Something Wicked This Way Comes is a dark fantasy tale of the upheaval that a strange carnival of souls causes when they arrive in a small, unnamed town. It delves into heavy themes of regret, longing for lost years, and the desire for maturity and escape from one's lot in the world. You see, the Carnival, ran by Coogar and Dark, feeds on all the wretched, negative emotions that the humans they prey on exude. They will find much sustenance in this Midwestern town.

Our main characters in this story are two 13 year-old boys, Jim and Will. They have been friends forever, but their friendship will be tried as Jim finds it increasingly difficult to resist the allure of the carnival and the sinister offer it can make its visitor. And their lives are put in jeopardy when they stumble on the very real threat that its merry go round poses.

I liked the lessons in this story, about the importance of treasuring the now, instead of longing futilely for the past or the future. Jim's father, Charles Halloway is a man in his 50s who is feeling his age deeply. He married slightly older than most, when he was 39, and his wife seems to be a bit younger than he, and is content in ways he is not. Mr. Halloway longs for lost youth. In contrast, Jim longs to be older, so he can escape from his single mother's clinging, stifling embrace. Both will have to face their hollow desires head on if they want to survive the threat of the carnival.

Other lessons that this story teaches of are loyalty, and the strong, powerful bonds of family and friendship. The first plays out through Jim and Will's enduring friendship, their intense bond, which helps to protect them and gives them the ability to fight the malevolence of Mr. Dark. With the second, we see the boys rely on Will's father, a seemingly unlikely hero, for their protection. I appreciated that although Halloway might seem like a frail knight in shining armor, he shows true heroism and fortitude against Dark. By means of his bookish ways and his thoughtful personality, he discovers and exploits the fatal flaw that Dark and his sinister folk hold close to their dark hearts.

Unfortunately, I didn't find listening to this story as good an experience as I would have hoped for. It felt a little bit overwritten for an audiobook read. There was excessive use of imagery, similie and metaphor for my tastes. Normally, I love the use of these literary devices, albeit a bit more sparingly. Since I am a very moody reader, it could have been that I just wasn't in the right frame of mind when I listened. But I found the extended descriptions that didn't seem to further the plot as expediently as I hoped, rather tedious.

That is not to say that I didn't like some aspects. Bradbury uses words beautifully, spurring the imagination fruitfully. I just wished that the story was a bit more straightforward. I have the feeling that this book would read a lot better than it served as a listening experience. I do think this story is a nice way to start out the fall season, to get a reader ready for Halloween and the spooky month of October. There were some spooky moments, and the evil of Dark, Coogar, and the Dust Witch give this story a very sinister vibe. Also, its look at the darker aspects of very human nature. I appreciated it from that standpoint. As I mentioned earlier in this review, the message is very good. As a person who sometimes feels her age deeply, I can appreciate Bradbury's gentle warning that humans can put too much stock in how old and how young they are and lose out on enjoying and experiencing every day, the Now. I needed that reminder. So that's for the good with this story.

I am and always will be a reader who enjoys and admires Ray Bradbury. He inspires me as a writer. I think he has a very good imagination and quite a way with words and phrases. I just know now that I should save him for when I'm in the mood for that expansive, flowery language, and a story that relies heavily on allusion and imagery, instead of concise storytelling. Also, I think my yen for the short story medium is very much appeased by his type of writing, so I am glad that I do have several of his short story volumes to read in my book collection. I will definitely attempt to read another one of his novels one day. Maybe not on audio, though.

My recommendation: Don't read this on audio if you don't care for expansive description and flowery language. This a book best experienced on paper.

4.5/5.0 stars. While I definitely do not think Ray Bradbury’s writing style is for everyone, I do think it fits for me. So descriptive, and invoking lots of great imagery, it flows once you get the right feel for it. The characters, the theme, the whole premise for this one strikes a real chord for me, probably because I have a son similar in age to Will and Jim. I could feel the perspective of Charles very well. Ray Bradbury, and the fall season - a great combination!

