Name: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Rating: 3.712025316455696 (158 reviews)
ISBN: 9781501167713

Ray Bradbury

Two boys' lives are changed forever when a sinister travelling carnival stops at their Illinois town.

A Novel

Something Wicked This Way Comes

It's the week before Hallowe'en, and Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois. The siren song of the calliope entices all with promises of youth regained and dreams fulfilled . . . And as two boys trembling on the brink of manhood set out to explore the mysteries of the dark carnival's smoke, mazes and mirrors, they will also discover the true price of innermost wishes . . .

Kari Bingham

I enjoyed the short story version of this book much more than the book itself. I thought this would be more like The Night Circus (who doesn't love creepy circus tales). However, it really failed to grip me. And I am not a fan of that ending...too optimistic and happy for me.

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.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.

Patrick Book

Sarah Sammis

It's a collection of related horror short stories. 

For a long time I had it shelved next to Agatha Christie's By the Pricking of My Thumbs.

A mesmerizing, wild ride. Dark and spooky, poetic and thoughtful, campy and inventive. 

Emiley Jones

a perfect october read, and my favorite ray bradbury to date. immensely lush language, wildly unconventional and vivid imagery. entirely whimsical, magical, autumnal, nostalgic, spooky, thoughtful, heartwarming and suspenseful. GOD i loved it.

Kat Albanese

Erik Wallace

Samantha Chavez 

Bilge Ince

By pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes

He structured this story as screen play at the beginning, therefore the descriptions make you feel like you’re in a movie. And It was what I need for the halloween season; Bradbury’s poetic, dark October carnival.

Janice Hopper

I think this is the Stephan Rudnicki narration. That's the version we listened to.

I've seen the movie a couple of times. TBH, I think I find Bradbury easier to listen to in story format than in novel. Most of this book was excellent, though it did have some slow parts. But the Bradbury magic shines through.

Colin

Rating: 8.9/10

Reading this book felt like being in a bad dream. Ray Bradbury has an almost ethereal writing style, unlike anyone else I've read, that creates a mystical little town which is suddenly overtaken by Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Circus. Bradbury really lets your imagination do the heavy lifting but at the same time, makes the story flow effortlessly towards its discomforting conclusion. 

It was hard to get into this initially due to the almost abstract way Bradbury likes to write, but once I let myself get engrossed in the world, I couldn't stop reading. I really liked it and will definitely make an effort to read more of Bradbury's work.

Something wicked this way comes

Lauren Tabor

Frank White

Beautiful writing about themes with real depth: friendship, fathers and sons, the monkey's paw, aging (how old you are v. how old you feel v. how old you want to be), and morality. A quick read after a few chapters to catch the book's rhythm

So poetic. Especially for a novel about a creepy carnival run by an Illustrated Man. No one writes quite like Bradbury.

That was the entirety of my review when I first read this little book in 2015. And you know what? I think that might be enough. 

Or, it should be. But you know me. I always have opinions to share.

I have this deep but slightly conflicted love for Ray Bradbury. It started when I was in high school, when I first read 

 and one of his short stories, “A Sound of Thunder,” nearly back to back. I was entranced by both stories, but something about the actual writing itself stumped me. While I really enjoyed the cadence of it, and found it often beautiful, there were some stylistic choices and outdated colloquialisms that threw me. I think this is a common complaint when reading backlist books, particular those written more than 40 years ago. And, judging from personal reading experience, the issue of outdated slang tends to be more of a complaint with less formal works, such as Bradbury’s stories. But while digging through the prose can be a bit of a struggle, it’s one that is not only immensely rewarding, but one that becomes easier the more often you do it. 

That’s the case for me with this book in particular. I appreciated it when I first read it. However, revisiting it was a radically different experience. Because I knew where the story was going this time, I didn’t feel the need to sift through the prose; I could just enjoy it for what it was. Which made the story even more enjoyable, and powerful, than it was for me the first time I read it.

On the surface, this is the story of Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, next-door neighbors and best friends, who were born two minutes apart. This is the story of the October they were thirteen, when an ominous carnival came to town. This is the story of the carnival threatening to tear them apart as it offered to fulfill dark dreams, and how they fought to stay together. But that’s not what this story is to me. No, for me, this is the story of Charles Halloway, Will’s father. This is the story of experiences deferred and how the fear of losing your life can keep you from ever truly living it. It’s the story of facing your demons in the mirror and finding reasons to laugh and keep on living anyway. It’s the story of accepting yourself, faults and all, and enjoying the life you have instead of wasting it trying to recapture what you’ve lost. 

If there’s a hero to this story, it is definitely Charles Halloway.

Bradbury broached some incredibly deep topics here, but in ways that never, in my opinion, detracted in any way from the plot. The many forms temptation takes, and how it dresses itself up differently to appeal to each person, was one of my favorite themes. Others included how good triumphs over evil not by might, but by purity of heart; how difficult transitional ages can be, whether from boy to man or middle-aged to elder; the power of belief and joy in the face of darkness; and the importance of connection, regardless of age. There’s so much food for thought in this little book.

