There Will Come Soft Rains, set on August 4, 2026
Today, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.
Al Sirois94The entire EC story, from Weird Fantasy 17 (January-February 1953) drawn by the brilliant Wallace Wood, is available here: dochermes.livejournal.com/405625.html?
thwarted ☢️67One of my favorites in the genre of dystopian automation.
Rob L57I love Ray Bradbury. So much more than just Fahrenheit 451. A great writer.
sadele246The dates in the 1950 story changed from April 28th, 1985 to August 2026 in The Martian Chronicles (also 1950), then to August 2057 in 1997 edition of Martian Chronicles, per Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_W...
doctoroctothorpe.bsky.social39Read by Burgess Meredith: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYI...
Andrew Hungerford34Here is Christopher Tin's setting of the Sara Teasdale poem. youtu.be/3mQ6phQpx4s?...
Aaron Huertas26Every day a head of state has refrained from ordering a nuclear strike is a small miracle.
Weedle22Getting out the belt and telling those kids to stop playing on that African Veldt in the hologram room. Wait why are they locking the door
Rowan9@azfell-esq.bsky.social Are you a fan of Ray Bradbury?
Nathan8Related, read “We Lived On The Horizon” by @erikaswyler.bsky.social. You’re welcome.
Ryan Moulton6Christopher Tin put the original poem to music, and it's fantastic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mQ6...
SluggoDoug5August 4, 2026. Allendale, California. One of my favorite scifi stories EVER!
Chris ❤️🔥🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ 🏴5That always one of my favorites of his short stories— maybe even ahead of “A Sound of Thunder.” 🥹
🏳️⚧️🌌🌇 ~wandering sage iriana~ 🎑🌟🏳️⚧️4its one of those stories i read when i was like 10 in an english class textbook that probably did irreparable things to me. like im still thinking about it. weird robots that are sad but dont quite know this genre
drmag004My son points out that while we have the automated things, we have not all died from a nuclear war yet, so that’s … hopeful?
🦇🔞𝔊𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔩4we read this in high school and it has never left my brain in all those years 🧍♀️ simply haunted
The day that Ray Bradbury died I was on book tour and that night I read "There Will Come Soft Rains" to my audience instead of the usual reading.
Heather Hill40I remember reading it in high school but had forgotten the title. It amazes me how powerful something so short can be
Steve K 🎃23I was there in the audience (the now-gone Barnes & Nobel in Rittenhouse Square in Philly); your reading was electric and I’m tearing up thinking about it - I know it brought tears to my eyes then. It was such a fitting, reverent moment.
David Niall Wilson20After his death, when they were tearing down his house, they were selling books from his personal collection and bookends made from boards from the house with 451 burned in. I have those bookends on my shelf.
human bean18I went to a book signing of Bradbury's once, and I remember it felt surreal to be in the same room as this man who'd written so many things that had scared the hell out of me my whole life I ended up giving the book to my brother but it was worth standing in line for that experience
bjkeefe13For those who want to read it: bsky.app/profile/norm...
Robin Z11The writing is so special in that story. I taught it for years to my AI students and always got stuck (complimentary) on the way the house is personified and the dog isn't
Read it here if you haven't yet. Today is the very best day of all days to read it for the first time. short-stories.co/@raybradbury...
Helen Kennedy121I'm gonna read the poem to my Roomba.
LA Resident Tourist16I loved the cartoon version too. From the Tomorrow Midnight paperback, and other printings:
speck10Thank you. And here is Christopher Tin's setting of Teasdale's poem, part of his choral song cycle "The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy" m.youtube.com/watch?v=3mQ6...
Jesse Bishop9FYI, that linked version seems to omit a lot of text. I found a pdf that appears complete. www.btboces.org/Downloads/7_...
aka Uncle Cracker8… I remember reading this as a yoot. I remember feeling a bit, say melancholy, afterwards. I really am lately, too …
Martha Holland5This is one of my favorite stories to teach. Absolutely prescient.
ryan cooper276I'd never read this, fuckin haunting piece. first published in 1950 it seems
Eric Lotze29I had, somehow, never read this story. You could say a lot about the mastery of craft in it, and probably someone has, but for now I’m just sitting in silence. I will be thinking about this story for a long time.
Aparna Nair27“Today is August 4, 2026, the city of Allendale, California.”
ronit-b.bsky.social15Found a better quality text : www.btboces.org/Downloads/7_...
Shawn Micallef15Ooof. Get siri to read this to you. Today is August 4, 2026.
Dart Adams12As a Gen Xer who first read this Bradbury short story, “The Veldt” & “Zero Hour” the same week I also first read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” this is quite the discovery.
SeasonalPun8I woke up under an apocalyptic yellow sky today, thinking about the future.
