A nuclear catastrophe leaves the city ofAllendale, California entirely desolate; the leveled urban area is described briefly as emitting a "radioactive glow". However, within one miraculously preserved house, the daily routine continues – automatic systems within the home prepare breakfast, clean the house, make beds, wash dishes, and address the former residents without any knowledge of their current state as burnt silhouettes on one of the walls. In spite of the homeowners' evident deaths, the house's systems zealously uphold its sanctity, frightening off surviving birds by closing the window shutters. One afternoon, a dog is allowed into the house when it is recognized as the family pet, but it dies soon after a combination of starvation and radiation sickness as well as loneliness, and the corpse is disposed of by the house's cleaning system. That evening, the house recites to the absent hostess her favorite poem, "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale. An accidental fire breaks out in the kitchen and spreads throughout the entire house. The house's systems desperately and futilely attempt to salvage the house, but the doomed home burns to the ground in a night. The following dawn, a single voice from the lone surviving wall endlessly repeats the time and date.
Adaptations
In 1950, an adaptation was broadcast as the of Dimension X, a science-fiction radio program.
In 1953, an adaptation of the story was published in issue 17 of the comic bookWeird Fantasy, with art by Wally Wood.
In 1962, actor Burgess Meredith recorded this story, which was released on LP by Prestige Lively Arts, along with "Marionettes, Inc.", also by Bradbury.
In 1975, actor Leonard Nimoy's rendition of this story and Ray Bradbury's Usher II, also from The Martian Chronicles, were released on Caedmon Records.
In 1977, August the Fourth, 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains was released. It used the resources of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop under the direction of Malcolm Clarke.
In 1984, Soviet studio Uzbekfilm produced "There Will Come Soft Rains" as a .
In 2008, the post-apocalyptic game Fallout 3, which takes place in the irradiated remnants of Washington, DC, featured a robot in a house in Georgetown which, upon entering a command in a terminal in the house, would hover in the bedroom of the occupant's children and recite the poem for which this story is named.
In 2015, shortly after Leonard Nimoy's death, the concept albumSoft Rains was released featuring Nimoy's 1975 reading, set to music by producer Carwyn Ellis under the pseudonym Zarelli.
