***** - Excellent
**** - Good
*** - Okay
** - Bad
* - Terrible
+ - Half-star
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Ray Bradbury
William Morrow (HarperCollins)
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: In the graying October of a younger America, two small-town boys - Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade - are thrilled when they catch wind of a
carnival coming to town. Mr. Cooger and Mr. Dark promise all manner of thrills and amusements, from the mystifying Mirror Maze to the horrifying collection of circus
freaks. But from the night of the carnival's eerie arrival, darkness and shadows spread across the town. Will and Jim find the bonds of their friendship tested to the
utmost as they face temptations and terrors that have bested Mankind since the dawn of human awareness.
This movie formed the basis of the 1983 movie of the same name.
REVIEW: The Disney movie based on this book has long been a Halloween staple for me, but I'd never gotten around to reading the book until now. Even though
Bradbury wrote the screenplay for the movie, there are distinct differences. His prose runs thick with metaphors, giving the story's many dark images and moments of
terror a nightmarish, semi-lucid quality. Through it all, a decent story and solid characters unfold. I found the writing a bit thick at times, making for slow reading,
and memories of the movie lingered long past the point when the stories diverged, but overall it was a memorable book. I still think I liked the movie's version of
events a little better, though.
You might also enjoy:
Skellig (David Almond, YA Fiction - A boy with a sickly sister finds a mysterious, possibly miraculous creature in a dilapidated garage)
Casting Shadows (J. Kelley Anderson, Fiction - An angry young man turns to magic for vengeance, only to find himself defending the people he wanted to destroy)
Devil's Race (Avi, YA Fiction - A boy is haunted by an evil ancestor who shares his name)
Wolf Rider (Avi - When a boy receives a phone call from a man confessing a murder, nobody believes him)
Bruce Coville's Chamber of Horrors series (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - Stories of ordinary teens in terrifying, supernatural situations)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman, YA Fiction - A girl discovers a mirror version of her London flat, and an "Other Mother" with a terrifying secret)
The Watchers series (Peter Lerangis, YA Fiction - Six tales of ordinary children who find themselves in peculiar, terrifying situations)
Patricia McKillip's books (Patricia McKillip, Fiction - Fantasy tales with lyrical, poetic prose)
Others See Us (William Sleator, YA Fiction - A teen develops telepathy after a spill in a toxic swamp, plunging him into a world of danger, suspense, and paranoia)
Something Wicked This Way Comes
(1983 movie DVD)
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