Few American novels written this century have endured in the heart and memory as has Ray Bradbury's unparalleled literary classic SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin.The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. The shrill siren song of a calliope beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes. . .and the stuff of nightmare.

Few American novels written this century have endured in the heart and memory as has Ray Bradbury's unparalleled literary classic SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin.

A lot has been said about the prose of this book, and it's certainly of a higher quality than one would be expecting from a "horror" story. It's quite poetic and most of the time it is excellent at painting the scene. However, there are a number of places where it feels forced and pretentious, as if Bradbury is writing that way just to show off his thesaurus-reading skills. But for every turn of phrase that falls flat, there exist several chilling moments that will be forever etched in the mind of the reader. It's a step above the sort of material that one usually finds in genre works.

The point of view from the two children is executed amazingly well. As in his other novels and short stories, Bradbury demonstrates his superb ability to realistically portray the beliefs and emotions of children. They aren't overly mature, but neither are they childish. He's hit the nail so perfectly that it really feels as though one is reading a true-life account of some curious boys, rather than a fictional account. On the other hand, breaking up the action between two children means that we never really get extremely close to either one. There's some nice interaction between one of the boys and his father that deals with the grown-up's attempt to develop a backbone and to stand up to the evil carnival people. This relationship creates some great dialog between the child and parent, as the older man tries to explain thoughts and concepts that are just slightly outside what the child can realistically understand.

The story itself is quite chilling and is told well. Many of the actions that occur don't really make much logical sense, but they are nonsensical in the same way that fairy tales don't make sense; everything works inside the current context and that's just fine for their purposes. Evil men do evil deeds simply because they're evil. Good men attempt to prevent the spread of evil, because that's what good men do. Their motivation really isn't important. What makes it work is the journey that the characters go through.

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is certainly a recommended work. Although often classified as a horror book, it really isn't all that frightening. But it succeeds at being a fantastic adventure tale that will remain with the reader long after the final page is turned.


A mixed bag   March 27, 2002
 23 out of 31 found this review helpful

I tried to read this book several times when I was about thirteen (the age of the two boys in the story). Although I was a Bradbury fan, and found the tone and premise intriguing, I could never get past the opening chapters, usually setting it aside about the time the carnival pulls into town.

35 years later, I finally read it.

I didn't lose anything by waiting, because I'm sure my younger self would have been disappointed. This story has a lot to offer in terms of its philosophical mood, and has a haunting quality to it, but it's told in a surrealistic style that is not always clear, and Bradbury's prose is clotted with numerous tangled metaphors and sentences that make no literal sense. It's still not what I'd call a difficult read; I whipped through it in a few days. Bradbury maintains an element of suspense(more by suggestion than by clearly describing anything) and the conclusion, although slightly heavy-handed, is satisfying.

"Something Wicked this way Comes" reminds me of two books: "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle, a children's novel which made a tremendous impression on me when I was nine years old; and Stephen King's "Needful Things", which has a similar theme. There are probably dozens of stories using this theme; since this one was published 40 years ago it's not fair to call it derivative, but I'm not sure if it's genuinely original. None of that really matters, though, since it's Bradbury's feel for the time and place, and his accurate depiction of the adolescent point of view that make this story effective, in spite of its frequent wordiness, obscurity, and overwriting. Sometimes the best writers can get away with bad writing --- or what would be bad writing in the hands of a less capable author --- and that seems to me to be the case here.

As others have observed, it's not a horror novel; more of a dark fantasy with a positive underlying theme. I find it encouraging that so many young people are reading and enjoying this book; although I'm not wild about it, it's likely to whet the appetite for further reading.

If you haven't read Bradbury before, I recommend the short story collections such as "Illustrated Man" or "October Country"; or the novel "Fahrenheit 451", and the collection of linked stories that forms his masterpiece "The Martian Chronicles."


"Something Wicked" comes on strong   August 9, 2002
 20 out of 24 found this review helpful

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." This quote from Shakespeare adequately describes this now-classic work of horror by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury manages to use evocative language and charming characters to draw the readers into what is almost a parallel world.

Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade are boys born two seconds apart -- one on Halloween, the other on the day before. Will is the ultimate innocent, while Jim is darker and more knowledgeable about the world. These two have been inseparable friends all their lives, despite their different personalities and tiny events that divide them on subtle levels. Then, one day, a strange carnival comes to their town, with a freak show and a carousel.

