Boys · Fiction · Male friendship
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury — Summary, Key Ideas & Quotes
1962278 pages✦ 3-min Big ideas★ 4.1 (32)
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What is Something Wicked This Way Comes about?
Few American novels written this century have endured in the heart and memory as has Ray Bradbury's unparalleled literary classic SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. The shrill siren song of a calliope beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes. . .and the stuff of nightmare.
A glimpse inside
The Allure and Danger of Wishes
Bradbury’s carnival is a metaphor for the seductive pull of unfulfilled desires. Each attraction offers townspeople a chance to reclaim lost youth, beauty, or dreams—but always at a terrible cost. The novel warns that wishing for what we cannot or should not have can open the door to manipulation and self-destruction. The boys, Will and Jim, learn that confronting reality, rather than escaping it, is the only path to growth.
Good vs. Evil in Everyday Life
Rather than distant, abstract forces, good and evil in Bradbury’s world are intimately woven into daily existence. The carnival’s evil is not just supernatural but psychological, exploiting loneliness, regret, and fear. The book suggests that resisting evil requires courage, self-knowledge, and the willingness to accept life’s imperfections.
Ratings at a glance
Open Library
★ 4.1 / 5
32 ratings
✦
Get smart in 3 min
6 key ideas, distilled
- 1The Allure and Danger of Wishes
- 2Good vs. Evil in Everyday Life
- 3The Power and Pain of Growing Up
- 4Friendship as Salvation
- 5The Role of Parents and Intergenerational Wisdom
Popular quotes from Something Wicked This Way Comes
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”
“The stuff of nightmare is their plain bread. They butter it with pain.”
“We are the circus of the soul.”
More by Ray Bradbury
Frequently asked
Few American novels written this century have endured in the heart and memory as has Ray Bradbury's unparalleled literary classic SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin.
The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. The