For an excellent review, please see the following link as I couldn’t agree more with it all: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

3.5
Este me costó mucho trabajo a pesar de que amo las historias macabras sobre "coming of age". La prosa de Bradbury es preciosa pero de repente sentí algunas partes de esta novela más largas que la cuaresma, aunque a partir como del 60% se pone bueno, por lo que valió la pena perseverar. La descripción de Mademoiselle Tarot me perseguirá por un buen rato y, bueno, Mr. Dark también se quedará en mi memoria. ¡Cuídense de la gente del otoño!

I mean, it’s Bradbury! Of course it’s good.

Was für eine spannende, berührende Geschichte! Eine Geschichte, die genauso für Jugendliche funktioniert wie für Erwachsene. Die atemberaubende Unterhaltung bietet und gleichzeitig voller Gedanken steckt und verschiedenartige Assoziationen auslöst.

Eine amerikanische Kleinstadt in den 1930er Jahren. Da sind zwei dreizehnjährige Jungen, die beste Freunde sind und gleichzeitig ganz unterschiedlich. Der eine wächst ohne Vater auf und fühlt sich zu allem Dunklen, Gefährlichen angezogen. Der andere ist vorsichtiger und vernünftiger. Schon die Namen der Beiden: Jim Nightshade und Will Halloway!

Bei Jim war es so, daß er stets die Welt vor Augen hatte und nie den Blick abwenden konnte. Wenn man sein ganzes Leben lang niemals wegsieht, dann hat man mit dreizehn schon so viel gesehen wie andere mit zwanzig.
Will Halloway war jung und blickte darüber hinweg oder vorbei. Er hatte mit dreizehn erst sechs Jahre Schauen hinter sich gebracht.

Um Alter geht es auch bei Wills Vater, der sich unendlich alt fühlt, seinem eigenen Sohn fremd. Er bringt eine ganz eigenartige, wunderbare Melancholie in die Geschichte, insbesondere wenn er nachts in der Bibliothek sitzt und Will ihn vom Fenster seines Zimmers aus sehen kann, über eine längere Distanz hinweg, in der erleuchteten Bibliothek.

Und damit fallen gleich zwei wichtige Stichworte: Es gibt hier Szenen in der Bibliothek, die eine wunderbare Hommage an Bücher, ans Geschichtenerzählen, an diesen besonderen Ort bilden.
Und dann sind da die Beobachtungen, die häufig und stets mit einigem Abstand erfolgen: Blicke in und aus Fenster, in Schaufenster, in Spiegel… Diese Szenen verbinden sich oft mit einer Sehnsucht nach einer anderen Welt, nach etwas Geheimnisvollen, nach einem anderen Lebensalter. Und zusammen mit der Melancholie, die immer zwischen den Zeilen mitklingt, erinnert man sich oft an Gemälde Edward Hoppers.

Richtig Fahrt nimmt die Geschichte auf, als eine Kirmesgesellschaft den Ort erreicht, inklusive des mysteriösen Mr Dark, dessen ganzer Körper mit recht lebendigen Tatöwierungen bedeckt ist. Oder beginnt das Unheil nicht schon, als der Blitzableiterverkäufer auftaucht?
Neben der atemberaubenden Handlung (die beiden Jungs sind meist nachts unterwegs), bleibt Raum für schöne kluge Gedanken, wie der ständigen Sehnsucht nach einem anderen Leben, einem anderen Alter; der Schwierigkeit zwischen Gut und Böse zu unterscheiden, ein gutes Leben zu führen; die Macht des Lachens...

Und so stimmungsvoll die Geschichte ist, drängen immer wieder Assoziationen an die Oberfläche, auch zu viel später entstandenen Werken. So bin ich mir mehr als sicher, dass eine Szene im Spiegelkabinett eine ähnliche Szene in Stephen Kings It inspiriert hat.
Mein Lesekumpel Michael hat mich auf Nick Caves Song Carny hingewiesen, der einem beim Lesen nicht mehr aus dem Kopf geht. Würde man das Buch verfilmen, wäre das ein unvermeidbarer Teil des Soundtracks.
Apropos Film: Der Roman schreit nach einer tollen, modernen Verfilmung. Das Setting, die Charaktere, die Spannung… Aber eine Verfilmung gab es wohl schon 1982. Nur lässt sich diese kaum noch auftreiben und der Trailer scheint mir doch etwas altbacken und zu betulich. Also bitte eine neue Verfilmung!