Aside from the outdated colloquialisms that I mentioned above, and how certain writing choices threw me out of the plot on occasion, I really only have one complaint about this book: the pacing. There were certain scenes that felt rushed, while others would have been a good deal stronger if shortened by a few pages. But the atmosphere here was second-to-none, and I don’t know that I can think of any other book that so perfectly encapsulates an entire season to me. 

 is nostalgia in book form, autumn contained in less than 300 pages.

 is because I can so clearly see how it, and the rest of Bradbury’s catalogue, influenced other authors I love. As I was reading, I found shades of King and Koontz and Gaiman, and I loved reading something that I know they, not only read, but were changed by in some way. Some of the most powerful, important books in my life are the ones I know help inspired other stories I adore.

There’s something so special about Bradbury’s work in general, and this book in particular. 

The way a 60 year-old book can make me feel nostalgic for a time I’ve never personally known is more than a little magical. And there’s just something about a creepy carnival that captures the imagination.

, I highly recommend it. In my opinion, it’s the perfect October read. And if you’ve read it in the past but it’s been a while, I encourage you to revisit it; I’m very glad that I did.

Celeste Richardson

So poetic. Especially for a novel about a creepy carnival run by an Illustrated Man. No one writes quite like Bradbury.
___________________________________

That was the entirety of my review when I first read this little book in 2015. And you know what? I think that might be enough. 

Or, it should be. But you know me. I always have opinions to share.

I have this deep but slightly conflicted love for Ray Bradbury. It started when I was in high school, when I first read Fahrenheit 451 and one of his short stories, “A Sound of Thunder,” nearly back to back. I was entranced by both stories, but something about the actual writing itself stumped me. While I really enjoyed the cadence of it, and found it often beautiful, there were some stylistic choices and outdated colloquialisms that threw me. I think this is a common complaint when reading backlist books, particular those written more than 40 years ago. And, judging from personal reading experience, the issue of outdated slang tends to be more of a complaint with less formal works, such as Bradbury’s stories. But while digging through the prose can be a bit of a struggle, it’s one that is not only immensely rewarding, but one that becomes easier the more often you do it. 

That’s the case for me with this book in particular. I appreciated it when I first read it. However, revisiting it was a radically different experience. Because I knew where the story was going this time, I didn’t feel the need to sift through the prose; I could just enjoy it for what it was. Which made the story even more enjoyable, and powerful, than it was for me the first time I read it.

On the surface, this is the story of Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, next-door neighbors and best friends, who were born two minutes apart. This is the story of the October they were thirteen, when an ominous carnival came to town. This is the story of the carnival threatening to tear them apart as it offered to fulfill dark dreams, and how they fought to stay together. But that’s not what this story is to me. No, for me, this is the story of Charles Halloway, Will’s father. This is the story of experiences deferred and how the fear of losing your life can keep you from ever truly living it. It’s the story of facing your demons in the mirror and finding reasons to laugh and keep on living anyway. It’s the story of accepting yourself, faults and all, and enjoying the life you have instead of wasting it trying to recapture what you’ve lost. If there’s a hero to this story, it is definitely Charles Halloway.

Bradbury broached some incredibly deep topics here, but in ways that never, in my opinion, detracted in any way from the plot. The many forms temptation takes, and how it dresses itself up differently to appeal to each person, was one of my favorite themes. Others included how good triumphs over evil not by might, but by purity of heart; how difficult transitional ages can be, whether from boy to man or middle-aged to elder; the power of belief and joy in the face of darkness; and the importance of connection, regardless of age. There’s so much food for thought in this little book.

Aside from the outdated colloquialisms that I mentioned above, and how certain writing choices threw me out of the plot on occasion, I really only have one complaint about this book: the pacing. There were certain scenes that felt rushed, while others would have been a good deal stronger if shortened by a few pages. But the atmosphere here was second-to-none, and I don’t know that I can think of any other book that so perfectly encapsulates an entire season to me. Something Wicked This Way Comes is nostalgia in book form, autumn contained in less than 300 pages. 

Another reason I love Something Wicked This Way Comes is because I can so clearly see how it, and the rest of Bradbury’s catalogue, influenced other authors I love. As I was reading, I found shades of King and Koontz and Gaiman, and I loved reading something that I know they, not only read, but were changed by in some way. Some of the most powerful, important books in my life are the ones I know help inspired other stories I adore.

There’s something so special about Bradbury’s work in general, and this book in particular. The way a 60 year-old book can make me feel nostalgic for a time I’ve never personally known is more than a little magical. And there’s just something about a creepy carnival that captures the imagination. If you’ve never read Something Wicked This Way Comes, I highly recommend it. In my opinion, it’s the perfect October read. And if you’ve read it in the past but it’s been a while, I encourage you to revisit it; I’m very glad that I did.

Carroll Lachnit

A very interesting book by one of the writers who made me wan to be a writer

Erin Russell

2 1/2 stars. I love Ray Bradbury’s science fiction stories, I don’t think I’m a fan of his foray into horror though. This overall plot made no sense to me and wasn’t helped by Bradbury’s flowery language.

Something Wicked This Way Comes A Novel

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