But a more sinister undercurrent runs in this carnival: The freak show, with its tattooed "illustrated man," blind gypsy witch, and murderous dwarf, is more menacing than the townspeople expect. And when Will and Jim see the carousel change a man's age, they become the targets of Mr. Dark and his evil cohorts -- for fates worse than death.

Bradbury's writing is a mixed bag. While it's extremely evocative and often surreal, it becomes a little clumsy at times. He refers to the carousel horses having "panic-colored teeth," but never explains what this description means. His metaphors occasionally become very strained, and at times the lapses into philosophical musings become distractions to the overall plotline.

However, he expertly draws out a feeling of horror with only a few words, never overdoing the descriptions of something that terrifies Jim and Will. Rather than using "ghoulies and ghosties," Bradbury plays on fears in every human being, such as fears of aging, loneliness, physical decrepitude, loss of loved ones, and most horrifyingly when people are aged or de-aged and thus unrecognizable to their friends and loved ones. The buildup of suspense as the boys hide from Dark and his lackeys is utterly terrifying. And in a masterful use of nostalgia, Bradbury brings readers to the midwestern America of his youth, an innocent place of screen doors, fall leaves and barber shops.

Jim and Will are good foils for one another. Too often in books with two lead characters of the same age and background, there is no personality difference, but these boys are radically different. Will is an utter innocent, with no comprehension of the seductiveness of evil and a great deal of fear for his family and his best friend. Jim, on the other hand, is more susceptible to Mr. Dark's offers. He wants to age to the level of a young adult with the carousel, while knowing in his heart that nothing good can come of it; his temptation is frightening in its intensity. The temptation is reversed for the quiet Charles Holloway, who is haunted by his own age and the relative youth of his son. His gradual changes of thought on this matter are never clumsy or sappy, but rather with the brilliance of Charles' new perceptions.

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" is one of the rare stories that blends unusual prose, good characterizations, and skilful atmosphere into a true spinechiller. A great horror classic. Do not read after dark.


Great book, but I hate it   November 25, 2004
 17 out of 22 found this review helpful

In this book, Bradbury's writing is so infused with his style that if you don't like his style, the book is unreadable; whereas if you do like his style, then you are almost certain to love the book. I don't like his style, but many people do. Here's a sample which illustrates the style to which I refer. It is the fourth paragraph in chapter 3:

"What's the answer, he wondered, walking through the library, putting out the lights, putting out the lights, putting out the lights, is it all in the whorls on our thumbs and fingers? Why are some people all grasshopper fiddlings, scrapings, all antennae shivering, one big ganglion eternally knotting, slip-knotting, square-knotting themselves? They stoke a furnace all their lives, sweat their lips, shine their eyes and start it all in the crib. Caesar's lean and hungry friends. They eat in the dark, who only stand and breathe."

If you like that style of writing, or at least don't consider it pretentious, self-indulgent gibberish, then you will probably be able to find a decent read in this book. I was able to make only about one-sixth of the way through before my annoyance with the style overcame my desire to read a good story.



Perfect   March 23, 1999
 13 out of 17 found this review helpful

Bradbury has always been a better short story writer than a novelist but occassionally he comes along with something that makes you wonder why he doesn't write more novels. However most of his best novels read like longer short stories and this one is no exception. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, because this one is so good you don't notice how short it is and really don't even care. His classic seems engrained on our collective conscious and most people probably think the phrase "Something wicked this way comes" comes from the title of this book and not from the Shakespeare play (Macbeth?). The one thing I notice that's different about his writing is that it's far more lyrical than normal, he seems to have a better command of the English language and every sentence and paragraphp seems dense with imagery and metaphors. The story itself ain't too bad either, the tale of a carnival that has come to take the souls of the unsuspecting town, and only two boys and a father who doubts himself can stop them. Mr Dark is one of the best villians ever to grace a novel and he exudes menace and pure evil all at the same time. The entire novel feels like a child's dream turned into nightmare and Bradbury's trademark nostalgia is still there, though less prominent than usual. Everything is beautifully constructed and you'll want to savor the writing over and over. Everyone who thought he had left horror should read this, even though it's not in the same vein as say The October Country it's close enough and just as enjoyable.