If you and I sat down to talk about what this book meant or what we got out of it, I bet our reasoning would be fairly different. Sometimes a book speaks to you, makes you understand yourself better, or puts things into perspective. Stumbling across these treasures and feeling that jolt, no matter how long it lasts, is kind of why we read.

Bradbury weaves beautiful allegory into a book that could be considered scary, but not for the reasons you might suspect after reading the synopsis.The story is set in a small town that gets a visit from a carnival. It uses a vast array of sights and sounds to invite the locals to come and see some of its unique attractions. Our main characters are swept up in the moment and make their way to the scene in the dead of night. Little do they know, the rides and those who run them might be up to something sinister.

I marked this book up a lot. I mean, it's going to be hard to read over. The margins are packed! The actual story was fine, but the family dynamic is what really captured my attention. I felt that some passages were written for me, or at least explained certain feelings I would never be able to express myself. I.e., the father and son converse on the porch.

In terms of writing, it might be a bit too whimsical for some, but I loved the lyrical prose. It was touching too. I found myself with a slight mist under the eyes in some parts and gleeful joy in many others.

I think I'll be more like Will, Jim, and Charles and not dwell on regrets or how the future might shape me. Give this book a shot and see how it affects you.

Frost said it best: "In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on."

One thing I’ve noticed about a lot of young adult books and coming-of-age movies is a certain generational disconnect between the protagonist and his forebears. I guess in a lot of ways this is like noticing the absence of Indian food from a French cuisine cookbook, because why would anyone expect otherwise? If a story is to feature the youth perspective, then it should follow logically that his parents’ thoughts, ideas, and motivations factor into the story only peripherally. Right, Mikey? But in Something Wicked This Way Comes, that gap is bridged to a really interesting end.

Something Wicked is the story of two kids scrambling to be a day, a month, a year older, and an aging parent reflecting on the nostalgia of his youth and perhaps wishing to shave a few years off his own accumulated tree rings. The desire here, in the former to be older and in the latter to be younger, serves to drive the characters’ behavior but does so at the expense of sound judgment; and the desire—not unlike Macbeth’s desire to become king—is shown to be inextricably bound to a sense of malevolence on account of that clouded judgment. In fact, the very title of this novel harks back to the opening scene of Macbeth, in which a witch (in which a witch!) intimates the evil nature residing in the main character, and I think that line subsequently calls attention to the potential within each of us for evil to be realized, provided we let it.

The other thing I liked about this novel was Bradbury’s writing, which is almost entirely atmospheric and metaphorical.

n  Deep forests, dark caves, dim churches, half-lit libraries were all the same, they tuned you down, they dampened your ardour, they brought you to murmurs and soft cries for fear of raising up phantom twins of your voice which might haunt corridors long after your passage.n  
n

The imagery of the phantom twin as metaphor for an echo is pretty brilliant here, and Bradbury repeats this feat throughout the book. It probably also helped, with regard to timing, that I read this book in October, as the story takes place in the same month, for the descriptive voice seemed to lend an extra layer of reality to the story.

Something I did not care for, however, was a scene at the end in which Will’s dad essentially beats the crap out of his son in an attempt to get him to “laugh” (in order to destroy the curse of the Illustrated Man). I don’t know about you, but I get riled up when someone simply says to me, “Lighten up, dude.” Because, don’t fucking tell me to lighten up. I could not imagine someone clocking me over the head, boxing my ears, and slapping my face as a forceful means of conjuring a smile. I bet you would not be very happy if someone were to do that to you, right? And what’s good enough for you, is good enough for me.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

No choice! I must award this novel 5 stars for its hallucinatory gothic images. I feel that Ray Bradbury is exactly like one of the characters in his haunting tale, Mr. Electrico, who sat on an electrified chair, wheeling an electrifying sword which caused his spectators to be electrified. Quite a unique novel in a genre all on its own if I may say so, as I am not really a horror reader. Such a pity I did not read it in my teens as I now wonder whether I would have been swamped in admiration or scared to death. I had not expected to be so impressed by this deluge of hallucinating words and images.

