graves
Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.
📬 JOIN LOST SCI-FI WEEKLY
35,000+ Listeners Can’t Be Wrong
Get vintage sci-fi stories, podcast episodes, and surprises every Monday.
FREE SCI-FI EVERY WEEK
✅ Check your email and confirm — that unlocks your free sci-fi downloads.
No spam in this galaxy. You can eject anytime.
