The tattoo on his chest is uncovered during a special event, “The Unveiling”, where a scene so shockingly violent is revealed that even the experienced carnival crew is upset. Included are roses on his hands that bloom or wither according to his emotions and pictures on his chest & back that are to be kept covered until a certain time. On a recommendation of a colleague, he reluctantly goes to an old woman living in a shack in a meadow outside of town, who, with her eyes sewed shut, etches “Pictures of the Future” on his skin. His boss threatens to fire him unless he becomes another addition to the carnival freak show as the tattooed man. He has gained a tremendous amount of weight from the “five thousand steaming hot dogs, ten million hamburgers and a forest of green onions.” that he has eaten within the last year of his loveless marriage. William Phillippus Phelps(who is nearly always referred to by his full name) faces a dilemma. Set in a carnival, with a calliope soundtrack, Mr.

Even before tattoos were trendy, I liked the idea of using the human body as a canvas and Bradbury’s extra dimension adds to it. As an adult, I found things in the story that bypassed me at the time, but the idea of tattoos moving still intrigues me. Of course, for someone used to non-fiction nature books to then read science fiction was a jolt anyways, but to encounter Bradbury’s usual insight to the dark and strange side of human nature was a good introduction to the genre. When I first read this story as a young teen for a school assignment, it boggled my mind. Marking the passing of Ray Bradbury, who died last week, we repost this review of one of his most famous stories, which originally appeared during VL’s “Geek Week” in 2009.

The tattooed man ray bradbury