By Michael Grossberg
Today, Aug. 5, 2026, is a key day in the enduring fiction of Ray Bradbury.
Although perhaps most widely remembered for his Prometheus-winning novel Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury was a master of the short story. “There Will Come Soft Rains,” one of his most haunting tales, imagines a distant future following a nuclear holocaust.
That future is now in the story, published in 1950 and imagining the then-far-distant year of 2026 in early August.
Bradbury’s story imagines an automated house – now a reality in millions of homes. Hauntingly, the house continues to operate even after its suburban family has been vaporized, going up in flames in Allendale, California.
“Finally, only one wall is left, protruding from the rubble. A fading voice echoes from inside the wall: “Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026, today is . . .”
Continue reading The fire this time: Ray Bradbury’s imagination endures, and marks a milestone