BOOK REVIEW: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury ★★★☆☆

The memorable story of two boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, and the evil that grips their small Midwestern town with the arrival of a “dark carnival” one Autumn midnight. What would you do if your secret wishes could be granted by the mysterious ringmaster Mr. Dark? Bradbury excels in revealing the dark side that exists in us all, teaching us ultimately to celebrate the shadows rather than fear them.

So why did I get this book? I came across Ray Bradbury’s A Sound of Thunder in a collection of science fiction stories. Then I researched and randomly chose this book out of 27 novels and over 600 short stories his brilliant mind has created.

It’s clear to see that the inspiration to The Night Circus and The Thief of Always derived from this particular book. This novel also gave Stephan King’s It and Dreamcatcher life with the message of ordinary people up against sinister, supernatural forces. The novel's title was taken directly from a line in Act IV of William Shakespeare's Macbeth: "By the pricking of my thumbs / Something wicked this way comes." Combining it all together you have a single full-length narrative, fantasy and horror novel, with themes of good and evil residing within us.

Now I’m pretty much torn with this book. I loved the themes mentioned in this story but the way it was presented was hard for me to get into. But let’s look closely at the themes.

The idea of good versus evil is paramount in this story. Characters like Will, Jim and Charles represent morality whereas Mr Dark and his carnival symbolise sin and temptation. Like many stories around this concept, it is not the use of supernatural power that defeats evil but it is the purity of heart that kills it. Also the good and bad within are shown through the two young protagonists; Jim signifies the part of us that gives into temptation and Will embodies the resistance through his crises and doubts.

The carnival manifests a darker matter of changing people’s age, by making them older or younger. Jim feels he’s mature for his age so he is tempted to ride the carousal forward. The subject of transition from child to adult is a prime focus in this story. My favourite line

”Have a drink?”
“I don’t need it,” said Halloway. “But someone inside me does.”
“Who?”
The boy I once was, thought Halloway, who runs like the leaves down the sidewalk autumn nights.

Clearly shows the opposite, as Charles Halloway wished he was young again. Though is he tempted he is conflicted and soon discovers that becoming younger is not a good idea. As the carousal will change him back into a boy, he would not think like a child, but a grown fifty-year-old stuck in a child’s body. Thus he concludes that mental fitness is far better than physical health.

So the transition from child to adult focuses on Jim and Will. They were forced to grow up quickly and had to deal with the carnival’s evil. And as they did take a brief ride on the carousal, their mind caught up with their physical and emotional state.

Belief and fear show that by giving power to people, objects and ideas mainly depends on how much you let inside your head. Because humans fear ageing, death and loneliness, the carnival is able to seize that fear and control the town. Charles Halloway is able to defect the Dust Witch as he realises that she does not hold any power over him, as he does not fear her. Once he learns this begins to smile and laugh, thus killing the witch as she survives on fear.

As I mentioned I’m pretty much torn with this book because as much as I loved the themes, it was such a hard book for me to get into. Honestly, it took me forever to read because there was so much overuse of imagery and prose and I couldn’t understand half of it. For example:

"From those gaunt windows they could rifle-fire their gaze artillery distances past library, city hall, depot, cow barns, farmlands to empty prairie."

There were just so many words to describe something. Maybe I’m used to reading straight forward novels with more action than description. Although the storyline was simple, it seemed to jump all over the place, as if it was having a seizure of its own. It starts with a lightning rod, and then the wind starts to talks. Next, the main characters are running somewhere, now they are at a library, now they see Charles, now they’re at the theatre, now all of a sudden they simultaneously wake up. Oh they’re running again, there's a train, oh the calliope is playing itself, now it's screaming, and now there's a carnival... you see what I mean. It rambled on and on.

So what can I say? On a positive note, there was some imagery I like but others appeared so overused I wanted to scream at the pages. Other than that this hasn’t put me off reading another Bradbury novel as I’ve got The Illustrated Man to read and I hope it will be better.

Rating 3.5/5
Publishers: Rupert Hart-Davis
First publication: September 1962
Second date: May 8th 2014
Genre: Horror/ Fantasy