If there's a common element in reader's thoughts on this book, I believe it would be about Bradbury's phrasing and prose. Beautifully flowing, enchanting, even poetic. That's saying something special for what's considered his few books based in the horror genre. I saved it for October this year, but to say it is strictly horror would be wrong. Themes that are scary? Yes. The entity that arrives in Green Town, Illinois one Fall day certainly is evil, but the thoughts on losing a friendship, a son's bond with his father, or the fear of separation by age are the truly scary elements here. Occasionally, the story gets lost in the prose, but I still adored reading it.

n  By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes!n

And how wicked it was! Carnival is coming to town but friends Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade aren't fooled - this is no ordinary carnival and they won't let the strange autumn people coming with it take over their town! So they, along with Will's glorious librarian father, discover the autumn people's secret and do everything they can to stop them.

I started reading Bradbury because of his most famous story about the burning of books and then continued last year with his other Halloween book. Something Wicked This Way Comes, just like last year's Spooktober book, has a marvellous autumn-y atmosphere that makes you hear the leaves rustle, smell the crisp foggy air and see all the splendid colours this most beautiful season has to offer. Oh, and maybe you'll smell cotton candy in this particular case, too. ;P

Once again, we get a wonderful adventure, this time experienced by two boys who grew up next to each other (they were born only 2 minutes apart) and are best friends. That sort of connection comes with benefits, as does a father who is a well-read bookworm and professional librarian (I LOVED Will's dad)! These monsters are definitely messing with the wrong people. *lol*

In between the suspenseful action, we get one hell of a lot of meaningful and deep (but never boring or preachy) commentary on society in general, on fear and regret, on being young and growing old, on life and death - yes, all paradoxes and/or opposites. Truly glorious writing that enthralls!

Moreover, I'm sure I know the narrator of this audio version, Paul Hecht, but for the life of me I couldn't remember from where. Anyway, he was brilliant in bringing the weirdness and terror of the carnival and its masters but also the vivid friendship of Will and Jim to life.

Two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, are neighbors, childhood friends and very different from each other, although the latter works as a way to strengthen their mutual bonds and amend their shortcomings.

Along with them comes Will's father, the wise philosopher who works as a caretaker in the city's library, where he spends most of his nights, returning back there to read and find answers to his eternal queries.

Obviously, something feels very wrong with this particular carnival, but the rest of the city doesn’t seem to take notice. An eerie feeling of something evil approaching: By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.

The three of them will try to solve the enigma of the mysterious carnival that arrives in the night, carrying nightmares of bygone eras.

Αυτό που περιγράφεται ως "carnival" στο βιβλίο είναι κάτι ανάμεσα σε λούνα παρκ, τσίρκο και περιοδεύοντα θίασο τεράτων. Είναι ένα πανηγύρι αξιοπερίεργων ανθρώπων και πραγμάτων.

Αναφέρει θεάματα όπως: o αιωρούμενος άνθρωπος, οι νάνοι, ο εικονογραφημένος άνθρωπος, ο σκελετός, η μάγισσα, ο κύριος Γκιλοτίνα, ο αιγυπτιακός λαβύρινθος με τους καθρέφτες, το καρουζέλ, ο κος Ελέκτρικο, ο άνθρωπος που καταπίνει λάβα, το τερατώδες Μονγκολφιέ (σσ μπαλόνι), η πιο ωραία γυναίκα του κόσμου κτλ.

Κάτι τέτοιο για μια μικρή επαρχιακή πόλη, στις παραμονές του Halloween προφανώς έχει μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον. Τόσο για τους μεγάλους, καθώς ξυπνάει μέσα τους τη νοσταλγία περασμένων εποχών όσο και για τους μικρούς γιατί κεντρίζει την περιέργειά τους. Όμως κάτι δεν πάει καλά με αυτόν το συγκεκριμένο περιοδεύοντα θίασο... Δεν πρόκειται για κάποια βεβαιότητα στην αρχή. Είναι περισσότερο κάτι που γίνεται αντιληπτό διαισθητικά: By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.
Καθώς το τραίνο που σέρνει το αλλόκοτο καραβάνι, φτάνει μέσα στη νύχτα δυο παιδιά παρακολουθούν τη μυστηριώδη άφιξή του:

