Demasiado preciosista, aunque no exenta de muchas cosas interesantes. No me parece lo mejor de Bradbury, y achaco su popularidad al puro sentimentalismo. Habiendo dicho esto, y teniendo en mente las mierdas que he leído, este libro no es, ni por asomo, una de ellas, ni aunque le falte una buena dosis de ingenio para convertirse en la superhistoria que la gente dice que es.

I shouldn't be shocked how much I adored this considering it's a classic, but I had no expectations going in. I've said before I don't love reading from children's perspectives so I was glad so much was from Charle's point of view. The plot itself isn't what I typically gravitate towards but the descriptions of autumn and Halloween were perfect and could not have put me in a better headspace for this time of year.

I'm sorry to say I didn't like this story, at all.

Well, the story perhaps I could get into; it's mainly the writing style I fail to accept, which often makes it very hard to keep track of what's happening. No way would an aspiring novelist today get published bringing in such a manuscript.

Most of the time I had no idea what Bradbury was talking about. It's like big parts of the book are written more with poetry in the mind than narrative fiction. What makes me lost most is his tendency to use several nouns after each other and then I have no idea what he's actually referring to.

For me personally, it was a real struggle, which is a shame because the carnival and the carousel, the two boys and the dad, the Illustrated Man, it's all such a great setting. But the whole story reads as if it's all one person's nightmare and we're just visitors in his twisted mind.

I'm actually disappointed, since this was a new author for me and I'd heard so many good things. I'm really glad it was only a 200 page story. If this is his usual style, I don't think I can sit through another of his books.

I read this when I was an insanely romantic teenager and since then the cruel world has beaten all that nonsense out of my brain with bars of iron and wires of barb, and left me bleeding and barfing in a vile ditch, so I should probably not have plucked my old Corgi paperback of Something Wicked out from my most cobwebbed shelf and thought to wander nostalgically recapturing the wonder and enrapturement I once perceived herein. In those faroff days I wanted to be the smile on the bullet, I wanted to be the weathervane, I wanted to run the dark carnival, and above all else I wanted a calliope so I could play mad twisting melodies at three in the morning from the caboose of a train made out of dead men's bones. Instead I got a job in an office, after a few detours, none of which involved a naked living woman in a block of ice. But anyway, when I did reread this book, I could not shake off the growing realisation that none of it made the least bit of sense. Not a single bit. And the dad is a complete steal - it's Atticus Finch back from the dead. And I saw that Ray Bradbury never met a pudding he did not want to over-egg or an emotion he did not want to wring dry.

I had grown old. I didn't recognise the place. I didn't know who the boy was who loved this book so much. I knew his name but I couldn't remember his face.

It was a bad idea, rereading a book which so knocked me out all those years ago. I'll give it 5 stars for the love I used to have for it, but I don't really recommend it to anyone now. The world has changed and no longer has the stomach for Ray Bradbury's 1950s goldenhued renderings of his own 1920s childhood. So goodbye, then, to Dandelion Wine, another one I loved.

What I learned from this book is that Memory Lane has been mined. You walk down that street at your peril.

A wonderfully scary story about two teenage boys and their experiences with a very unusual carnival. I loved the author's style and his way with words. Sometimes I read sections twice just for the pleasure of it. I also enjoyed the developng relationship between Will and his father and the way it is his father who saves the day.
And did I say the book was scary? Because it was but in the best kind of way - scary but not terrifying!

I thought this was a very enjoyable story. It was entertaining and had me curious as to how things would progress. It took me quite awhile to adjust to Bradbury's writing style, which, especially in the early portions of the book, uses a tremendous amount of metaphors and imagery. I found myself losing sight of the story itself among all of those, at times, excessive details. I'm certain this was done to mirror how the main characters at that age view the world, but it just wasn't my style, and made it hard to follow at times. Beyond that, there were some interesting characters, namely the antagonists, and some genuinely creepy moments throughout.

Bradbury’s famous allegorical novel still packs a punch today. It is a follow up to Dandelion Wine and contains many of the same characters and is based on Bradbury’s own childhood. It tells the story of Jim and Will two boys who live next door to each other and who are almost 14. The Carnival comes to town; only this is no ordinary carnival and there is something sinister about it. It contains a wonderful collection of characters: Mr Dark, who co-runs the carnival who is tattooed all over, Mr Cooger (his partner), the dust witch, the skeleton, Mr Electrico and so on. However the real hero of the story is Will’s father Charles Halloway, who is in his 50s. There are suitably nasty sideshows and rides and the danger that one might become a permanent part of the carnival as it rolls on around the country.
The themes are age old (the struggle between good and evil) and coming of age, but also the importance of being young at heart. The power that things and people have over you is dependent on how much power you invest them with. Not wholly convincing, but the real message is to live life with enthusiasm and zest and an open heart. Evil is defeated by laughter and a smile (if only it were thus). It’s a good read, suitably atmospheric and chilling.
So what am I doing reading it at my age, rather than in my teens? I wouldn’t have been allowed to read it when I was younger. By the time I left home for university and I could read what I liked I was reading Camus, Sartre and Kafka, so this one missed out. However it was rather gratifying that there was a character of my age at the centre of things; there’s hope yet!! Not only that the hero was a librarian and loved books.
A simple heart-warming tale that, on the whole has stood the test of time.