Aimai7I am pretty well read and I have never read this. Thank you so much to @helenkennedy.com for putting up here. Chilling and prescient.
Pickwick The Dodo5What a writer Ray Bradbury was.
Jane3This story was in an anthology I read for uni, and my introduction to Ray Bradbury. It's wonderful, has stayed with me for so many years and we'll worth a few minutes of your time.
Today is the only day you can experience Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” on the day it is set. Audio: archive.org/details/brad... PDF: thephilosopher.net/bredberi/wp-...
theactualcathal.bsky.social31Well now I gotta share the terrific animated version. youtu.be/4oxP3TyuQx0?...
Ben Schu7Well I guess this explains why I woke up with an unshakeable feeling of dread today.
David Avallone4Thank you for sharing that. I don’t think I’ve heard it since the 70s.
Alex Sutherland3That is cool, Leonard Nimoy too!
David Durant2My thoughts on today. medium.com/desiderium-s...
Olivia2Thank you for making this post.
Emily C. Hughes62one of my favorite short stories ever written
Isaac Fellman26It's always the right time for "There Will Come Soft Rains," but today is REALLY the right time for "There Will Come Soft Rains"
David Avallone25I took this album out of the library multiple times when I was a kid. Bradbury was the first “favorite writer” of my life.
David Avallone10Have you heard this before? Leonard Nimoy read it on an LP in 1975. I used to take this record out of the library back when I was 10. bsky.app/profile/debr...
Jiz Lee8“‘Today is August 4, 2026,’ said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling…”
Adina M. Yoffie8I just read it, and wow. Highly recommend.
Terry O'Connor6Do read this - a bleak tale beautifully told.
Trey Lawson6Truly, I can't think of a better time to revisit this very short meditation on humanity's effect on the world, what it means to cede too much of ourselves to the machine, and the promise that eventually Nature reclaims what is hers.
Berry3Well this is terrific. If you start reading NOW in the UK, the date at the beginning and end will both be correct.
David Avallone3Let Leonard Nimoy read it to you: bsky.app/profile/debr...
Today marks a very special day in science fiction literature. May I present to you, "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury:
SKELLYTON30Just as impactful as the first time I read it
illiterate oracle16I Love Ray Bradberry Thank You For This Post Love Grandpa P S Jimmy Carter Is Dead
Brittz0rz🦜12Oh my god, I can't believe it's arrived. The Episcopalian line gets me every time, especially as a metaphor for his love of long sentences
Bogey "Boogie" Manweather8When I read that as a kid and I got to that twist, I honestly felt betrayed. I'd never read anything like it before. That's why I grew to be M Night Shyamalan.
J Dub5The only thing he missed was Episcopalians being outlawed in the 90s
unseelie court reporter2jesus, could you put a trigger warning on here please? That last line gave me "future shock" and I puked all over my computation desk
the postes12ahh, jsut as i remembered it
Michael "Fallen Coffee Pot of Shadows" Senters the Sigillite:ABD9“They were both Episcopalians” is such a good line lol
shoozy2Ray Bradbury didn't write that. here is the actual short story by Ray Bradbury written in 1950: users.wpi.edu/~zrbutzke/Do...
Duder Dudre2wow this one seems a lot nicer
Soft Rains Day. "Today is August 4, 2026, in the city of Allendale, California. Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills." RIP Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012
Lord Hræfn, esq.37There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground, And swallows circling with their shimmering sound; And frogs in the pools singing at night, And wild plum trees in tremulous white, Robins will wear their feathery fire Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
Holly4I WAS JUST THINKING ANOUT THIS STORY YESTERDAY!!!! I read it like 20 years ago or so and it popped in my head randomly literally yesterday. Did I subconsciously remember the date in the story??? If so, our brains are magical.
🍣 Robin Bobcat 🍣3Have some bleak Soviet animation: bsky.app/profile/robi...
Musk Bowl Refugee2My, it's been so long ago. That book was prescient in many ways.
stripe-power.bsky.social1It’s one of the many brilliant short stories Bradbury wrote.
pure, impure1Burgess Meredith had the perfect voice for this.
Eric Scott85Today is "Soft Rains Day" for those who remember this haunting 1950 Ray Bradbury piece. It's classic Bradbury, eerily accurate w/ its predictions in some respects (looking at you, Alexa), and well worth a few moments of your day to read if you're so inclined.
A K12hell yeah love some existential despair at 8:30 in the morning bsky.app/profile/tapi...
Steen Comer (Weeping Gorilla Era)8Happy There Will Come Soft Rains Day to all who celebrate.
Lisa Kadonaga7As a child, reading this story that was written in 1950, the date on the page seemed impossibly far away to me. And now it's here.