"Το τραίνο του καραβανιού βρόντηξε επάνω στη γέφυρα και το μουσικό όργανο (Calliope) ούρλιαξε.
- Η μουσική παίζει μοναχή της! Ο Τζιμ σήκωσε το βλέμμα.
-Τζιμ, κόψε τα αστεία.
-Στη ζωή της μάνας μου, κοίτα!
Καθώς απομακρυνόταν αργά - αργά, οι σωλήνες του μουσικού οργάνου λαμπύριζαν από εκρήξεις αστεριών, αλλά κανένας δεν καθόταν στα πλήκτρα. Ο άνεμος, μόνο αυτός, έριχνε υδρατμούς στους σωλήνες κι έφτιαχνε τη μουσική".

Τα δυο αγόρια ο Will Halloway και ο Jim Nightshade είναι γείτονες, παιδικοί φίλοι και τόσο αντίθετοι μεταξύ τους που αλληλοσυμπληρώνονται στην εντέλεια. Στην παρέα τους έρχεται να προστεθεί και ο πατέρας του Will, ο σοφός φιλόσοφος που τη μέρα εργάζεται ως επιστάτης στη βιβλιοθήκη της πόλης και τις νύχτες επιστρέφει εκεί για να διαβάσει και να βρει απαντήσεις στις αιώνιες απορίες του. Οι τρεις τους θα προσπαθήσουν να λύσουν το αίνιγμα του μυστηριώδους καρναβαλιού που φτάνει μέσα στη νύχτα κουβαλώντας στις αποσκευές του, εφιάλτες από περασμένες εποχές.

Το μυθιστόρημα αυτό, γραμμένο στα 1962 πάσχει από ένα παρωχημένο bravado που ορισμένως μπορεί να φαίνεται ενοχλητικό, όπου όλα είναι μια υπόθεση μεταξύ ανδρών, και οι γυναίκες είναι τα αδύναμα και συνάμα αιθέρια πλάσματα που κινούνται στην περιφέρεια του έργου, με τις μικρές τους αδυναμίες και την υπεροχή που τους παραχωρείται με συγκατάβαση (και παραμένει πάντα στο επίπεδο της θεωρίας), καθώς πέρα από το σύντομο πέρασμα της ηλικιωμένης, γεροντοκόρης δασκάλας, δεν παίζουν κανένα ρόλο στην εξέλιξη της ιστορίας:

"Ω τι παράξενα, υπέροχα ρολόγια είναι οι γυναίκες. Μέσα τους φωλιάζει ο χρόνος. Φτιαγμένες από την γερή σάρκα που συνέχει την αιωνιότητα. Ζουν εντός της χάριτος, γνωρίζουν τη δύναμη, αποδέχονται χωρίς να χρειάζεται να πουν μια λέξη. Γιατί να μιλάς περί χρόνου, όταν είσαι ο ίδιος ο χρόνος και δίνεις σχήμα στις αιώνιες στιγμές καθώς διαβαίνουν, μέσα στη ζεστασιά και στη δράση. Πόσο συχνά, οι άνδρες ζηλεύουν αυτά τα ζεστά ρολόγια, αυτές τις συζύγους που ξέρουν πως θα ζήσουν για πάντα".

Οι γυναίκες λοιπόν από τη στιγμή που εκπληρώνουν τον προορισμό τους και γίνονται σύζυγοι και μητέρες βγαίνουν από την κεντρική σκηνή του έργου, ζουν μέσα στο δικό τους ασφαλές σύμπαν και δεν έχουν καμία συμμετοχή στη δράση. Και μόνο η δυστυχής κυρία Foley, επειδή δεν κατάφερε να γίνει σύζυγος και μητέρα κάνει ένα μικρό πέρασμα. Ένα παράδειγμα προς αποφυγή. Μια θλιβερή εξαίρεση.

