Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted October 31, 2025

Bradbury's story which eventually became the novel had a long history. Being a master storyteller, some of the things he said in interviews could be considered apocryphal. Supposedly, he went to a carnival when he was twelve, where he met Mr. Electrico, who implored him to "Live Forever!" He may have already started writing stories, but he said that sparked the interest to make it his career. Later, in Los Angeles, he became friends with quite a few in the film industry. He approached Gene Kelly about a screenplay he would adapt from his short story "The Black Ferris," but nothing came of that, so he continued working on the concept until he completed the novel, which was published September 17, 1962. As happened later with The Halloween Tree, there was a twenty-one year gap between the book and its film adaptation.

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In my recent review of The Halloween Tree I said it was among the few Bradbury stories directed toward a younger audience. There are children in Something Wicked This Way Comes, both teens and pre-teens, but the main themes are ones children rarely think of, and don't really want to know. Regrets, lost dreams, things said or not said, the approaching dark. The true hero is a much older man, fifty-four-year-old Charles Halloway. He thinks he is too old for his son, thirteen-year-old Will. He was forty-one when Will was born, and he regrets the chasm between them. One of the few things he had shared with his son was his love of books. He is the janitor at the local library, where he had met his eventual bride, also much younger. He feels more at home in the library than anywhere else, which is fortunate, since it is there he finds the means to defeat the forces of darkness.

Will was born one minute before midnight on October 30. His best friend, Jim Nightshade, who had lived next door as long as either could remember, was born one minute after midnight of the same night, October 31. Halloween. As with most kids, Halloween was a great and precious time, full of fun, costumes, and candy. But one year Halloween came early, bringing tricks instead of treats, although what Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show offered could seem like treats to some, including Jim, who had always resented being younger than Will. The carnival arrived in the dead of night, 3 AM, October 24, on a train that was quiet other than the mournful notes played on a calliope. Will and Jim heard those notes, and as they had done on other nights, sneaked out of their room and ran out of town, to a meadow where they saw the carnival set up in record time, and by means that seemed magical. The next day they find they are not the first to enter the midway. They see their teacher, Miss Foley, come out of the Magic Mirror house, looking dazed and bewildered. She tells them all the reflections dazzled her, but before elaborating she says she has to get home since her nephew is arriving for a visit.

They want to ride the carousel, but it is closed for repairs. They come back that night to see Mr. Cooger and Mr. Dark enter the tent surrounding the carousel. Cooger gets on, Dark starts the machine, but it is traveling in reverse. With each revolution Cooger appears to be getting younger, and smaller, until he is also a thirteen-year-old boy. The young Cooger runs out of the tent, Will and Jim following, eventually finding him at Miss Foley's house, pretending to be her nephew. They know no one will believe them, but they have to figure out what is going on, what dangers the carnival poses for everyone. It doesn't take Will long to realize what Jim is thinking. He could get on the carousel, but going forward, becoming older. Will fears his best friend will leave him behind. The young Cooger sees them and frames them for stealing jewelry from Miss Foley, then he runs away, back to the carnival, to become his adult self again. Will and Jim know they need to hide, that Cooger and Dark will come looking for them. They finally confide in Mr. Halloway, who they are surprised to find he believes them. He had browsed through books and old newspapers, finding stories of other carnivals in other Octobers, decades apart, but perhaps run by the same people, the Autumn people. I won't reveal more of the plot, but it can be assumed the forces of darkness are defeated. For a time at least. Will they, or others like them, return?

The strengths of the book are Bradbury's evocative prose, his allusions, similes, metaphors, and at times descriptive onomatopoeias. Everything flows fast and furious, the way boys run everywhere, both towards excitement and away from danger. Mr. Halloway loved his son, but wasn't sure he had ever made that clear, and he feared his son did not love him, or even understand him. At the height of the fear, Charles Halloway knew what to do to save what he loved, even if it meant his life. He and Will's life would be different going forward, one day at a time, and they intended to savor them all. A great book, highly recommended.

*     *     *

Now to the movie, which was originally supposed to be released by Paramount, but there might have been an executive regime change, or maybe squabbles over the script and budget. It ended up at Disney, in partnership with Bryna Productions. I like it, but as usual the book is much, much better, and I'm thinking it was the Disney connection that made it less scary than the story deserved. Bradbury wrote the screenplay, but there are still several changes, and it is shorter than it should have been, a little over ninety minutes subtracting the credits. The first noticeable change to the story and characters comes early. It is Jim that is a few minutes older than Will, so it should have been Will anxious to be older, the one more tempted by Mr. Dark and his carousel of time, but it is still Jim. After the first couple of minutes of exposition, spoken by narrator Arthur Hill rather than Bradbury, he does say something that confirms my opinion. It is more Charles Halloway's story than it is his son and best friend's. The age difference between father and son is still the same, even though Jason Robards was about ten years older than his character. Several times it is remarked upon that Will and Jim reflect the battle of good versus evil, Will being fair-haired, Jim dark. That is also reflected in Charles Halloway and his rival, Mr. Dark, a remarkable performance by Jonathan Pryce. I am pretty sure it was the first time I saw him, or at least took notice of him, since most of his prior work was in UK television, and the stage.

Not sure why it was released in April rather than October, but that is yet another failing of the production. Neither Vidal Peterson as Will, or Shawn Carson as Jim, are that memorable, and neither had much of a career otherwise. Carson had two prior credits, but none after this film. Peterson had eight more over the next ten years, but nothing since '93. I'm not saying they're bad, just not the type of performance that sticks with you, and sadly, that can be said for most of the others, with the exceptions of Robards and Pryce. Oh wait, there is Pam Grier as the Dust Witch. I think I fell in love with her a bit the first time I saw this. Royal Dano is okay as the lightning-rod salesman, but could have been better. Diane Ladd is wasted too. I believe it is streaming on Disney now, which I canceled recently, but I still have the DVD. A Blu-Ray release was exclusive to the Disney Movie Club, but is out of production. Any of those on eBay are priced very high. I am sure I will watch it again one of these years, but will look forward to re-reading the book even more. The director was Jack Clayton, who made another suspenseful film I love, rather than just like. Not saying I'll watch it now or any time soon, but I do recommend 1961's The Innocents, based on "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.

It is up to the director to shape the vision, and the actors to embody the writer's spirit, both of which are lacking here. If you have seen the movie but not read the book, you should correct that oversight as soon as possible. If the other way around, you might like the film, but you may be a bit disappointed too. As in all things, YMMV.

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