Patrick Samphire 🏴4This is a really good story that you should read if you haven't already. Also, I wouldn't mind some soft rains right now. Or hard rains. Any rain, really.
copy-knifesquid-FINAL(3).ogg3You can take 15 minutes to listen to Leonard Nimoy read it to you if you want: archive.org/details/brad...
Becky, Writer of Sexy Bad Decisions2Please also enjoy this beautiful choral setting, which I had the privilege of singing a few years ago with my choir (this isn't us, of course): youtu.be/5a4Q9wkwQaQ?...
Spidermom Xen2Ran the best tabletop game of my life by shamelessly ripping off Bradbury here :P
Serial Bookseller2Happy Get Randomly Traumatized for Life in Middle School Day to all who celebrate.
Dr Tomas Rawlings2A great story covered also by @strangestudies.bsky.social
"The events of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” occur today: August 4, 2026. Like so many dates in science fiction, this one probably seemed far away when it was chosen, but once it was finally upon us, it passed like all days." www.rogerebert.com/mzs/silhouet...
David Avallone10Have you heard this before? Leonard Nimoy read it on an LP in 1975. I used to take this record out of the library back when I was 10. bsky.app/profile/debr...
Gretchen Felker-Martin PRE ORDER CHIMERA 2.16.27 🍉5Matt, this is beautiful work
Joel Meadows4bradbury was a genius. Slowing going through a huge short story collection of his…
Emily C. Hughes2Matt, this is terrific work.
Randall Jay1Great little story. Read it when I was 12.
Great read, thanks Matt! I'll have to check it out
in re Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" (which, in the original Martian Chronicles, occurs on today's date), I didn't realize the very first published version of the story, in Collier's magazine, was set in April 1985. (the current edition of Martian Chronicles now sets it in 2057).
Nate Patrin 🎧5I remember annoying some classmates by choosing this to read during an English class in senior year of high school, but it still remains one of my all-time favorite works of any genre fiction, and this '80s Soviet animated adaptation is stunning
Gregory Crosby4I have to say I prefer the editions, such as the LOA one, with the original timeline.
Dorian Lynskey2Huh, I wrote about this and didn’t know that either
Daniel Radosh8Definitely a great idea to constantly change fictional dates so every sf story remains safely in the future. New editions of 1984 should be set in 2062 but with nothing else changed
Lori Lou Freshwater4Run-on sentences ftw Thank you, teacher.
alison 🏳️🌈🏴☠️4ok this makes me feel a little better about not having my scale model ready today
Today is August 4th, 2026. mollylele.rocks/track/there-... (read by @unarmedoracle.bsky.social, music'd by me)
ChampBlankman4This is haunting in the way I imagine Bradbury would have appreciated. Thank you both.
Stink Mackenzie1To me, you've captured the feeling of this story perfectly. Moments of serenity, crafted for no one. The dying light of the Anthropocene. Bradbury is a writer dear to me, thank you both for doing Soft Rains with such excellence!
Rob MacWolf, Werewolf Hitchhiker1Oh no. I had things I meant to get done today.
Mik Duffy.4As many have noted, today is the day Ray Bradbury's classic short story There Will Come Soft Rains is set. Here is a wonderful reading of it with music by the great Mollylele.
Faye Havoc3A timely collaboration between my rad friends Molly & Cam (& Ray Bradbury).
Iced Brawlatte ☕🥤2Well there goes my afternoon.
"Today is August 4, 2026". Happy "There Will Come Soft Rains" Day!
Chris DeLeon Ⓥ make your own games52let Spock read this story to y'all today archive.org/details/brad...
Kaia14My favorite version of this story is the one read by Leonard Nimoy, which I found out today was published the year I was born. archive.org/details/brad...
Maddy B. Hare13one of the greatest science fiction stories ever written
María del Mar2Me encanta este relato de “Crónicas marcianas” de Ray Bradbury. No es que no me gustaran los otros relatos, ni que no me gustaran sus novelas. Si me gustaban y mucho. Cada uno de ellos me parecía que dejaba a Bradbury a la altura de cualquier maestro/a de la narración del siglo XX. Pero este, 🤯
I was so thrilled to be asked by Molly to read Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” for the story’s advent. What does luxury and convenience and complacency leave behind? What is a manicured corner worth in a mutilated world? Can I make “will” the important word in the sentence?
Big'N'Pink3youtu.be/4oxP3TyuQx0?... this was my first exposure to the work and it left me cold, immeasurably sad and moved to appreciate the things less tangible. your version holds much the same power.
Nate Swift1This was so good man
Flirtatious Vagabond1That was great. I'd definitely listen to an audiobook if you ever read for one.
True-Skorn1The reading and the music were well done and the sound engineering worked. It filled me with dread and sadness, or would have if I was not already full of terror and sorrow of this modern age. Anyway, I hope you do more of this kind of thing.