Ωστόσο ακριβώς επειδή το έργο γράφτηκε πριν 56 χρόνια και εκτυλίσσεται σε μια εποχή ακόμα παλαιότερη, από τις έμμεσες αναφορές, δεν υπήρχαν ακόμα τηλεοράσεις στα σπίτια, παρά μόνο ραδιόφωνα κτλ. και βασίζεται στις αναμνήσεις του συγγραφέα από τη νεανική του ηλικία (δεκαετία 1930 -40) είναι λογικό να απεικονίζει νοοτροπίες μιας περασμένης εποχής.

Η ουσία του έργου άλλωστε και η αξία του, βρίσκεται αλλού. Διερευνά το ζήτημα του χρόνου, όπως αυτός αφήνει το αποτύπωμά του επάνω στους ανθρώπους μέσα από τα ηλικιακά στάδια της εξέλιξης της ζωής τους. Ο φόβος του θανάτου ως αναπόφευκτο τέλος. Το ανικανοποίητο μιας ζωής που παγιδεύεται στο δίπολο "πολύ νωρίς" - ¨πολύ αργά¨. Και πάνω από όλα εμφορείται από ένα πνεύμα αισιοδοξίας και ελπίδας. Τη σοφία του παρελθόντος και την προοπτική του μέλλοντος. Την ουσία του παρόντος που κρύβεται στις μικρές στιγμές της καθημερινότητας, εκεί όπου η αγάπη βρίσκει τον τρόπο να εκφραστεί μέσα από τις πράξεις και τα λόγια των ανθρώπων.

Και αυτή ακριβώς η αισιοδοξία, το γέλιο, η διακωμώδηση των φόβων μας είναι μια άμυνα, μια ασπίδα, ένας τρόπος να καταφέρει ο άνθρωπος να ξεπεράσει τα εμπόδια και τις δυσκολίες, τις παγίδες και τις κακοτοπιές και να μπορέσει να συμφιλιωθεί με τη ζωή του, τον εαυτό του και τους άλλους.

Είναι ένα έργο γεμάτο ομορφιά και ποίηση. Δίνει μερικά πολύ χρήσιμα μαθήματα ζωής. Απόλυτα σύμφωνο με το κλίμα της εποχής στην οποία γράφτηκε, θα πρότεινα σε όσους θέλουν, να το διαβάσουν στο αγγλικό πρωτότυπο, γιατί χρησιμοποιεί εκφράσεις της αμερικανικής καθομιλουμένης, σε σημείο που να καθίσταται δύσκολη οποιαδήποτε μετάφρασή του στα ελληνικά, καθώς είναι δύσκολο να βρεθούν οι αντίστοιχες λέξεις και εκφράσεις που να αποδίδουν το αυθεντικό πνεύμα του κειμένου.

The music, Will thought, it's backwards, too!

This book deserves nothing less than 5/5. What a fantastic story, filled with wonderful writing and an excellent message. It’s got it all.

This classic about the traveling dark carnival and the autumn people needs no introduction. It has, and continues to influence countless horror and fantasy writers to this day. It’s coming of age, it’s horror, it’s got humor and a great ending. The influence can be seen in books like Needful Things and Fairy Tale by King; there’s a reason the novel remains in print.

The writing here is tremendous. It flows frantically, chapter by chapter, to the finale. I picture Ray Bradbury writing parts of this book in almost a mad half-conscious trance, the angels gripping his pen. The prose in this book just flows so beautifully, while conjuring up both pictures and feelings in exactly the way a good book is supposed to. It’s an impressive piece of writing, at times reminding me of Bob Dylan or Robert Hunters more vivid lyrics. The meaning is not always said outright, but passed to the reader by osmosis or something. It’s poetic, but vivid and the meaning is always clear.

I read this over 20 years ago, but this was a whole new take on it. This time around, while I loved reading about Will and Jim, the character that I really focused on and connected with was Charles. His redemption and rebirth…this character is written with love and no doubt, a little something we can all relate to. His role throughout the story, and in the end, can’t be overstated. While Mr. Dark is certainly still a scary villain, this time around I felt the real villains in this tale weren’t so tangible. The people that you may encounter, who “may be here this very minute”, to time itself.

So if on a cold autumn night, a strange carnival shows up in your town…don’t get on the carousel, or so help you god, don’t go near the house of mirrors. Go home and read this book instead.