Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

in a sentence or so: when a creepy carnival rolls into town, Will and Jim seem to be the only two aware that the carnies are stealing souls to finance their attractions. horror ensues.

Will and Jim are the paradoxical besties. they are as different as they are alike. for instance, Will is blonde while Jim is a dark brunette.  Will was born one minute before Halloween, while Jim was born one minute after Halloween.  but these neighbor childhood friends do enjoy exploring together. they love running and discovering new things and sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night to do whatever it is that preteen boys do.  they also sense something isn't right about the carnival that rolled into town at 3 a.m. on a weeknight. so, being the little explorers they are, they sneak out to see what's the buzz with this Dark and Cooger carnival. unfortunately for them, they find out from the very beginning of their adventure that the carnival is dark, twisted, and supernatural.

i've never read a Bradbury book before, so i wasn't sure what to expect. it took me a little while to fit into the author's blend of first person introspective with third person omniscient narrator...but once i did, i was hooked. the story is SPOOKY until next week and there were surprising character developments and depth i wasn't anticipating in a quick horror read.

for example, Will and his dad (who is significantly older than other dads) have a chat at 1 a.m. on the front lawn. Will starts dropping some serious questions on dad that still fit within the framework of the overall narrative. dad replies the best he can, mostly giving his son space to share.  and then dad says, "The front lawn at...let's see...one-thirty in the morning...is no place to start a philosophical..." (134). but that's the beauty of it! that's the PERFECT time to chat with a budding adolescent about the deep questions of our existence! oh Bradbury, you knew.

i was surprisingly freaked out by some of the imagery and methods that Bradbury introduces with the creepy carnival folk. i won't spoil any of the bizarre 'abilities' that they possess...but suffice it to say that despite the main characters being two pre-teen boys, this book is spooky as hell. plus, Bradbury infuses a maturity and thoughtfulness in his writing and plot that i wasn't expecting, but was pleasantly surprised to discover.

fave quote: "'The stuff of nightmare is their plain bread. They butter it with pain.'" (200)

fix er up: the shifting narration style made it hard for me to stay totally committed to the flow of the story the whole time.

title: Something Wicked This Way Comes
author: Ray Bradbury
genre: Horror