Bradbury was a gifted writer - every word carefully chosen, every sentence beautifully crafted - but the plot of Something Wicked This Way Comes has as much finesse as a Goosebumps book.

Did Not Finish, Stopped Reading at 35 Percent.

This was also for the November Horror Aficionados group read, however, I will not be counting that towards my goal since I did not finish this.

I cringed about not finishing this book. But seriously it was too much. Too much purple prose and long winded paragraphs. I honestly don't know what's going on and refuse to care anymore. After I got to a part in the book about why men/boys wake up at 3 am and women don't due to their ability to give life (or whatever that tortured metaphor was) I tapped out.

The book centers around two boys, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway and what happens after they go a traveling carnival in October. I know that we originally cited this book for Halloween book bingo, but now I am realizing there may have been a reason many people did not use this book to count toward their goal.

I think there was some interesting ideas here and there, both Jim and William are 13 years old (I do not need to tell you the significance of the number 13) and are about to turn 14. They and some of the people in their town sense something coming their way (the so-called wicked) and then the book just jumps around a lot and I honestly could not get a sense of anything. I just think the writing style was too much for me to overcome.

I have been a fan of Bradbury's for years going back to my junior high school days in the 1960s. I have read many of his works and always enjoy them. But for some reason, I had never read Something Wicked This Way Comes, one of his most highly regarded novels. I have actually had this paperback copy of the book on my shelves for more than ten years and glad I finally got around to reading it.

The book is set in the fictional Green Town which was also the setting of one of my Bradbury favorites, Dandelion Wine. But while Dandelion Wine was set during the summer and was a very nostalgic look at the past, Something Wicked is set close to Halloween and is a very dark fantasy novel. It's about two 13-year-old friends who were born a day apart, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway. The friends are typical boys seeking adventure and wanting to grow older. When a traveling carnival comes to town, they're the first to venture to its grounds when it is being set up at 3 am in the morning. This all leads to some very nightmarish experiences involving the carnival leader, Mr. Dark, who is able to change people's lives and grant them their desires. But at what cost? Dark is covered in tattoos and is also called "The Illustrated Man" (another great Bradbury collection), and he is really a very malevolent being who enslaves people and lives off their life forces. So the boys witness some things they shouldn't have which brings the forces of Mr. Dark and the carnival against them. But Will's father, Charles, the janitor at the local library, is there to counter the forces of evil ... is he strong enough to prevail?

I really enjoyed this one and glad I finally got to it. Although the novel was very dark, it was also very nostalgic and emphasized life in a small town from the past. It also had themes that Bradbury has shown in his other works such as longing to be young again or conversely wanting to be older. I know this novel was also mentioned by Stephen King in a few of his works including The Dead Zone and Needful Things. It was also definitely an influence in his novel, IT. The carnival in the story keeps appearing after many years, as researched by Charles Halloway which is similar to the appearances of Pennywise in IT. There is also a movie version of this made by Disney that I have never seen that I will be on the watch for. Strong overall recommendation!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury is a classic that I waited much too long to read, but I'm also very glad I read it as part of a large buddy read!

What it's about: A dark and sinister carnival called Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show comes to the small town of Green Town, Illinois in the middle of an October night. The only people that see it set up are 2 young boys named Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway. They are both 13, almost 14, born 3 minutes apart and both as different as light and dark; but the best of friends living right next door to each other. They are both interested in the carnival at first, albeit for different reasons, but this interest turns into a battle of good and evil with Will's father being a surprising ally.

This book is SO DIFFERENT. At first I thought I was too dumb to understand a lot of what was going on, and maybe that is still the case. I found Something Wicked This Way Comes to be very illustrative, verbose, and philosophical all at once. Bradbury is incredibly descriptive, and spends a lot of time making sure the reader can feel the scene of the book, not just see it.

It is written in such a way that when I first started, it felt like I was reading a bunch of riddles. The flow was choppy to me and I really had to sit down and read for awhile before I could get into it and understand what I was reading. I think Something Wicked This Way Comes would be best read in one sitting so you don't have to pull yourself out of the writing. It is quite immersive once you get into it, and it was hard for me to go from my other books I was reading back to this one.

I also highly recommend buddy reading it! I was part of a group that @outofthebex hosted on Instagram and I was very happy that I got to discuss it with other people. This way, the parts I didn't understand I could see explained by someone else, and I could ask questions when I didn't get something. It is just so different that I think you need to be able to discuss with someone.

Final Thought: While not overly creepy in today's book world, there is still some solid creepiness in Something Wicked This Way Comes (especially if you can understand the writing!). I really liked the edition I had of the book as well because it discussed the story of book and why Bradbury dedicated it to Gene Kelly. I think this is a great choice for a classic in fall or near Halloween!

I first read this book probably 25 years ago. I would have been close to the same age as James Nightshade and William Halloway. As I reread the novel, I am closer to Charles Halloway’s age, Will’s father and my son is the same age as Jim and Will. What an experience it was to come back to the master of October. Something Wicked This Way Comes hits harder as I grow older.

“God, how we get our fingers in each other's clay. That's friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of the other.”

“So, since we cannot shape Time, where does that leave men? Sleepless. Staring.”

“But no man's a hero to himself.”
-Ray Bradbury