Celebrated today in various forms in different cultures around the world – and connected to the Christian festivals of All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day – the Day of the Dead has, at its ancient roots, a yearning to answer one of civilization's oldest obsessions: what happens to us when we die and a deep-seated desire to comprehend the transience of flesh and the enduring spirit of human life and love through the memories of the living...
One of my long held ambitions – becoming more and more unlikely (this side of the grave) – would be to travel to Mexico to witness this extraordinary festival that does not hide death or shun him as the black-swathed scythe-wielding reaper of souls, but acknowledges death and its rightful place –– in the very midst of life...
You can read more about The Day of the Dead, here, here and here.
AND now...
To offer you a more discomforting encounter with Death, here – set South of the Border, down Mexico way – is my radio adaptation of a favourite short story by that master of the magical, mysterious and macabre, Ray Bradbury. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 31 December 1992 as part of the popular 'Fear on Four' series, it is entitled...
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I am indebted to my old friend 'Boll Weavil' for preserving this 'lost' Sibley drama.
Hooray, another Sibley/Bradbury classic! Excellent stuff!
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