Something Wicked This Way Comes

Fantasy · Allegory · Gothic

First published: 1962
Print length: 293 pagesAvon Books, 1999

Description

In late October, thirteen-year-old friends Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade discover that a traveling carnival has arrived in Green Town, Illinois, under cover of darkness. Its rides and performers promise more than amusement: the mysterious Mr. Dark can exploit private longings, offering transformations that make youth, age, and regret dangerously negotiable. As the boys recognize what the carnival takes from those it ensnares, their friendship is strained by curiosity and temptation. Will’s father, Charles, joins their resistance while confronting his own fear of growing old. Blending dark fantasy, horror, and lyrical coming-of-age fiction, Ray Bradbury turns a sinister fairground into a struggle over whether people can face time and sorrow without surrendering to comforting illusions.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Atmospheric · Descriptive · Lyrical · Poetic

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Atmospheric · Eerie · Frightening · Tense

Structure

Linear

Focus

Atmosphere · Character · Plot

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 4 / 5
Ideas: 3 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

AgingComing of ageFriendshipGriefMoralityMortality

About Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) was an American author and screenwriter whose work ranged across science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction. He began publishing science-fiction stories in fanzines in 1938 and went on to write more than 27 novels and collections, including hundreds of short stories. His direct storytelling was often joined by lyrical, atmospheric description, whether he was imagining distant planets, sinister carnivals, or small-town childhood. Bradbury returned throughout his career to censorship, technological distraction, memory, mortality, and the appeal of comforting illusions. Fahrenheit 451 sets an awakening conscience against enforced conformity and mass entertainment, while The Martian Chronicles uses linked stories about the settlement of Mars to examine displacement, cultural erasure, and humanity’s tendency to repeat its failures.